Entries for January, 2005
January 2nd, 2005
hospital waiting rooms
Posted by bert at 04:01 PM on January 2, 2005 in ME.
man... is there a more resented place on the planet.
It's weird.. all the families just kind of chill in this room, everyone feeling similar sorrows and in essence you kind of bond through tragedy. And in a way, it good, since you all are sharing the same emotional ride. They share your heartbreak, but man o man... i freaking hate this room.
New Years Resolution
Posted by bert at 10:29 PM on January 2, 2005 in ME as a favorite post.
I had a whole list of things written up for my new years resolution, but looking at it now just seems like pure gibberish. I have 2 things for my resolution now. 1.) Get healtier. This is just your normal lose weight resolution, but rather adjust diet, control intake of bad food, and exercise regularly. 2.) improve the quality of conversation with people I meet and involve myself with. I don't ever want to put my foot in my mouth with things unsaid. So if it's worth saying.. trust me.. i'll say it. and that's it. I'm going to really try to keep things in perspective with whats important. And i'll try to keep my journal from falling to shit like it currently does. none of the.. i went out and it was fun posts.. unless there's a quality story behind it. try to keep me to this huh?
And a REQUEST and one other thing.. I'm leaving this STICKY.. readers (the very few and proud i guess) please tell me about yourself. even if you are just blog hopping.
January 3rd, 2005
helplessness
Posted by bert at 04:54 PM on January 3, 2005 in ME.
I think this is something i fear more than anything. And i'm going through it right now..
but man... oh man.. do i really REALLY hate to feel so fucking helpless. There isn't a damn thing i can do about anything except sit on my ass and worry. *sigh*
and i'm trying to be strong so my mom and sister don't have to. It's scary that right now.. i'm man of the house.. frighteningly scary. =(...
so... what to do...
Posted by bert at 05:05 PM on January 3, 2005 in ME.
Go figure.. I've been spending most of my adult life trying to escape Raleigh, and now i get dragged back in. I feel like i was hit by a train and then ran over by the next 100 passenger cars, only to finally have a little relief and only to be run over by a mack truck. Yeah.. so.. new years for me sucked.
and now i'm facing myself (yeah.. by my own choosing) with a decision that has many serious implications. Do I move myself back East? I love Cali, I even kind of like my job. I love the way i get paid, i love my cat, my house, my car, and i pretty much love my life. But i love my family more, and i can't see how they are not more important than anything else in my life combined..
so yeah.. i guess you can say that this has already been decided for me, unless there is some major miracle that occurs in the next 48-72 hours. I just don't know how i'm going to approach my bosses about this one, but i'm sure in the end they will understand and be more than accommodating. I just don't know if there's anything out east that I would like to work on, and that they would want me on for a mere 8 months... Temp Engineer for hire anyone?
I know.. the world isn't fair...
Posted by bert at 05:52 PM on January 3, 2005 in ME.
but i was talking with someone today online about my situation... Been doing a lot of talking lately...
anyway... basically teh gist of it came out that this person thought i was lucky that my dad was in such a near-fatal state (half-jokingingly) because he doesn't like his dad and wishes that we could have switched positions because he doesn't like his father at all, and wishes nothing but the worst to him.
And i know i'm awful, but i thought... why is this world so fucking unfair that someone whose relationship is pure shit with his parents, be lucky enough to have them healthy, while my parents who are the world to me, are not? yeah.. ive heard from the churchies... "God moves in mysterious ways." but realistically... I don't find much comfort in HIS word these days. Sure Jesus may be my lord and savior, but pardon me for going through a little time of wavering doubt.
But then i thought... how sad for him. That i would rather have just one month with my dad, who is loving and kind and just flat out amazing, then to be able to live in his position for the rest of my life. It's about the quality of time spent, and i feel very very sorry for him, and wish maybe, just maybe he would be able to experience the same as me.
.... sigh.... still unfair though.
January 4th, 2005
Perspective
Posted by bert at 10:36 AM on January 4, 2005 in ME.
a lot of myself has been put in perspective with the developments of the past couple of days. Another point was brought home last night in regards to my dad in relation to whats going on in southeast asia. I can't imagine how it is for the survivors over there to be feeling without knowing how their parents/sons/daughters/loved ones/etc are doing. I just don't think i could cope with it either. 155k people at last count.. that's simply rediculous numbers and well... here I am all selfish about my own parents...
it could entirely be within the realm of possibility that there are people there that have lost every single family member and loved one that they knew. My thoughts are with them, and if there is any comfort to be gained, i hope i can give it. When i get back to California, i'll be cutting out my next paycheck to help a worthwhile tsunami relief fund.
btw... in other ramblings.. Shame on the people who are setting up psuedo relief funds to profit off of the misfortunes of others. There is a reason that I don't donate to the United Way (they skim too much in "operating costs" off the top of every dollar). But i read (can't remember where anymore though) that there were at least 5 or 6 "Relief funds" out there that are just taking people's good will and keeping it for themselves. Man.. times like this... what's teh word? Karma.. I despise people like that.
Going home...
Posted by bert at 10:07 PM on January 4, 2005 in ME.
well.. at last i'll have made it back to california. tomorrow being the 6th of january.. that will mean that my x-mas vacation this year lasted 21 days. that's quite rediculous, but what's a person to do?
a few things to look forward to though is coming back to NC the first weekend of february for Beth's faux wedding (they got married last year, but Ken had to go to Iraq, so the ceremonies etc are this year). Should be exciting and lauren, joyce and diane may all be joining me.. course i don't know diane well at all but apparently she is family friends with Ken (Beth's husband).
even more good news is apparently beth is 3 months pregnant!!!.. uh.. WOW. going with Ming having a child (she's so cute!!!), that's crazy. but.. congrats to Beth, and i'll see you guys in February. hehe.. gotta get yas a nice gift. And hopefully by then.. my dad will be out of the blasted ICU and will be celebrating in your big day!
I couldn't imagine a more enjoyable weekend for me. Hopefully a lot less tears too, seeing as i cried more this past 4 days than i have the past 20 years.
January 5th, 2005
updates? what updates
Posted by bert at 11:31 PM on January 5, 2005 in ME.
ok.. so really nothing new here....
the past few days have been a similar exercise. wake up.. see dad.. eat early lunch, see dad, burn 4 hours, see dad, eat dinner, see dad, go to sleep.
nothing really of note to pass down except that i'm really impressed by the amount of charity and good will spread during this time of tragedy (tsunami)... a lot of sports teams and celebrities are doing their part in providing relief to the survivors of this horrible natural disaster... i guess a bit of humanity is saved afterall.
January 7th, 2005
Random thoughts on random music...
Posted by bert at 09:27 AM on January 7, 2005 in ME.
I came into work pretty early this morning.. you know.. good 'ole east coast time differences! =P.. and i've decided to throw every MP3 i had into my playlist. So.. after about two and a half hours of music... here are some thoughts.
Man... Raleigh radio stations really overplay that Davin Degraw song....
That Eminem/Queen mashup mix was easily the best thing i heard on the radio in the past month. Anyone know where I can get this? it's a mix of Eminem's "without me" and Queens "Another one bites the dust". Simply Phenominal.
There's this song.. "butterflies" by DJ Mystic that I find strangely tranquilizing. Funny thing to say about a techno mix? But I just found it and have listened to it twice this morning.
John Mayer's "whole again" has completely new significance in my life. in reverse... Our Lady Peace's "superman's dead" has lost all it's appeal it once had.
I like Lifehouse now? (huh? yeah.. i don't understand it either)
Foo fighter's "My Hero" God... i love that song.
I completely understand "Fly Away from Here" from Aerosmith.
That Ruroni Kenshin "i'm going to kick the crap out of you" theme song still pumps me up. Will edit this later to add the MP3 =P YAY for tabulas.
heh... I think that if i played Bob Carlisle's "butterfly kisses" in front of my sister, that she would cry right now. Then again...
why are there so many freaking songs named after superman?
just funny.
Posted by bert at 09:37 AM on January 7, 2005 in ME.
I was talking to a girl about shoes, and DSW (gigantic discount shoe warehouse, which is what i think DSW actually stands for but... oh well) in particular.
this girl is a self-proclaimed shoe lover, but this is just funny
u bought it at dsw.. yeah it is cheap.. but there are soo many shoes in there.. they all start to look the same to me.. and i can't take it..
it just overwhelms me.
amazing... i think i have now heard it all.
love actually...
Posted by bert at 09:20 PM on January 7, 2005 in ME.
it's a good movie.. i admit it.. i *gasp* really like it. but i think that's because i love kiera knightly. Blah.. like i ever had a chance there =P
anyway.. i was really surprised today when i was talking to joyce and she said she has never seen the full thing. Amazing.. a girl that hasn't seen this movie already? i mean.. besides the obvious chick movie factor involved... it's got, according to linda, like 3 or 4 amazing cute/hot/gorgeous/attractive guys in it. One of which isn't the funny english guy that goes to America is it?
hahah.. anyway.. i think the thing that seals it for me is the ever playing mariah carey "all i want for christmas" theme. well.. it's kinda christmas, and if you can't tell the truth during Christmas...
hehe.. eyah.. lame i know.. but.. it's ok.. i'm sitting on my butt cleaning house. and well... love actually is on HBO. so.. shush while I oggle at Kiera some more.
on a side note/question....
is it wrong for someone to think that jessica biel is attractive? of course not? But what if they say it while watching some of the original 7th heaven episodes while it's a prebuscent jessica biel. She's like 13 in those episodes... it's not so cool right? I was comparing it to saying the olsen twins on full house at any point were cute. They just never were... and they're mildy repulsive now... egh.. not sure where i was going on this one, but i guess both my roommates like robbing craddles..
January 8th, 2005
white noise
Posted by bert at 01:14 AM on January 8, 2005 in ME.
was nothing but.... noise.. it was awful.. complete waste.. i'm not sure what they were trying to get at.. but.. man.. Michael Keaton.. you used to be BATMAN!!! and you degraded yourself to this?
i pity you.
January 9th, 2005
wedding pictures
Posted by bert at 01:15 PM on January 9, 2005 in ME.
whelp.. i finally got aroudn to uploading my wedding pictures from leo's wedding in lake havasu.
check out a select amount in my gallery, or you can e-mail me and ask for access to the ofoto site with all the pics.
Sorry roy... with so many pics.. didn't wanna dump them on lb7 =P
picture of the london bridge in lake havasu.. yeah.. that's right.
24
Posted by bert at 10:47 PM on January 9, 2005 in ME.
gah... what a great freaking show... and another 2 hours tomorrow night.. YEAH BABY YEAH!
January 10th, 2005
are you kidding me?!?
Posted by bert at 08:52 AM on January 10, 2005 in ME.
it's monday already?
update on the fam...
Posted by bert at 01:56 PM on January 10, 2005 in ME.
well.. my dad is doing much better than expected and i have been reluctant to write about simply out of fear from jinxing his recovery (serious...). anyway.. He had his respirator removed and now is jibber jabbering which is PHENOMINAL. hopefully he will be out of the ICU soon.. and even better is the prospects that he'll be back reading this blog again soon!.
I look forward to it! We miss you dad!
Saving the environment? Is it even possible?
Posted by bert at 03:05 PM on January 10, 2005 in ME.
So… the big problem….
Environmentalists… hear me out.. and please help me find an answer to these questions…
If the US burns too many fossil fuels, the results are pollution and the dwindling of natural resources. This is a huge problem in terms of what pollution implies (acid rain, polluted ecosystems, less fresh water, etc.?) right? And you consume the natural resources of the planet, meaning that there will be less and less for future generations to use. In order to stop the exhaustion of these resources, we have environmental groups who can protest DC, protest the President, basically their voice is heard.
But what happens with the growing industries that are China and India, where economic dominance and political identity are #1 in their global vision scale? What happens when the politics don’t care if there is a tinge of shadiness? What happens when you bring up serious environmental concerns and they just laugh you off or even worse.. just shoot you to “solve their problems?”
How do we save an environment that the greedy, selfish, Asian politicians just don’t care about? There isn’t enough political clout to make this a priority issue. Competing with the US is the number 1 issue. What happens then?
I don’t know… and I can’t think of an answer… but I’ll tell you what… that is your reality now.
The Chinese are moving into the 21st century and with it, come the amenities of the current American lifestyle. Meaning power (nuclear, or oil/coal/etc) is a necessity. With power plants.. comes pollution. What about if every Chinese citizen were to start driving? You think that they’re incredibly rich general public would shell out the extra for one of those fancy hybrid civics? Yeah.. I’m still laughing… because the average income for a family in china is roughly 1/10th of American families. If you think people here are poor, well… lets just say you shouldn’t get off no boats in the near future. You will be their “FOB” =P
But this is the course that the world is taking.. the jobs are going there now.. India and China are the two most complained about outsourcing markets. These jobs turn into cash which means.. they can provide some more luxuries for their families… which means… more pollution.
And what green peace army is going to go over there and explain it to them that they need to curb pollution to help out the world? Protest DC all you want.. the real battle that needs to be fought is in Asia.
pretty daunting task huh? and i have no ideas.
January 11th, 2005
Tsunami effects.
Posted by bert at 09:28 AM on January 11, 2005 in ME.
I'm sure lots of you have seen pictures of the aftermath.. but check this one out.. make sure you look at both the before and after shots.
http://homepage.mac.com/demark/tsunami/2.html
Currently feeling: sympathetic
January 12th, 2005
Question to the Ladies...
Posted by bert at 12:22 PM on January 12, 2005 in ME.
Question for the ladies out there, especially those over 21 who can go to bars and the such.
When you go out to bars with only your girlfriends… how often in a given night do you get hit on?
So.. I was listening to Opie and Anthony on my morning commute this morning where they were talking about some newsletter where a lady claimed that she was sick of getting hit on by underwhelming prospects. So much so that the best fashion accessory that she has ever purchased is this faux 3 karat wedding ring that she can slip on to “avoid” the losers. She actually has two reasons for this ring.
1. The losers looking for quickies tend to shy away when they see the ring. Same with those looking to pursue something deeper. If she’s looking for a one night stand or such… then it won’t really convince the guy to not hit on her, and she’s more willing to copulate with the more “confident” guy.
2. If a guy approaches and sees the ring, the conversation (if that is it) tends to be more relaxed and the guard is dropped because he assumes that she is taken and is more likely to just enjoy the conversation as opposed to push for sex.
So.. really.. I’m asking.. do you girls really get hit on so much that an accessory is necessary. Sure I understand that the really good looking girl is going to get hit on a lot, but then again if the hot girl dresses the part and goes to a bar… I mean.. isn’t that kind of what you are expecting or looking forward to? If you go to the bar in a business suit instead of a mini and a bikini top, does it change things? And if you put the ring on… does it really “improve the conversation?”
I dunno.. it just sounds kinda wrong albeit interesting to me. But I wonder nonetheless, but more because… I wanted to know if the majority of us guys really are the wolves you chicas make us out to be.
January 13th, 2005
Tsunami Relief efforts
Posted by bert at 09:26 AM on January 13, 2005 in ME.
Perhaps the best one (or at least my favorite) releif effort is being pushed by KROQ, the local rock music station here in LA. They're doing a
"BIG ASS AUCTION" with things from signed guitars or snowboards to premium tickets to sporting events and the such.
Some of the better things include...
Going to batting practice with the LA Dodgers (of anaheim?)
Having Pennywise BBQ and play in your backyard for a day. @$7200
Hoobastank will play your event--a bar mitzvah, prom, BBQ, wedding, birthday party, whatever! (bid is at $10k)
Lick Lisa. Cute girl on morning show is auctioning off 1 lick.. serious... @500
West Coast Customs will pimp your ride (@11k)
or...
my absolute favorite..
Walk on role to the OC (@$5000)
hehe.. if it were to end in teh 5k range.. i would seriously have to think about this one. Talk about a once in a lifetime experience =P
eBay exploits
Posted by bert at 09:35 AM on January 13, 2005 in ME.
since i do some selling of my old crap on e-bay...
i got this e-mail from them today notifying me of price changes in their fee system.
Closing Price: $0.01 - $25
Old Price: 5.25% of the closing value
New Price: 8% of the closing price
Closing Price: $25.01 - $1,000
Old Price: 5.25% of the initial $25, plus 2.75% of the remaining closing value balance.
New Price: 8% of the initial $25, plus 5% of the remaining closing value balance
($25.01 - $1000)
Closing Price: Over $1,000
Old Price: 5.25% of the initial $25, plus 2.75% of the next $25.01-$1000, plus 1.50%
of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01 - closing value).
New Price: 8% of the initial $25, plus 5% of the next $25.01 - $1000, plus 3% of the
remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01 - closing value).
and don't forget that they're pulling 3% when people use a creditcard on paypal.
so basically.. 11% of your sale comes from post auction fees. now if you want to add pictures, extra lines, and everythign else... well.. that's extra too. Makes it very difficult to sell the small things now. You can only expect people to start jacking up the shipping and handling rates of these packages. It's like being held hostage by eBay.. no wonder their profit margin is so high. You would think they could leave good enough alone... but no... corporate greed is amazing sometimes. a > 50% bump in revenue here...
5.25% to 8%. amazing....
Giving Gifts to Women...
Posted by bert at 10:21 AM on January 13, 2005 in ME.
ok... finally stopped laughing after i read this. guess it adds into my post yesterday about men and women.
Giving Fake Gifts work too!
Heydon added that some flies even present their mates with empty packages wrapped up with layers of silk.
He said, "By the time the female finishes unwrapping her gift and discovers that it is empty, the male has mated with her."
LOL....
January 14th, 2005
ABBA.... *sigh*
Posted by bert at 10:34 AM on January 14, 2005 in ME.
I don't understand what's going on but my winamp randomly pulled my one and only ABBA file out yesterday.. and now i'm this huge ABBA kick... rolling on to 1.5 hours of ABBA. yes it know.. Sad isn't it?
Currently listening to: ABBA - every damn song....
Stella Awards.
Posted by bert at 11:08 AM on January 14, 2005 in ME.
In honor of the really old hag who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued the golden arches.. we have teh stella awards. These gotta be amazing lawyers...
5th place (Tied).
Kathleen Robertson of Austin Texas was awarded 780,000 by a jury of Her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was Running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving toddler was Ms Robertson's son.
5th place (Tied).
19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won 74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbour ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr Truman apparently did not notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal the hubcaps.
5th place (Tied).
Terrence Dickson of Bristol Pennsylvania was leaving a house he had Just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the Garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He could not re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family were on vacation and Mr Dickson found himself locked in the garage for 8 days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the houseowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The Jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.
4th place.
Jerry Williams of Little Rock Arkansas was awarded $14,500 and Medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbours Beagle dog. The Beagle was on a chain in its owners fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been a little provoked at the time as Mr Williams who had climbed over the Fence into the yard was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
3rd place.
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster Pennsylvania $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms.Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
2nd place.
Kara Walton of Claymont Delaware sued the owner of a Night Club in a neighbouring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out two of her front teeth. This occurred whilst Ms.Walton was trying to sneak out of the window in the Ladies Room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.
1st Place.
This year's runaway winner was Mr Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City Oklahoma. Mr Grazinski purchased a brand new Winnebago Motor Home. On his trip home from an OU football game, having driven onto the Freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the Back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly the RV left the Freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him that in the owner's manual that he could not actually do this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago Motor Home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit just in case there was any other complete morons buying their recreation vehicles.
January 16th, 2005
program lineup geniuses (ABC)
Posted by bert at 12:36 PM on January 16, 2005 in ME.
i just want to know what the geniuses at ABC were thinking yesterday when they chose not to air the UNC-Wake Forest Basketball game during their 10"30 timeslot. Instead we were treated to.. reruns of lizzy mcguire. so instead i was forced to watch the crazy temple/maryland game instead... ESPN2, and subsidiary station of ABC and the huge media congolmerate that makes up what is Disney, had wheelchair billiards running as well. Thanks guys.. you really expanded my horizons there. Just give me the OCHO!
January 17th, 2005
In Good Company
Posted by bert at 08:52 AM on January 17, 2005 in ME.
I got to catch this flick over the weekend and was relatively pleased with it. Not exactly a feel good movie but you felt good after it. It re-establishes the fact that Selma Blair has been completely typecasted as the b*tchy wife that will always get divorced... I mean.. she just looks that part.
I enjoyed it even though Scarlett Johansen wasn't at her hottest, though... dang... Derek Jeter is a lucky man...
But sadly... this movie isn't what i would deem great. but more like a very good rental.
How come more dad's/bosses aren't like Dennis Quaid's character? oh yeah.. they rarely exist =P
Benefits of Work.
Posted by bert at 10:34 AM on January 17, 2005 in ME.
I must say... Boeing has been extremely gracious in its handling the situation me and my family has been through. I was immediate and straight to the point with them in regard's to my Dad's condition and they respected me every step of the way. Originally I thought the ideal solution was to get transferred to one of our Virginia site locations and work with them for a year or two or so, just to be close enough to home where I could drive it every weekend. Instead, they have found a MUCH MORE palatable situation. Telecommuting from NC.
Now.. yeah.. this did come as a possibility that could happen, but in reality I am just some peon entry level hire, with pretty much no weight to throw around this office. For them to extend this courtesy to me, just goes to show their obligation for their employees. It's some that I appreciate and something that I'll be sharing with those princeton review "best places to work for" authors who like to rank everything.
It is truly amazing that in this day and age of me-first-itis, that a company that didn't have to give a shit for me, actually did and looked out for my best interests. Sure.. i work my ass off for them, but I realized the gravity of my situation. When it all comes down to it.. I have no doubt in my mind that I am in fact replaceable. Our program schedule isn't that stringent that they absolutely needed me. But they treated me like I was important to the company and understood the importance of Family First. I was willing to lose my job for my family, but they made it easy and let me keep both.
I saw a shade of this message in the movie i saw over teh weekend "In Good Company," and couldn't help but feel proud that I lucked into a company (or at least a Boss) that understands that some things are more important than the bottom line.
So.. for you Raleigh-ites... you can expect me to be back in the NC area between 10-16 days a month for the next couple of months. I'll keep you posted. I will be home the first weekend of February to celebrate two things hopefully. one is the wedding of Beth and Ken =P (rumour has it Beth is expecting..., course this isn't a shotgun wedding cuz they've been married for over a year already, just Ken was serving in Iraq). Congrats to both of you =). And of course... hopefully by that time.. my dad will be released by the hospital and allowed to come home. I plan to enjoy the hell out of it.
as a side note, this past friday when i was driving home from work, I gave my mom a call. She was in the hospital with my dad who happened to have been released from the ICU just about an hour prior to the call. I was able to hear him tell me that he loved me. Just 2 weeks ago, there was a distinct possibility that I would never hear his voice again. Its amazing how things have been put in perspective since then.
p.s. Hardadi... aren't you glad I brought you into the fold? =P
I Love Dilbert
Posted by bert at 04:31 PM on January 17, 2005 in ME.
because it gets my frustrations out so regularly.. I AM NOT ALONE!!!
this is how I felt in one of my metrics meetings the other day...
January 18th, 2005
Predicting the next big hit
Posted by bert at 09:28 AM on January 18, 2005 in ME.
and it's not American Idol.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1391951,00.html
This is the American way...
Posted by bert at 02:27 PM on January 18, 2005 in politics.
normally after an election there really isn't much to talk about until the administration is re-sworn in.. Especially with the destruction and chaos caused by the unfortunate tsunami (have you donated yet?)
i'll post about the hypocrisy that is UNICEF (6% are you shitting me?) later...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/18/kingday.kerry.ap/index.html
ok.. basically this article.. kerry is bashing bush and saying the election process was unfair and undemocratic.. fine. whatever the case.. he didn't protest it and bush is going to be president after this rediculous $40 million innuaragtion ceremony (should go to TSUNAMIS!!!)
ANYWAY... what really pissed me off was the last line of the article.
"Throughout Europe, as I met with European leaders, it's clear that they're prepared to do more, but the [Bush] administration has not put the structure together for people to be able to do it," he (kerry) said.
They are prepared to do more.. implying that COUNTRIES in europe.. or at least their leaders are prepared to step in and HELP substantially.
JOHN YOU ARE AN AMERICAN FIRST. YOU ARE A SENATOR of United States of America and your concern for America should be to help HER and HER CHILDREN in any way shape or form. You have "met with European Leaders," that are "prepared to do more." and blame bush for not putting together a structure? Damnit you asswipe. Why don't just tell US who is willing to help, and get them to ask us to do what it is they need structurally for them to do more.
This implying sales pitch of yours is baseless until there is help provided. This isn't something to hold over any administration's head over teh next 4 years. This is helping your country and it's citizens LIVE IN FREEDOM! not about being about to say "i told you so" 4 years later when you run into the buzzsaw named Hillary.
Kerry is even more of a selfish son of a b**** than i ever thought before. If it's something that you believe in that strongly, then come out with it and stop hiding the crap behind stupid inuendos and double entandes (sp?).
Who is willing to help? How are they willing to help? and why aren't they helping?
why aren't they helping the people in Indonesia instead? Surely they can understand the humanitarian situation there.
Oh.. and while there... as promised.. DO NOT DONATE TO UNICEF! If you are planning on giving money towards a recovery why would you think of giving your money there. They take out an overhead of 6% on all donations!. it's like a 6% handling charge for your donation. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? sure the stars support it, because they throw crazy ass mock parties where celebs are on the phone. But someone is paying for AIRTIME, commercial time, office equipment, food, to run these ads... this is money ill-spent. No need for that. Donate to the Red Cross (4% overhead).. or to your local church who WILL find a responsible cause that doesn't take rediculous amounts of overhead in support of itself first.
January 19th, 2005
I can't help it...
Posted by bert at 09:49 AM on January 19, 2005 in ME.
but man.. what a guilty pleasure...
i admit it.. i watched American Idol last night.. and man.. what a train wreck.
I just can't get enough of the bad performances.. its just... yeah.. it's a 2 hour rubbernecking session.
One question though... Doesn't it seem that any young gay male with attitude has to try out for the show? And then they bitch about how the judges can't see the talent that they have? did you see the one where he said that the judges were jealous of his future and his 8x platinum record?
Man... every year this opening will just get worse and worse... it really is a guilty pleasure..
and you know you watched some of it too =P
I understand!!!
Posted by bert at 09:26 PM on January 19, 2005 in ME.
i'm of chinese descent... but was born and also grew up in the United States.. so my chinese is naturally poor..
so..it's pretty sad for me to say this... but watching movies like Hero and crouching tiger and not reading the subtitles really makes me proud of myself =P
January 20th, 2005
They Annoying act of the day
Posted by bert at 10:58 AM on January 20, 2005 in ME.
Few things annoy me, except getting stalled when you have a deadline to meet.
But... i want to know who it was that had the balls this morning to print a freaking 754 page document single sided and in a horizontal layout, when the rest of the office is pushing out specs that needed to be delivered at 10 a.m. First of all.. unless it's for teh customer (obviously wasn't), we're not allowed to print out anything over 75 pages.. and we're supposed to keep that rare. Anyways.. i'm stuck here waiting for the printer essentially stuck with "nothing to do." *sigh*.. 250 more pages to go. our printer queue is 15 requests deep now as i type.
Another thing that's annoying is there's this Tech Fellow guy who is the boeing equivalent of a tenured professor. He brings in his classical music and doesn't have headphones so he BOUGHT speakers..
and blasts his music. We are required to have headphones and while beethoven is occasionally ok... Damnit.. not everyone wants to listen to Mozart's magic flute or clarinet or whatever the hell it is... I wanted to take my ACDC cd and blast it so bad.
Instead we got one of those Office Manners "fliers" and photocopied 30 of them and pasted them all over his cube. Hopefully he'll get the hint this morning if he ever walks in for his 4 hours of work a day.
hehe.. yeah..i'm kinda annoyed right now =P can ya tell?
Currently feeling: annoyed
heheheh
Posted by bert at 06:16 PM on January 20, 2005 in ME.
January 21st, 2005
the Trump is getting married
Posted by bert at 09:39 AM on January 21, 2005 in ME.
but the question is... if you were invited to his wedding... what the heck do you get the man who already has everything. I dunno but a lot of people will be asking themselves this over teh weekend when the Donald gets married for the... 18th??? time.
What are we allowed to blog about?
Posted by bert at 09:53 AM on January 21, 2005 in ME.
fun read here..
rights of bloggers
Things I wish I Knew
Posted by bert at 11:47 AM on January 21, 2005 in ME.
I read a speech today that I REALLY wish i had heard about 8 years ago...
in it.. here's a quote that deep down I've come to realize but not put words to.
"One of the most dangerous illusions you get from school is the idea that doing great things requires a lot of discipline."
It's curiosity that leads to great things. You sit and wonder why something is the way it is instead of the way you think it should be. Well.. why not explore that. it's not discipline... it's curiosity. You don't need discipline for that. That's just a lie. Passion? maybe...
I find myself more and more delaying things i don't want to do. And sure.. it takes discipline to get these things done.. But that's just a job. I think i'm going to change my New Year's Resolution to one thing.
"Explore my curiosity."
I'm going to explore things I want to do. At least leave open the future possibilities and go down the road. If I find an avenue boring, then I'm done. Just continue where I want to continue. (and not necessarily ditch the day job). And hopefully find passion along the way =)
read the speech that inspires me =)
too priceless not to share....
Posted by bert at 12:38 PM on January 21, 2005 in ME.
How chinese train soldiers
i don't care if it's not real.. just funny =) more funny if real.
January 22nd, 2005
From the so insane it has to be true category....
Posted by bert at 11:05 AM on January 22, 2005 in ME.
two links this i found on Fark.
New Sushi Fad?
and
Vending Machine Thongs
man... i guess more girls wear grannie panties when they go out than i Imagined. And then they all hook up too.
January 24th, 2005
The "Shamings"
Posted by bert at 09:10 AM on January 24, 2005 in ME.
When I was in college, one of the things we looked forward to the most while partying was waiting for the first friend/random stranger to get so drunk that he would pass out any which way... Assuming he was fair game... people would mess with him.
Usually this consists of Sharpie drawings, or maybe some dusting... or "jenga" building.
(Actually.. there was this one time we played actual Jenga on the drunk guy, but that apparently doesn't work very well when the guy rolls in his sleep.)
To my astonishment. (well not really), there's a site online called that celebrates a good
Shaming.
hehe.. Enjoy. I wish i thought of doing the flour and eggs bit.. or the police outline with bottles. I would link some pictures.. but seeing that I'm at work... well.. =) Go have fun.
Mensa == Odd
Posted by bert at 09:31 AM on January 24, 2005 in ME.
So driving into work usually doesn't have much to talk about.. except after a rain and i get to see the nice mountains. (damn you smog!!!)
anyway. This morning.. I'm driving along passing people as usual until i see this blue jetta just ahead of me. I pass it like everyone else, but of course i read the bumper stickers..
it was a sticker for "American Mensa"
I was stricken with uncontrollable laughter because... you do have a confidence problem if you need to advertise to the world that you are in Mensa.
What got me laughing even harder was that his license plate... Vanity plates being common, sometimes even comical. It's a must read if it's something that's not random.
This one definitely wasn't.
HEX4849
I looked at it and was like.. wtf are you trying to say...
until i thought about it more.. this is a Mensa guy trying to be cute.
so.. being the nerd that I am... I figured he was trying to say something in Hexadecimal... and what 2 letter word ascending word could you make up besides "HI" ?
yup.. i got to work.. and did an ascii hex lookup on google.. and what do you know..
H = hex 48
I = hex 49
i was amused..
it was kinda ironic that last night i was talking to Luke and he was telling me about this lame (read: Nerdy) joke. kinda related..
"There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and those that don't."
gotta love mensa =)
January 25th, 2005
Work (SSDD)
Posted by bert at 12:35 PM on January 25, 2005 in ME.
well.. not really..
I've been in teh office almost 5 hours now and i've spent 1.5 hours in a meeting and the rest of the time i've been filling out my "Virtual Office" forms so I can telecommute from home so i can help out with my Dad.
hehe... i figure about another 1.5 hours to go on the forms and then i can get the process rolling.
Ludicrous note of the day... it took me 1 hour to finish the forms for my calling card...
now about that laptop guys....
January 26th, 2005
dodgeball can hurt
Posted by bert at 09:32 AM on January 26, 2005 in ME.
as evidenced by me last night...
I play in a weekly league on tuesday nights.
we play a little differently then the movie in that we have 2 different balls between the 6. We have 4 of the regular sized (soccer sized) balls, and we have 2 "stingers" that are same material but more or less the size of a softball. Obviously it's a little harder to catch and can go immensely faster. That being said... It can hurt a lot more if you get hit by it.
Well.. i did and in the worst area, when not paying attention because someone in the crowd yelled my name. man.. i think i was on the ground four at least 5 minutes.
January 27th, 2005
Ever have one of those days...
Posted by bert at 08:49 AM on January 27, 2005 in ME.
Where you just feel like a complete idiot? At work, I go up to one of our most technical staff members and ask a question so completely obvious that he can only give me this bewildered stare where he questions my level of intelligence. and this was a 9 a.m.
Follow this by me just being frustrated with my other responsibilities in the day, My dad manages to make a phone call to me, only i'm stuck in a meeting. So I try calling my mom (and dad) back around 4 my time only to be told through a nurse lecturing my mom that my dad was tired early tonight and had to sleep. meaning 2 things.. 1. the nurse just didn't want to put up with us. and 2. I couldnt' call back my dad. =(
So I'm aggravated and leave work around 4:30 only to get the lazy tech fellow who is loud and obnoxious question my work ethic... (heya buddy... unlike some people i get my ass into work at 7:30 or earlier. I don't work BS 5 hour days because i'm "tenured.")
so I figure... what better way that to lose frustration at the gym. haha.. so I end up lifting for roughly an hour and fifteen, followed by a 60 minute elliptical run. I just let my frustration and adrenaline and the Duke/Maryland basketball game drive me... (ok.. at least ONE good thing happened yesterday and that's Duke falling from the ranks of the undefeated.)
well.. as can be expected I rolled my sorry butt out of bed this morning.. sore and battered. I actually managed to sprain my left index finger because I initially slipped...
But again I'm reminded of the blessings I take for granted. I guess it could be worse than my day though... I could have a
suicidal freak decide to park a SUV on the tracks of my morning commute...
And hopefully my Drunken Chicken turns out well for tonight =) Have a great day everyone. And remember.... the OC is on tonight =)
Maybe I shouldn't go back to NC...
Posted by bert at 11:26 AM on January 27, 2005 in ME.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6875358/?GT1=6065
RALEIGH, N.C. - A medical examiner studying a body in a morgue was startled when the man took a shallow breath.
advertisement
Emergency medical technicians had declared 29-year-old Larry D. Green dead almost two hours earlier, after he was hit by a car.
Medical examiner J.B. Perdue was called to the accident scene Monday but did not examine Green then. Later, he was documenting Green’s injuries when he noticed the man was breathing.
“I had to look twice myself just to make sure it was there, that’s how subtle it was,” Perdue said.
Green, 29, was taken to Duke University Medical Center in Durham, where he was in critical condition Wednesday.
Several members of the Franklin County emergency medical service have been suspended pending an investigation, said Darnell Batton, the county attorney.
January 31st, 2005
Long day ahead
Posted by bert at 09:20 AM on January 31, 2005 in ME.
well.. i don't envision today to be a fun day...
woke up fully planning on taking my car to the shop and getting my basic maintence/oil change etc done at 7 a.m. Instead... i spend 40 minutes looking for my keys. I call the shop and tell them i'm running late and they reply by telling me they have no slots until thursday (but i'm flying out)... blah.. now i have to go to jiffy lube or some crap like that.
and now i have to work till 5:30... blah... with all the crap left for me to do tonight.. *sigh*
Beer! it's proof that God loves us
Posted by bert at 11:25 AM on January 31, 2005 in ME.
been looking for an actual news report of this for the past couple of days after it showed up on some dude's blog. Too great.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1261997.html?menu
A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.
Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.
He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out.
But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through.
He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported.
He said: "I was scooping the snow from above me and packing it down below the window, and then I peed on it to melt it. It was hard and now my kidneys and liver hurt. But I'm glad the beer I took on holiday turned out to be useful and I managed to get out of there."
gotta love google new =P
What I do at work...
Posted by bert at 02:41 PM on January 31, 2005 in ME.
I know some of you have asked before what exactly I do at work. And I know I've really been generic with my responses since I'm not really obliged to talk about it..
but for those of you who are somewhat curious.. there's a good tutorial into some of what I do.
http://www.umich.edu/~umich/fm-34-40-2/
hehe.. it was posted on slashdot today, and I figure if there's anything classified on it.. well.. it's public information now =P. and it's not my fault.
but yeah.. that's a general description =)
