Mini-Series review: The Fallen

I am a sucker for religious thrillers. I love the whole good v. evil thing. The apocalyptic undertones. That is why I loved the turn of the century. The event called for a good many of such movies. Most of them were sad excuses, but, like time travel movies, I had to watch them.

Last year ABC Family ran a made-for-tv movie called "The Fallen." I hadn't seen the movie, nor had I even heard of it. But this year, they ran the original movie, plus two more for a total of six hours worth of God v. Devil goodness.

The premise is, back in the day (way, way back) some angels rebelled against God. You know the story, the whole war in Heaven thing where Lucifer lost and was sent to reign in Hell. Those that were on his side, but didn't join him in Hell as demons, became "The Fallen." These were the angels who are discussed in the Bible as consorting with human women and creating half-breed offspring "abominations" called Nephilim.

God sent "The Powers" to protect his creation, and they started about killing off the abominations and the fallen angels (I didn't know angels could be killed, BTW). The special effects were good, there were only a couple of scenes where the flying angels' CGI was poor, and those were very brief. One thing that got me though, and it seemed strange, was that some of the angels, the good ones, had bat-type wings, instead of the usual feathery bird-type wings. And some had black wings instead of the stereo-typical white wings. It is not a huge deal, but when dealing with iconic imagery, in an iconic situation, one would think they would stick to the stereo-types. Especially considering they went through the trouble to give the angels names that more or less follow the naming criteria used in the Bible (such as Gama'el, Ara'el, Azaza'el etc).

All in all I though they did a great job. There were a couple of scenes that almost made me laugh, but I was able to get over them easy enough. One in particular towards the beginning, there is a member of the Powers who slays a Fallen, and she is wearing this white hooded cloak, and as she is turning and stomping of screen, the cape flowing out behind her she says something to the effect of "find out what it is, and alert me immediately." Which instantaneously sent me back 30 years to Darth Vader aboard Princess Leia's ship saying "The plans are here, tear this place apart and find them" (or something like that).

We recorded the show over the weekend, and watched it all in one sitting, all six hours of it. If you are a fan of this type of story, I would highly recommend getting the DVD.


Technorati Tags: God, Devil, Angels, Good, Evil, The Fallen, Television, ABC Family

Monsters and 3 year olds

Sometimes, you just shouldn't ask a 3 year old what to do about a monster, if you don't think you can handle the answer...observe:

New TV show review "Saving Grace"

Watched a new show on TNT last night. The show aired on Monday night, but we didn't watch it until last night. The show is "Saving Grace" which stars Holly Hunter (looking a bit older, and more ragged than I have ever seen her before).

Hunter is an Oklahoma City cop who drinks too much, sleeps around too
much and proclaims a fervent disbelief in God. It is alluded to that
she was molested by a priest when she was little. Her brother is a
priest (obviously there is tension there!) and her sister died in the
Murrah Federal Building bombing (this part isn't revealed until the
end, and I have to admit, I was wondering why they would put a show in
OKC, I mean, after all, it is fly-over country). And along comes an angel, offering her one last chance at redemption.

But don't be misled! This is no "Touched By An Angel" or "Joan of Arcadia" (both of which I enjoyed tremendously). The angel in this case, is named...get this...Earl. He is not your stereo-typical angel with good looks, with proper grammar and showing a due amount of reverence. No, Earl (played by Leon Rippy - I know, I've never heard of him either) is more along the lines of someone you might imagine inhabiting a trailer park, or working as a mechanic in that lonely, little out of the way gas station on that stretch of desert road that is 450 miles from the nearest cross road, let alone any type of civilization. His teeth are bad, he hair is a mess, he is overweight, he sounds 3/4 drunk, and he chews tobacco and spits into an empty Mountain Dew bottle.

This is not a show to watch with the younguns. Number One son watched it with us, but he was uncomfortable in parts (couple of scenes with Hunter and her partner romping around). It is rated TVMA (which is the first TVMA rating I have seen not on a movie channel). No nudity or bad language, but the opening scene where Hunter and he partner (played by Kenny Johnson) are...err...coupling came very close to showing more than I have ever scene on commercial TV.

Truth be told, I dig the angel guy. I find it refreshing to see a new take on what an angel would look like and how one would act.Another refreshing aspect is that Hunter doesn't just make a 180 degree turn out of her life, it looks like it is going to a slow and sometimes painful process for her to turn her life around.

Also in the case it Laura San Giacomo (hubba-hubba). One might remember her as the evil b**ch Nadine Cross from the TV mini-series adaptation of Stephen Kings' "The Stand", and from the sitcom "Just Shoot Me".

Personally, I give the show 4 out of 5 stars. Its portrayal of an angelic being is probably not for everyone. It is offbeat and for some will be considered heretical. But if you aren't dead set on angels having proper grammar, exceptionally good looks like Roma Downey, living in clouds and being all clean and bright and shiny, I would defiantly recommend watching at least a couple of episodes.




Technorati Tags: television, TNT, Saving Grace, Holly Hunter, Angels

Lessons Learned (22 July 2007)

I have two for this week...

1) When you have pain medication, don't set it in a unique place thinking it will help you remember where it is. Because when you need it at 4:45 in the morning, you don't look in a unique place for it, you look in the regular places where meds are supposed to be - you know, with the aspirin and cough syrup and places like that.

2) When scouring the internet for tips, tricks and how-tos of refinishing a wood floor, take advice with a grain of salt. Case in point: Everything I read about the sanding process exclaimed that a sanding dust storm of nigh-Biblical porportions would be kicked up. Respirators were needed, and an open window with a fan pointed out of it to act as exhaust. That had me concerned, what with plants and electronic equipment (neither of which is conducive to copious amounts of dust and other particles) all over the house, I sealed up that room tighter than that bio-weapons facility that released Captian Tripps in "The Stand." NOTHING was getting out of there. In the end, less than a pound of dust was created. Not only was I sorely dissapointed, but I pretty much wasted about four hours sealing that room!


Technorati Tags: wood floor, medication, refinish, lessons learned

Time Flies Like An Arrow [Fruit Flies Like A Banana]

Man, it seems to have been a long, long time since I put anything up here. Last Saturday we packed up and sent the boys with the scout troop to Camp Laramie Peaks in Wyoming. I wished I could go, but vacation time just wasn't available (I just changed jobs, remember?). The 5/8s and I took this opportunity to drop Little Sister off at gramma's house while we drive north, to Council Bluffs, IA. There isn't much there in Council Bluffs. For those not in the know, Council Bluffs, IA is the sister (sort of?) city of Omaha, NE. Omaha is on the Nebraska side (that is why they call it "Omaha, NE") and Council Bluffs is on the Iowa side (hence, the name...oh you get it). Sort of like Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO - except they don't have the same names, and their not in Kansas or Missouri.

Now, I know what your thinking. Why go to CB? We wanted to get away. We had saved some money for a trip to a casino, and the casino's in this area were just too close. If we had gone to one of them, my father would have wanted to tag along, and then we both would have grudgingly brought him along. So we went way up to CB in order to escape that fate. We've been playing a little poker here and there on PartyPoker.net. It is only play money, but you get to play with other real live people (at least that is what they say - who knows for real?). So we wanted to try out some real poker

I looked online and booked a room at the Holiday Inn right across from the Ameristar Casino. Ok, word to the wise, when you book a hotel near a casino, and pay an extra 50 clams for the privilege of not having to drive across town to gamble, make sure the casino actually has the game(s) you want to play. Ameristar in CB has no live poker tables. So we thought we'd drive over to Harrah's. Much to our surprise, Harrah's has not live poker. I'm starting to think that for some strange and befuddling reason, live poker is not legal in Iowa. I know that sounds strange, but these are Iowans after all, so you never really know what they are going to do. Luckily a nice lady at Harrah's informed us that the Horseshoe Casino does have live poker tables.

Now, here is the strange part. Harrah's has no live poker tables, but the Horseshoe, which does have live poker tables, is owned by Harrah's. Go figure. The Horseshoe was a nice casino. Big and very well lighted. The clientèle was quite a bit different from the casinos in this area. I go to pick poppy up on Fridays and every-other Saturday at the Indian casino north of town. He loves his poker, but can't drive any more due to his failing eyesight. He can still see the cards though - mostly. The people that frequent the casino (which used to be a Harrah's but has since changed to be solely owned by the Indians) are not what I would classify as the 'beautiful people'. They are definitely not the type of people you would see on that TV show "Las Vegas". They are mostly elderly (nothing wrong with that), but they are grungy and look decidedly unhappy. They are sluggish and disheveled. They look like they should be spending their money on soap, toothpaste and new clothes, rather than gambling it away. But I digress...

The atmosphere in the Horseshoe was a good one. Upbeat and happy and light. The noise of the slots was not overbearing. Things seemed to be moving along at a nominal pace instead of being hurried all the time. The setup for the poker room was nice too. We went and put our name on the list for the 3-6 limit, and they gave up a little pager which would blink and buzz when spots were available. They had like 30 tables in the poker room, only about 5 of which were being used. In the casino here, sometimes one has to wait for several hours on the list before they can get a seat. That is because there are only 4 tables in this one. And they usually have 4 different types of games going. So if there are 10 people that want to play 4-8 limit, and the table is full, that can be a long wait.

It took them about 10 minutes to buzz us, they had enough players to open a new table (which is what I figured would happen). We each took 100 simoleans to gamble with. This is money we saved for the purpose of gambling with, so it isn't like we were gambling with the milk money. All in all, we had a fun time, and overall, we lost about $40 gambling (the 5/8 lost her complete hundred, but I ended up $60 ahead).

Heartland on the 4th

The July 4th holiday went well this year. Despite the early heat, the sounding of the tornado sirens and the rain. At least I didn't have to take anyone to the emergency room this year. All the kids finished the night with all of their fingers and only one had a slight burn, but not from the fireworks.

We went again this year to a friends house. He is a hobby-smoker - that is, he smokes meat for a hobby, not...you know...other things. He has a good sized Independence Day shindig and we attended last year and had quite a bit of fun. His kids are in the same scout troop as my boys. In fact his oldest and my middle boy have been together since cub scouts.

They are great people and we always have fun there. It was a little touch and go. It was a question between traveling to Lawrence to do the 4th with the 5/8's bible thumping Phelps-ish father and her snotty sisters. But our friends in town won out (go figure). Plus, we knew there'd be beer at the party here, and...uh water in Lawrence.

As is our tradition, we waited until July 4 to obtain our fireworks. We do that because it is just too dang tempting to want to light some off before hand. And fireworks are like potato chips, in that you can't do just one. So in order to save the family savings account, we wait until the 4th to get any.

This year was even more relaxing than past years. No. 1 Son is almost 15 years old and No. 2 Son is almost 13. Together they were able to police and keep sanity over the younger kids and need only distant adult supervision. Before I had always felt the need to be right there to make sure they didn't do something stupid. But this year, I was content to sit in a chair at the curb of the park and watch them do their thing.

The other thing good about this year, is that No. 1 Son has his license, so I didn't have to worry too much about how much beer I drank! (w00t).

Having a few extra minutes after replacing an outlet took way less time that I had budgeted for (I can be sneaky that way) I found this video. The things this guy does with that laser are just way cool.

Hey, where ya' been?

I've been pretty silent the past week or so. Times, they are a changin' as they say. First change, is my job. I was contacted at home several weeks ago by a company here in Topeka. I had, for the past seven years, been making the 70 mile (one way) commute to Kansas City for gainful employment. It isn't a bad commute. Interstate 98 % of the way. The most in-town driving was from my driveway to the interstate. But several weeks ago I received a call from a person (I can't remember his name) that suggested I make contact with the HR person at the Topeka company.



Now, I said I was called at home. And this was significant. It was significant because nowhere on any resume, whether it be online or on paper, have I ever put my home phone number. I always use my cell phone. That way people can get me whenever, where ever. And I am more likely to return a voice mail left on the cell phone rather than on the answering machine. I don't know why - that's just the way I roll I guess.



So, I went and talked to them. My resume is a mess (I hate doing them, and never really figured out how to make a stunning one). And my interview skills are crap. I hate interviews too. I am not very good at them. And I told them that. They asked what I was looking for in a company, and basically I told them "Look, my resume looks like crap and I and no good at interviews. I hate looking for work. I want a place where I will be comfortable, and where I can just stay until I retire." They seemed to like that answer.



The pay is virtually a lateral transfer. But I figured out that without having to buy gas and pay turnpike fees, I'm getting something like a $3K/yr after-taxes raise. That is pretty cool. Yeah, $3K/yr, and that is with my ultra fuel sipping little Insight that gets 65+ miles per gallon on a regular basis. The car was acting up my last three days in KC (talk about synchronicity) so I borrowed mom's giant old-lady silver Mercury. She wasn't using it as she had cracked a couple of bones in her right shoulder (she is fine, don't worry about her - she is a battle ax). At any rate, I was using her car, and I kid you not, I almost died. I spent, literally, $15 a day on gas in that thing. Yes, you saw that correctly - $15 A DAY on gas. Man, I don't know how people drive those things and still afford to eat. Although, I have to admit, it was very nice being able to go from 20 mph to 70 mph in something like 4 seconds. As much as I can't afford to drive something like that daily, I sure miss that V-8 engine. VRRROOOOMMMMMM. Hey, wait a minute, my commute is not only like 12 miles. I can afford to drive something like that. Oh, not a Mercury, I'm not that old yet. But maybe a Dodge Charger. <drool>oooooo Chaaaarrrgggerrr</drool>.



At any rate, that is where I've been at this past week or so. Getting all settled in. Getting to know people. Getting things done that need to be done.



I am glad you all stopped by. Thanks for visiting.





Technorati Tags: Topeka, Kansas City, Jobs, gas mileage, Honda Insight, Mercury

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Harry's demise?

The last Harry Potter book is set to be released on 21 July of this year. Which of course got me to thinking what is in store for our intrepid "boy who lived." Many speculate (and Master of Horror Stephen King hopes) that Harry will die. I don't believe this to be the case. And my firm belief in his living comes directly from the first chapter of the first book, which is titled "They Boy Who Lived."



One cannot start a story this way, and then kill the boy who lived. That would make him the boy who died. I do foresee a dark ending though. Granted, I'm no JK Rowling, and I don't pretend to be. But if I were somehow creative enough to come up with this whole thing, this is how I would end it.



As we all know, Harry and Voldemort are linked by the fact that Voldemort could not kill Harry as a baby. However, it is my firm belief that Voldemort - being older and infinitely more evil than Harry - is stronger than Harry. And, as we have seen in book after book, this is one tough cookie to destroy. Sure, he can be killed, but his spirit or whatever, his life essence lives on to create evil another day.



So, my idea for ending this book would be for Harry to kill Voldemort, but Voldemort's life essence encompasses Harry's body, and takes control of it. Then, while Harry's life essence is trapped in his mind in a cage created by Voldemort, he uses Harry to kill Ron and Hermione.



But in the end, Harry lives on with Voldemort controlling his body.



This doesn't fully and completely end the series. That, I don't believe can happen. After all, there is the possibility that sometime in the future, give it twenty or thirty years, that Rowling will want to re-visit the wizarding world and see what is going on in that place.



And that's my 2-cents worth. Thanks for visiting





Technorati Tags: Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Voldemort

"It's only a safety problem"

I had to say something, I just had too. This just kills me. A low cost Spanish airline flying from Lisbon to Madrid had some of the seats on the plane taped off and would not allow passengers to use them.

The captain told them on the intercom: "We will not be able to use that
part of the plane because we have a safety problem with the door at the
front. Don't worry, it's only a safety problem," the newspaper reported.

Only a safety problem? Well, thank goodness it is nothing serious, like...I dunno, something that might compromise the safety of the passengers.

Lesson Learned

In this weeks lessons learned, I discovered that just because there is a gigantic, public relations conscious company, it doesn't mean they have a firm handle on the English language. For instance, north of Topeka is the Harrah's Prairie Band Casino. You know, Harrah's, from Vegas and Reno and AC. Big company right? Huge. And with all Casino's public relations is imperative. So you'd think they would have proof-readers of some sort. But at the entrance to the Casino is a sign the reads "Complimentary FREE Valet Parking."

For those who haven't yet finished the 6th grade, the word "complimentary" means...FREE. Go figure.

In another advertisement that is almost, but not quite exactly like the above example of poor English; there is a company in town called Boyle's Joyland Flea Market. I know, strange name for a flea market, but there is history in the name. Back in the day (when I was just about knee high to a grasshopper) there was an amusement park in town called Boyle's Joyland. It was no Disney, or Six Flags or even World's of Fun, but it was ours, and we could go there an drive go-karts and bumper cars and play goofy golf and ride the ferris wheel and generally have a place to hang out.

Okay, fast forward many years and Joyland had to close because insurance was too much and not enough people were hanging out there and what-not so the guy who owned it opened a flea market instead (what? that doesn't seem like a natural transition, from amusement park to flea market?).

Now that I have you either thoroughly bored or thoroughly interested, the point of this is I saw a television commercial for the flea market and at the bottom of the screen it reads (and I kid you not) "Open seven days a week and Sundays." Does that mean they are open all 8 days of the week? What about Saturdays? Sheesh.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Nut campaign paid off (go figure)

At the end of the television season, CBS announced that it was canceling the show "Jericho". For those not in the know, Jericho is about a small town in Kansas named...Jericho. The premise is several nuclear bombs are detonated in the United States. They obliterate Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas (I think), Lawrence (why?) and some other cities that basically leave theses great United States torn asunder. The show centers on the citizens of Jericho, and their reactions to the aftermath.

When last season ended, neighboring town of Newbern was waging war on the town of Jericho just as military helicopters were flying in to save the day (or help Newbern, we really don't know what they are going to do). At any rate, fans of the show started a very creative nut campaign. They were taking donations from all over the Internet, buying nuts and sending them to CBS claiming they were "nuts" for canceling Jericho.

Well, it worked. On June 6 CBS relented and posted a "we give up" message on their website. You can read it here.

My favorite is the post script in the message:

P.S. Please stop sending us nuts :)

I for one will be happy to see Jericho return. Any show that brings attention to Kansas. That portrays it in a positive light, I want to see more of. Call be crazy, but that's just the way I roll.

Thanks for stopping by.


Technorati Tags: Jericho, CBS, Television, nuts campaign

Free lunches for the summer

I know it is difficult to decide what should be for lunch for the kids while they are out of school. This summer, Topeka Unified School District 501 is giving parents a reprieve from the lunch time blues (not to mention not having to buy food to feed the hollow legs that run around my house).

USD 501 is offering free lunches for kids age 4 - 18 at the Westminster Presbyterian Church 1275 SW Boswell Avenue every Monday through Friday for the summer (I expect them not to have the lunches on holidays though). I don't know why they are doing this. The kids that eat do not need to live in the neighborhood, nor do they not need to be eligible for the free/reduced-cost lunch program for the district. Heck, the kids don't even have to go to public school to get the lunches.

This seems to be an unpublished thing. I cannot find any information about it on the district website, nor the local news rag website, nor the city website. The only way we found out about is that Mrs. Beeson (the neighborhood 'grandma') came by the house on Monday night and told us all about it. Apparently she is doing some chaperoning for the lunches.

Their hopes are to have 20 or more kids eating each day. The lunches are not PB-n-J sandwiches. They are cooked, hot meals. Yesterday my younguns at "chicken rings" (whatever those are) with potato stars and some veggie with milk. All for free! (woo hoo).

Number One Son said it didn't look like enough food to fill him up, but in the end, he ate everything and it was. Little Sister said she wouldn't go today because they are having burritos and she doesn't like burritos. I tried to explain that it was school cafeteria burritos, which meant they probably weren't much like real burritos, but she wasn't having any of that.

Who said there was no such thing as a free lunch?

Thanks for visiting.


Technorati Tags: Free Lunch, Topeka, USD 501

Rrrreeeddddbbbbuuuudddd...

It was a beautiful Saturday here in fly-over country. The sky was that unique shade of bright, happy blue that there really is no name for. The clouds were cottony, billowy and so white they almost shined. The whole scene looked like something off of a postcard. You'd almost half expect to look at that sky and see a little 'C' in a circle in the corner of your vision, claiming a copyright on the whole vista.



As beautiful, bright and sunny as the day was, there was some sadness involved. We removed part of a valued member of our yard today. We had a terrific old redbud tree in our back yard. It has, for the past seven years, provided us with spectacular blossoms to look at, and ample shade to protect us from the sun's harsh heat.



We usually have the family father's day celebration at our home. We cook steaks, and setup a table under the redbud tree. The whole thing was very comfortable and serene. The blossoms, the gentle wind, the shade.



But sadly, the tree did not blossom this year. It did not even leaf. It is dead. Folks in the neighborhood tell me the tree was over 100 years old, the oldest tree in the area. I don't know if that was true or not, but it makes it seem even sadder that the grand old tree just suddenly up and died.



When we moved in there was an old hackberry tree that was about 3/4 dead. We had a tree service take that one down because it was somewhere around 40 feet tall, and gigantic. I watched the tree service folks and how they took down the tree. I found it incredibly fascinating. The way they tied a rope to part of a branch, then again tied the same rope to the same branch somewhat lower down. This allowed the cutter to cut the branch and keel the branch from falling uncontrollably.



I remembered that technique today when we removed the first 1/2 of the dead redbud tree. If I owned a chain saw, we could have taken the entire tree down today. But I don't, so we had to use hand saws and axes to get down what we did manage to remove. The trick with the rope worked splendidly, and thankfully no one was injured, or even came close to being injured.



We are going to have to decide what to replace that tree with. I'd like to get one that gives good shade, and grows fast. I don't really want to wait 10 years before we have good shade again, but I may not have much choice in that.



As always, thanks for visiting!



(Oh, and for the record, I know it was "Rosebud")





Technorati Tags: News From Fly-Over Country, tree removal, redbud

Lessons Learned: weight training

This weeks "Lesson Learned" deals with exercise. Lesson is; free weights are much more difficult than weight machines. Since the boys are out of school, and I no longer get them up at half past four in the morning to exercise with me (I can be nice that way), I decided to switch to free weights for the summer.



Thursday I did my legs. That means squats (rough equivalent - so I thought - to the leg press machine). Now, on the leg press machine, I lifted 390 pounds. For the squats, I put 70 pounds on the bar bell. Here it is, three days later, and my quads (that is the muscle group located on the upper front thigh) feel like knotted ropes every time I walk.



So take heed, switching from machines to free weights can be terribly painful!



And again, thanks for visiting!





Technorati Tags: exercise, weight machines, free weights

Who will crash & burn first?

The morning crew on the radio this morning were discussing Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan and their revolving door trips through rehab. That got me to thinking which one will crash and burn first. That, in turn, got me thinking 'hey, that would make a good poll for the blog.' So here it is. (funny how one's mind tends to wander while driving 70 miles in the rain with the steady thunk, thunk, thunk rhythm of the windshield wipers lulling the driving into a semi hypnotic state).

As The Dish Turns

Episode 1: Woes



We finally made the plunge a couple of months ago. We changed from Cox Communications to Dish Network (via AT&T). We had everything with Cox, phone, television and internet. We looked at the cost and service options, and decided that AT&T with DSL and Dish Network would cost less and we'd get more than with Cox. While the Cox internet started out wicked fast, I don't think they invested anything in their backbone infrastructure for the past several years because it has slowly but surely lost speed over the past two or three years. The slower speed, coupled with the near-crippling affect of their port restrictions (I couldn't hook up to my SQL database from outside my own network), was enough to make me seek an alternative.



I should have received an inkling of a clue on how all of this would proceed by the way it all started. I called AT&T to switch, and this all seemed to go very well on the phone. We setup a time for them to come out and setup the telephone and DSL on one day, and the satellite on a different day since the satellite is actually handled by the Dish Network contractors. Ok, that makes perfect sense, no problems.



We had it setup for, I believe a Tuesday, for them to come out and get the phone and DSL working. I received an email from AT&T stating that on Tuesday they would be out between 8 am and noon. The next day I received a phone call on my cell stating that the number had not yet been released by Cox, so they would not be out the following Tuesday. Then we received a telephone call at home stating that they would be out, just a reminder - it was a recorded message. They weren't out on Tuesday. It was postponed until the next Friday.



They managed to get enough ducks in a row to make it out on Friday and get the phones all hooked up. I got home, plugged in the DSL modem and tried to see what it would be like surfing on DSL over cable. No such luck. We had the phone line, but didn't have the DSL. The instructions said that it might take 10 hours or so for the DSL to be noticed. So I waited until the next day. Still nothing. So I called. And sure enough, the order had gone out the give us the DSL the previous Tuesday, but since we didn't have phone yet, they couldn't Now it would be another three or four days before the DSL is connected (thank goodness I had enough forsight to NOT cancel the cable internet already).



The DSL is up and running, and I have to say, I love it. Other than changing my main IP address every 8 to 10 days, I really do like it. With Cox I had an almost static IP address. It seems the only times it changed was if the model was powered down for more than 10 minutes. I loved it. I run the TeamSpeak server for our little gang of Raven Shield players (we play every Friday - holler at me if you want in, always room for more - lots of fun) anyway, I run the TeamSpeak server for that, and it is always good to have a static IP since everyone outside my network connects via the IP address. With the DSL it sometimes changes from week to week, so I am in the habit of sending out an email every week with the most current IP address for the TeamSpeak server. A minor inconvenience, and I am certain there is a [free] way around it, if I took enough time to locate one.



Once the satellite was installed, I was a happy camper. The installer said he wanted to put the dish on top of our porch if we had no objection. "Pfft, you're the expert man, if it will work there, then go ahead." So he did. Man, I wasn't expecting everything we got. 200 hours of record time. TWO HUNDRED HOURS. We didn't have to holler at the kids for recording 50 Pokemon and Digimon cartoons any longer. With Cox we only had about 20 hours of regular recording, and about 9 hours of HD recording. With Dish Network we have 200 hours of regular recording, and about 90 hours of HD recording. Man I was in hog heaven. Search for "John Wayne", click "record this", click "record this", click "record this" woo hoo! See a commercial for the 'romantic comedy by which all others are judged', cool, the 5/8 would like that, search "An Affair To Remember" - click "record this". Excellent! No worries about running out of space!



And everything was peachy. We didn't even lose signal during that horrendous storm where the basement flooded and Shunga Creek flooded. It was all Jake man. But (and there is always a 'but' isn't there?) but that came to an end this past weekend. This past weekend, things weren't peachy, and they weren't Jake, heck, they really were even Myron. They just plain stunk. Over the Memorial Day weekend, things got hinky. We had a little bit of rain on Saturday night, and the satellite went out. No big deal, but come Sunday, it was still out. Ok. Time to call the Dish Network folks to see what the heck is happening. I call and wait on hold for what seems like hours (it was probably closer to 30 minutes only) before a cheery guy finally answers. Being a mostly technology capable guy, I have already run through all the setup menus and what not, but this guy wanted to do it again. Alright. I'm a fairly easy-going guy, I'll humor him. It takes us about another 30 minutes to run through all of that. Still no signal (see, I could have told him that 30 minutes ago, but I was nice, and I humored him - see how nice I am?). So he switches me over to another lady after about 10 minutes on hold.



I explain that my fear is the Einstein who installed the dish in the first place two months ago didn't think about the near future. A near future in which trees will have leaves and bushes will be bushy. He put the disk on the roof of our back porch. This was all fine and dandy in the winter, when there were no bushy bushes and no leaves on the trees. Now though, there are copious amounts of leaves on the trees to interfere (at least it looks like they would by way of my eye-balling the dish trajectory). This nice lady (everyone I spoke with seemed very patient and pleasant, none of the CS people ticked me off - which isn't very difficult thing to do for CS people because when I call customer service, I always expect SERVICE).



At any rate, the nice lady (who, although while very nice, pretty much had an 'I could care less' tone in her voice) told me they could have someone come out on Tuesday the 29th to look at the dish. "You mean we have to go the whole weekend without television?" "Yes, I'm sorry, but Tuesday is the earliest we can have someone come out and look at your dish." She also politely informed that since it was installed less than 90 days ago, I would not be charged the $50 service fee for having someone come out to fix the dish. "What do you mean service fee?" "You won't be charged, since you are within your 90 day warranty." "You mean to tell me that if I had gotten this service a month earlier, and the installer put the dish in the wrong place, you would charge me $50 for you people to come out and fix your equipment that you installed improperly?" "Yes sir, that is the service agreement you have with AT&T." "I'll tell you what, if there ever comes a time where I have to pay you to fix your mistakes you made with your equipment, then you can come out and get the equipment for free because I'll never pay it." "Yes sir, but if there is any time left on your contra--" "I don't have a contract, I am contract free. I can quit you today and suffer zero penalties." I told her to make note in whatever files she wanted to about my objection to my paying them to fix their equipment. She assured me she did just that (yeah, right, I was born at night, but not last night). I also explained that which I would pay more for less with cable, having 200 channels with the satellite just doesn't matter because right now I have 200 channels of absolutely nothing.



Tuesday rolled around and they never showed up. My wife called them about 2 in the afternoon (they were supposed to be there between 8 am and noon). She was told on the phone that someone was scheduled for Tuesday the 5th of June. But they were sorry for the mix up and would send someone out on Thursday the 31st between 8 and noon. Currently it is going on 3 pm, and no one came to fix the dish. It has been mostly working since it came back on Monday afternoon. Only going on when it sprinkled (which, seriously, has been quite a bit lately). This whole thing has really left a bad taste in my mouth. The 5/8 wants to switch back to Cox for television, and I have 1/2 a mind to do just that. Not only because if we had a problem, they were responsive. But also because, even though we were told that we would receive the local channels in HD, I don't think we really do, they are just not near a crisp and clear as they were coming through the cable, and as the other HD channels are - so I think they were just out and out lying about that part. But that really isn't the issue here. The issue is with the total lack of customer service. By neglecting us - especially new customers like us - as they are, they are in essence telling us they don't want our business. It stinks.



So who knows what will happen next? I'm thinking I'll call the AT&T number, instead of the Dish Network number, and complain to them. And when the Dish Network people finally come out (if they ever do) tell the 5/8 to conveniently be on her way out the door and not let them do any work so they will have to make yet another appointment to come out. It would probably cost some outages in service between appointments, but it might be worth it. I'll let you know what happens in the ever continuing saga of "As The Dish Turns".



Thanks for visiting, and letting me vent!





Technorati Tags: AT&T, Dish Network, Customer Service, Rip Off, Poor Serivce, No Reception

News from fly-over country

It has been a while since I have posted anything really, so I thought I'd try to get something up today. It is a slow day at the office. The day after a long weekend usually is. None of the management is in (natch) and there is not that much to do. So don't tell the little dictator in the corner that I'm using work time to hash out this post (it will be our little secret).



The past couple of weeks have been a flurry of activity. Softball games started for Little Sister's softball team. Number One Son graduated from the 8th grade. Thankfully, and with a little prodding from mom and dad, he decided to attend the 8th grade after graduation party. I wasn't worried knowing it would be a safe venue being in the Church basement.



Last school party, he took the camcorder and had a lot of fun video taping the event and people. He couldn't this time because I allowed him to take it on the last day of school, and it came back in operable. He claims he has no idea what happened, but there as a smallish broken piece of plastic that looks as if it came out of the inside of the camera. I had to practically pry the thing open to get the tape out. Inspection of the tape led me to the conclusion that the tape had gotten eaten by the machine (it was all crinkled and twisted). Which led me to the conclusion that the tape was stuck and it was yanked or otherwise forceably removed which, in turn, broke the little internal piece that landed so nicely in the camera bag.



So now we have no video camera. I don't know if it is repairable, or even where to go to get it repaired. I supposed I'll have to scour the Sony website to see where the nearest repair shop is, then weight whether it is worth getting fixed. At about $800 new three years ago, I have to think it will be worth getting repaired. But if the repair bill nears the $400 mark, I'll probably shuck it and save for a new one. Bummer because we had this great idea for the comming election cycle of doing "Darth Vader for President" spoof commericals and posting them to the YouTube. The kids gave me a Darth Vader voice changing mask for Christmas, and I thought I'd dress up in a suit with the mask it it would be really fun to make and edit them. But that is out the window now. So if anyone wants to do it, take the idea an run with it. I did check, and websites like Vader2008.com are available if anyone wants to know.



Number One Son was sorely afeared that I'd be angry, but I was more dissapointed than anything else. I knew in my heart of hearts, that if he kept using it without my supervision, it was going to break. I knew it because, like most things, he just doesn't have a sense of responsibility about it. At least that is what it seems. He doesn't even care much for his own stuff sometimes, so I was terribly dissapointed, but I wasn't all that angry. Sometimes, things happen that just aren't worth getting angry over. Now, if it had been my still camera, then I'd have gone through the roof! (but then, I would not have let him take the still camera anyway).



All this begs the question, why does the still camera mean more to me than the video camera? I spent about the same amount of money on them both. But I do use the still camera considerably more than I do the video camera. Which is kind of odd since I really enjoy editing and sprucing up the home movies on the computer. Probably because for photos, I don't need any other device to view them. Once printed, I can give them away and others can enjoy them without the use of a computer or a television or any other device.



Little Sister did splendidly in her first softball game (apperantly there were two other games that were played but somehow didn't make it onto our schedule). She is really a good hitter. She seems to know where the ball will be, and simply puts her bat in the path of the ball. She scored and her team won (we don't keep score...officially). I believe this week we are playing her cousin's team (or it may be next week). That is always fun. Should be a better outcome this year since most of her cousin's team moved up to slow-pitch softball this year and other than her cousin, the team is fairly new to the game.



Number Two Son was sick most of this week. Seems to have the stuff that Little Sister had two weeks ago, and I had last week. That is some killer cold. Not enough that it makes you want to go to the doctor, but right there on the cusp. Coughing, sore throat and just generally having zero energy. I was barely able to put the coffee cup to my lips and sip. It was terrible, I'm telling you.



But he managed to get over it by Monday, so he was able to spend the day with me and poppy while we put up security cameras in poppy's apartment building. Our goal was to get all three installed, we succeeded in installing just one. Boy that was a bugger. Now I know whey those professionals charge so much for installation.



Well, that's the news from fly-over country. I want to thank you all for visiting, and have a great week!



Technorati Tags: fly-over country, news, topeka, kansas

LOST season finale

This season LOST went out with a bang. Not just a little band either, a huge, gi-normous bang. I was sorry to see Charlie go, but one of the main characters had to go. It is the way of things. Hurly was just too lovable of a loser oaf - and nobody would really care if Sayid or Sawyer bit the bullet. No, it had to be Charlie. All too lovable Charlie. Charlie who was the last in his band to get into the drug scene, and (we presume) the last to get out. Other than Locke, Charlie has made the most dramatic change in his life on the Island. He kicked drugs, he found love, and a general purpose for his life, obtained a family. Like the guy in the WWII movies with the 'girl back home', Charlie was ripe for killing off. I was sad to see him go, but it just felt too right. He died with a great purpose - at least that is what he thought. Desmond's visions of Charlie's death finally come true. Although, I don't know why he didn't close the door from the OUTSIDE of the room when the room started to flood, but he seemed content with his destiny.



The world seems to be falling apart around Ben - the bug-eyed leader of 'The Others.' All his best laid plans are unravelling. He didn't expect Juliette to turn against him (at least, to this point we don't THINK he meant for that to happen). He didn't expect to have seven of his people blown to smithereens while attempting to abduct the women survivors (at least, we don't THINK he meant for that to happen).



The one-eyed Russian seems to have a terrific knack for surviving things he shouldn't survive. First the security system around the compound of 'The Others', then the harpoon to the chest. And speaking of that compound. They had electricity and running water. Why didn't the survivors move to the compound after Ben & Co. abandoned it? They had houses and beds and all that nifty keen 'modern living' stuff (bathrooms). Seems to me, if I were on the Island, I would have moved in a hurry.



And of course, no one expected Locke to stay down. Seems he had given up until Walt (Jacob??) appeared to him and told him to get off his duff and complete his mission (whatever that is). It has been a contention with me as to what happened to Michael and Walt. They left in a boat when the EMP was released, but that should have (you'd think) mess up the boat's fuctionality. And if Desmond couldn't get away from the Island in his boat, how come Walt and Michael could in theirs? AND why haven't they tried to send help? Or maybe they had, and that is where the boat off the coast comes from.



It seems that this season we have completely abandonded the Dharma Initiative and whatever company that was for which they setup all of those websites with clues to nowhere. We learned that when Dharma landed on that Island, it was already inhabited by what the DI's called 'The Hostiles.' Some of these hostiles haven't aged in the years from when Ben arrived as a young teenager, through present time.



In LOST we have almost arrived at the point where, as long as we know whether the survivors are rescued, the rest really doesn't matter much. Where did the Hostiles come from? What created that smoke beast? What was the source of that chain ranking sound when Locke was almost pulled into the pit? Who is Jacob? All of these questions, as the show goes on and on seem less important. It is geting to where it doesn't really matter what the answers are. As long as we know, ultimately, if the survivors are rescued, we can all sleep peacefully.



And as usual, there were the flashbacks scattered throuhgout the episode. It was Jacks turn again. In them we encounter a bearded, suicidal, pill popping Dr. Jack. It seems his life is in ruins. He has a run-in with is pregnant ex-wife after he pulls a lady and her kid from a burning car. We see him stop by the funeral of someone. We never find out who it is, but the casket is rather short. In the end though, we are treated to the fact that it was not a flash back we were viewing, but rather, a flash forward. This is the future. Jack's life is in shambles after his return from the Island and he wants to go back. He meets up with Kate (who is looking rather hot - despite her driving a Volvo). I am starting to think the funeral he went to, that no one attended, was for Ben.



I can't wait until next season!



And thanks for stopping by.





Technorati Tags: ABC, LOST, Television

Lifetime Channel movie in the making

We received a call from Gertrude last week. She used to live across the street from us with her three kids and alcoholic husband. Johnny was a consummate drunkard. He functioned alright most of the time, but there were times when he didn't, and everyone knew he was drunk. But he didn't realize we all knew, and we just went along letting him believe he was fooling us all. Like that time he fell down the steps on his front porch and needed help to get back up and into the house. He twisted his ankle right smartly in the fall. He blamed on a loose brick in the walk, but we all knew the reason was loose brain cells floating in Vodka.



Enough was enough eventually for Gertrude and Johnny. About two years ago she kicked him out of the house. Then sold the house a moved to one that was a bit newer, and required a bit less maintenance than the 90+ year old houses in our neighborhood. We kept in touch with her, two of her kids matched the ages of two of our kids. We did New Year's eve together a couple of years ago, and did some school functions, Casino Night, Carnivals and the like together. We aren't by any means the best of friends, but we are friends.



Gertrude calls and tells the 5/8th that she had been in contact with someone she had known in high school. Now, this is where the whole thing turns into something you might see in a Lifetime channel movie. This fellow Gertrude knew (I don't know if she 'knew' knew him - as in the Biblical sense) in high school has been 'looking for her for several years.' (warning Will Robinson, warning). He now lives in Maine and has a string of dry cleaners or convenience stores or some type of successful (presumably) shops. And after having flown out to Maine to re-connect with this fellow, she is now packing up her bags and moving to Maine. Not just to Maine mind you, she is actually moving her and her kids directly into his house.



Call me cynical, and I truly hope this thing pans out for her - I think everyone has the chance at a happy, long lasting relationship - but this thing just doesn't sound right. Here is a 40 something guy with (presumably) financial success in his businesses, and he is single. Growing up, that is what my mom would call "either gay or damaged goods." I certainly hope this doesn't turn out like a Lifetime movie where he beats her and she has to set him on fire while he sleeps, but I fear something like that is on her horizon. Hey, Valarie Bertenelli could always play her in the movie (no, Gertrude does not look like Valarie, but does that really matter?).

Call the exterminator, because "Bug" is coming...

I like scary movies. Not those slasher gore and blood movies that are so readily available. I'm not a huge fan of Jason or Freddy (although, I did like the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie), or Michael (again, the first Halloween was great). But good scary thrillers get my blood pumping.

Movies like "The Exorcist" and "The Omen" (the original, not the remake) are the kind I am talking about. Thrillers that make your heart race and keep you on the edge of your seat. From the trailer, "Bug" looks like it could be one of those movies. It is from the director of "The Exorcist" so I'm thinking it is not going to be some teen-ager slasher movie. There is a good chance this bug movie will be better than that snakes on a plane movie (I didn't go see that, heck I didn't even rent it).

The movie posters are enticing in themselves. Poster A is very creepy and is uncomfortable to look at. If I hadn't seen the trailer, I'm not so sure I would go and see this movie based on that poster. It is just too weird. Poster B is much easier to look at, and gives a feeling of mystery and intrigue and not really knowing what is going on. Poster B looks more like the kind of movie I would want to see.

Personally, since seeing the trailer, I'm waiting for this movie to hit the theaters. The trailer makes it look suspenseful, creepy and scare without being gory. It certainly looks more interesting than I imagined a bug movie could look!

Poster A:


Poster B:

This post brought to you by LionsGate Films

Paying debt

I almost forgot. I lost a bet. That is correct, I was wrong. I know, I know, it is so hard to believe, but it happened. Mark your calendars because it doesn't happen much!



At the spring fling on Saturday, Eldest Boy won some cinnamon rolls playing cinnamon roll poker. Sunday morning I had seen a couple of the cinnamon rolls on the kitchen table in their container. On the way home from getting the pump at Lowe's he mentioned being hungry. I told him he still has a couple of cinnamon rolls at home he could eat one when we got home.



He explained to me that the rolls were all gone. I insisted that I had seen a couple on the kitchen table. We made a bet. If I lost, I had to make a post on here that I lost. Well, I lost. I was wrong.



Mark your calendars that on Sunday 6 May, 2007 I was wrong. This doesn't happen very often.



Debt Paid.

We're going to PUMP YOU UP!

I was a beautiful weekend in Topeka this past weekend. Well, at least Saturday was beautiful. Saturday we attended our first Mater Dei Spring Fling. The spring fling is a fancy name for a school carnival. I don't know why they didn't have it in the fall as other schools do (and as Assumption did before the merge), but that is the way they roll at Mater Dei now. It was fun. The kids had a great time. Little Sister ran off with her friends almost as soon as we arrived. She hung with us long enough for us to buy her some tickets, but after that, there was little use for mom and dad. The boys showed up late as they went canoeing out at Lake Shawnee with the Boy Scouts.



The Troop is planning on a three day float trip this summer, probably in June. The usually try to fit one in every summer. Two summers ago they cut it short because the temperatures were well over 100 degrees and there was worry about sunstroke and heatstroke. That year the oldest was with them while I was with the middle boy at the Webelos three day summer camp. That was one hot weekend. I must have gone through seven or eight gallons of water each day. It was so hot that even getting in the lake to swim wasn't much of a relief.



So the boys showed up quite a bit later than the rest of us, but they still had a good time. There were some activities that were geared towards the older kids. There was a bungee run, and an inflatable obstacle course. The parents and some of the kids seemed a bit dissapointed that there was no cake walk or cake shuffle. That had always been a great revenue stream. At Assumption we always had sugar poker, which was another great revenue generator. People would spend $10 in tickets to try and win $2 worth of sugar. The poker at this carnival was for cinnamon rolls. The rolls were good, heck they are delicious, but I simple didn't see people lined up to win rolls, like they were to win the sugar.



In the evening there was a dinner. Ribs ($9) or chicked ($5). We took mom with us as she was alone for the evening since poppy was up at the casino (natch!). The dinner was good, the ribs and chicken were excellent. The sauce could have been a bit hotter, but I suppose they had to cater to the greatest amount of people as far as the heat level of the sauce goes. We didn't win anything in the raffle, but we only put about 15 tickets in so that is not real surprise. All in all, Saturday was good, day. The kids had fun and nobody ticked me off.



Sunday. Sunday was a different story. The 5/8th had gone to bed early on Saturday night as she was simply worn out by the days activities. I stayed up and watched Saw III. It was ok as those types of movies go. I'm not a huge blood and gore fan, but I like to see what contraptions the Jigsaw Killer will come up with for each succeding movie. It always amazes me what people can imagine. I watch things like that and think 'man, someone had to think that up. Thank God he writes movies and doesn't act out these dark thoughts.'



On Sudnay morning I awoke and the rain was pouring down. Coming down in sheets. The light outside was that muted purplish blue of thunderstorms. The lightning and thunder were in full force. 'This is a Monopoly kind of day' I thought. 'After breakfast, I'll have Little Sister break out her Sponge Bob Monopoly game, and we'll just have a great family game day and play Monopoly all day, and crack open some rootbeer and have some rootbeer floats and just have a great day.'



Making my way to the kitchen I pulled open the freezer to find some sausage to go with my eggs, but couldn't locate it. I sent Middle Boy down to the basement to check the big freezer for some. "Oh wow, the basement's full of water." he exclaimed. I replied that the basement gets a bit damp when it rains. It always has. We have a heavy raid, and we get some water on the floor. Nothing much, but the floor gets a bit damp. After a while though, I thought I'd better go and see because he knows the basement gets damp, and yet he thought enough about the wetness to say something. I peeked down the basement steps and sure enough, we had about 1/4 of water covering about 75% of the floor.



Well, CRAP family game dat was just cancelled, and here comes 'family clean the basement day.' After returning from Lowe's where I purchased their last affordable water pump (Home Depot was already sold out of them by the time I got there), we set to work. Really, it could sort of, kind of, in a round about way be seen as a good thing the basement succumbed to the water. Some parts had gotten fairly rank in the junk pile categroy. So this was a time we could get all that junk out. We'd been meaning to for some time now, but just didn't have the motivation. The wet floor gave us the motivation. At least we weren't alone. Driving through the alley one could see most of the houses in the area had garden hoses sticking into the alley with water spewing out of them. Since the alley doesn't usually require watering for the weeds to grow, I am assuming they, too, were draining their basements.



And that was the weekend in Topeka. It was wet and messy, but it wasn't near as bad as those that suffered so tremendously in Greensburg, KS. Man, that place has been almost literally wiped off the map.











Technorati Tags: Storm, Flooding, Rain, Water, Carnival

Memed (again)

Ok, I still don't know what a meme is really, but I'm a good sport. I've been tagged by Christy of Christy's Coffee Break for five reasons why I blog.

One
This ol' boy has things to say, and he wants to say 'em.

Two
Because someone has to chronicle life in the slow lane. Fly-over country is dismissed by too many too often. Things that happen here may not be exciting, but they are real.

Three
It is fun. I enjoy the comments, and seeing people visit my little corner of the world.

Four
Money, yes, I know it is the root (or is that route) of all evil. But everyone I know would not mind having a little more. I don't get much from it, but every little bit helps pay for the fun stuff.

Five
Community. Seriously. Not when I started. I had no idea about what this whole blog thing was. But I have since found people in blogging communities like MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, etc. that are fun to interact with.

So there are my five. Now I tag the following folks:

I'm forty-what??!!
Becoming and Staying Debt Free
Make Money Online The Quick and Easy Way!
Big Poppa G's Fun Stuff And Movie Reviews (man that's a long title)
All Aboard
Rantings, Ramblings, and Other Miscellaneous Stuff

Ok, I was supposed to tag 5 other bloggers, but I tagged six. That's just how I roll. Deal with it baby.

And thanks for visiting!





Technorati Tags: Why I Blog, Meme

a pair o' ducks

I am a freak for time travel shows and movies. I don't know what it is about them, but when time travel is involved, I almost always have to see it. This kind of weakness has forced me to view movies such as "The Butterfly Effect", "The Butterfly Effect II" and "Millennium". So I was really excited about last night's "Heroes." The teasers all week promised a "what if" style of episode, that is, what if the explosion in New York wasn't stopped. What if the bad guy doesn't get caught. In essence, what if Isaac Mendez's visions come true. And it was everything I had hoped it to be.

Basic premise is, Hiro found his sword, grabbed Ando and transported both of them 5 years in the future. New York has been devestated. Nathan Petrelli is the Prez. Hiro heads to Isaac Mendez's studio not knowing that just before he transported, Sylar opened Isaac's head and had a little snack. While in Isaac's studio, Hiro runs into....Hiro.

WARNING: If you TIVOed this, or if you watch it Fridays on SciFi network, don't read any further.

Most time travel stuff deals with people from the future heading into the past. These actions can create a paradox. The problem comes because one never really knows what actions lead to other actions, which lead to other actions which lead...you get the picture. It is called the butterfly effect (not the movie). It is the notion that a butterfly beats it's wings in China, causing air
movement. This air movement causes some other action, which cause something else to occur, and the next thing you know, you have a monsoon in Hawaii.

So here is my paradox for this time travel adventure that I am guessing will never be answered, and that the writers are hoping doesn't get brought up much (yeah, like geeks don't watch this show. puuuuhleeeeeze). Ok, so future Hiro recounts his battle with Sylar, and how Sylar didn't die because he had the cheerleader's regenerative powers. But as we know the Claire was alive and well and working in a diner in future-Hiro's timeline (at least until Sylar - in the guise of President Nathan Petrelli - kills her). That means that Sylar did not kill the cheerleader in the past, and did not have her regenerative powers during his battle with future-Hiro. So in the battle with future-Hiro, Sylar should have died. But he didn't because he had killed the cheerleader and had her powers, but he didn't kill the cheerleader and take her powers because past-Hiro caused Peter to save her, thereby denying Sylar her powers, but he had her powers because future-Hiro could not kill him.

See how that all works into a nastly little loop? That is the paradox created when the cheerleader did not die. So by saving the cheerleader, it should have allowed future-Hiro to kill Sylar. Still would not have saved the world because it was Peter that destroyed New York and not Sylar. But that is something different completely (probably, future-Hiro did not know it was Peter and not Sylar that was the destroyer).



Technorati Tags: Heroes, Time Travel, Paradox, Hiro

I'm a hot toe-picker!

I know it may seem hard to imagine, but growing up and living in Topeka is not the cat's meow it may seem to be on the surface. This is not a destination town for anyone (okay, except maybe state politicians...but they are barely people anyway). Topeka is, for lack of a better word, boring. When you tell someone you are from Topeka, the silence is so loud you can barely hear the crickets chirp.

Television and movies use all kinds of different places in their plots. Almost never do they ever use Topeka. Sometimes they might mention Kansas. I think the problem is that they don't want to have to explain to the folks watching the movie or TV program that Kansas is not the mythical state where Marshal Dillon lived, but instead a real, live state. Heck, most people don't even realize that Topeka is the home base for the notorious Phelps cult of 'god caused 9/11' fame.

So, anyway, when Topeka gets mentioned in a national TV show or movie, it is kind of a big deal for those of us who live here. For instance, some time ago, one of the hotel guests on Las Vegas (one of my fav shows) was from Topeka. Heck, the 5/8th and I were so excited about that we even stopped the recording and backed it up to hear it again, and to get a better look at the character's ID. And sure enough, they even had a semi-valid zip code (our zip code starts with 666 - which may explain that Phelps cult thing after all).

Then for quite some time, my kids have, on and off, run around the house claiming "Its hot in Topeka." I wasn't sure what this was, but I found out today. I had some extra time, so I hit the YouTube and put "Topeka" in the search box. What came back was the following animated segment:

I found this segment fairly hilarious, I don't know why. My kids tell me it is from a cartoon called "Foster Home For Imaginary Creatures" or something like that. At any rate, Topeka was mentioned in a national cartoon, maybe the little blue guy caused some kids to google Topeka so they could learn something about it. Probably not, but a guy can dream can't he?

XXXs and OOOs

Little Sister is not big on displays of affection since about the time she was about two. Between two and maybe three and a half or four, it was like pulling teeth to get a hug from her. Oh, for her mother, the hugs and kisses were a plenty, but for anyone else, not so much. In the past four years or so, she has gotten much more liberal with her hugs. Giving hugs to dad, and the brothers and even her Nana and granddad.

I suppose it could be said she gets this part of her personality from me. Rumor has it when I was just a tyke, the only persons in the world who could pick me up were my mother and my gramma Helen. And the only reason gramma Helen could pick me up is because she didn't take jack from anybody, any time, anywhere. She was the kind of woman who could make an IRS agent call her "Ma'am", and follow orders as if he were some kindergartener lining up in the hallway. No, really - one time she caught some guy trying to break into her car, and she attacked him with her giant old lady purse, and this was when she was in her 70s! I'm not kidding, that was one tough old broad. She worked almost every day until she was finally hospitalized, too weak to do most anything, at the age of 97. But I digress. She, other than dear ole mom, were the only two people who could pick me up when I was a baby. At least, that is the rumors - I don't really remember my baby-hood all that well.

Kisses...kisses are another story. Since she was two, I have received two kisses from her. I don't know if she realizes how that feels to a father, to not get a kiss from his only daughter. It didn't seem to phase her in the least. After about a year in kiss exile, she finally let me kiss her goodnight on the head or cheek. I tricked her into it though. I would give her a kiss on the cheek, and she would wipe it off. I explained to her that she could not wipe off dad kisses, that by rubbing the spot she was only rubbing it in farther and that is what helps her to grow. So she quit trying to rub off my pecks.

Once, after she had fallen asleep on the couch and after I had dutifully carried her up and laid her in her bed and told her good night, she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I don't know if this really counts an official kiss because she was tired and mostly asleep and I cannot be certain she was aware of her actions. Several other times I caught her slipping up and almost, but not quite, kissing me good night.

Then last night, out of the blue, as she was giving me my customary good night hug, she tilted her head up, hesitated, and gave me a peck on the cheek. She looked me in the eyes as if seeking approval. It seemed as if she wanted to kiss me good night, but wasn't certain that it was an appropriate action. This struck me as somewhat strange. Maybe I read it all wrong, but that is the impression I received.

For the past six years, I had been pining for that stupid little display of affection. I had been lamenting that I did not receive kisses from my little girl. But last night I realized, it ain't all that. The kiss was nice, it made me feel good. But it didn't make me believe that she had any more affection for me than she did yesterday. It wasn't like it sealed any bond between us. It wasn't like, suddenly she liked me more, or cared about me more. It just was.

I realize now that the kiss I had been wanting was not all that important. Like when one wants something they cannot have, only to obtain it and find out it wasn't all that important after all. The kiss did not change any of my feelings for my daughter. It did not make me love her any more. Just as I realize that the kiss was not a result of her loving me any more now than before. I don't know why she gave me the kiss. I will probably never know. She is a very guarded little girl. She keeps things like that to herself. If I were to ask her, she would simply look at me and not say a word.

Gift giving occasions on the horizon

Everyone who is anyone knows that fast coming our way is Mother's Day. Now is about the right time to head online and buy a gift for that special mother in your life. I love shopping online. It is easy, saves on gas, and I don't have to go to the mall where the crowds will just tick me off.



Some sites, like Coupon Chief offer special deals. You hit their site, and they have a list of stores for which they have coupon codes. They have deals at places like Sears, Lane Bryant, HP, Diamonds.com, HP.



Come to think of it, just after Mother's Day is Father's Day, and what better place to shop for dear old dad than the HP Store? Seriously though, moms get the good stuff. Diamonds, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers, food processors. What do dads get? Dads get a tie. Dads get gypped. So, head on over the HP store and get dad something he deserves, like digital cameras, or an HP tx1000z Notebook!



This post sponsored by:

Coupon Chief

74.7!!!

Wow, it is amazing what good tires and fresh oil will do for one's mileage. Yesterday to-and-from work, my little roller skate managed 74.7 miles per gallon. This was one of my best mileage days. There was one day, about three or four years ago, that I got - now, I know this is barely believable, but it is true - 100.2 miles per gallon on the way to work. This was before work moved from I-29 and Armour to Mission Towers. I have never, ever gotten even anywhere close to that again. I suppose it was the correct mix of tail wind and humidity and temperature.

Now THIS is cool

The BBC reports that scientists have discovered a new mineral in a mine in Siberia. A mineral with a unique makeup. The chemical formula of the mineral is "sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide."

For those not in the 'know' that is almost exactly, but not quite, the chemical make of...wait for it... KRYPTONITE. That is correct boys and girls, the evil green crystal rock that makes Superman mere putty in the hands of his enemies.

In the movie "Superman Returns" evil doer Lex Luthor steals a box of kryptonite from a museum, the box contains the formula "sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with flourine" - an almost exact match to the mineral discovered in Jadar, Siberia. Sadly, they cannot pay homage to the 'inventors' of the chemical formula:

The mineral cannot be called kryptonite under international nomenclature rules because it has nothing to do with krypton - a real element in the Periodic Table that takes the form of a gas.

Instead, they are going to call it "Jadarite" after the place in which it was discovered. But hey, if only they could merge flourine with this stuff, maybe we'll have a defense when those pesky Kryptonians break out of the Phantom Zone and come looking for trouble!





Technorati Tags: New Mineral, Kryptonite, Jadarite, Siberia, Superman, Lex Luthor

Still learning new stuff

This weekend Little Sister got to pick out the Saturday family movie. She wanted to see "The Ant Bully." It is an animated flick about how ants are better than humans because they all work together for the greater good of the colony. But that isn't what I learned about.

The disc we received was damaged. The first 45 minutes of the show worked just fine, but then started to skip and pause and the sound would cut out and the image would break up. I kicked myself for not cleaning the disc before playing it - one of the kids put the movie in. Usually I clean the discs before watching them because the Einsteins at the video store always seem to manhandle the discs getting them ripe with finger prints.

I removed the disc and cleaned it off, chose the scene from the index about where it was we were at when the trouble started. The cleaning did on good. Still the same problem. That is where the teenager came to the rescue. He took the disc into the bathroom and coated with with toothpaste. After that, the movie worked flawlessly. I don't know what toothpaste does for the disc, and neither does he, but he says it works on his console games, so he thought it might work on the DVD as well.

Toothpaste to fix problem DVDs. Who knew?

Technorati Tags: DVD, Scratches, Toothpaste, Ant Bully

Learn something every day

I learned something I consider rather valuable with my last post. That is, that the OpenOffice document writer makes a pretty crappy editor for writing a blog post before posting it. It puts hard returns at the end of each line, not just the lines you want hard returns at.

Lesson learned. Maybe there is a setting in the properties would would stop this from happening, but I don't really feel much like looking for at this point.

Thanks for visiting - and have a GREAT day!

---

UPDATE: Holy Cow! I didn't realize just how bad it messed up the formatting. Looks like is saves everything in HTML, which would be fine if 1) I knew it was going to do that and b) I wanted it to do that. Sheesh.

Waiting at the tire shop

Sitting in the lobby of the Kansas Tire and Auto shop waiting for them to fix the hamster that runs around in the wheel to power my little nothing of a car. I have a Honda Insight - sure it is supposed to be good for the environment, but my purchase of such a vehicle was purely selfish - I had to admit it but it is the truth - commuting 70 miles each way to work everyday, I needed something that would get good mileage, and, seriously, without embellishment, I have a 58 MPG lifetime average on the car. That means over the course of the 172K + miles I have put on it in the past six years, I have saved...well, A LOT of money in gas. I spend about five and a half dollars a day on gas with that little thing.

So anyway, I'm sitting in the lobby of the Kansas Tire and Auto while they are replacing the front tires of my roller skate, and my mind starts wondering. They have no TV for those waiting and no free coffee (or even pay-for coffee) like most places do. So my mind starts thinking. This is usually a fairly dangerous thing. My mind goes places that Angels fear to tread when it is without stimulation. It makes it's own stimulation, and then takes some wild turns down tangents most people have never considered.

Luckily, this time, my mind was still mostly asleep after staying up so late playing Raven Shield with my buds, and getting up early to get the car here for the new tires, so I started thinking, and I mean seriously thinking, about what I would do if I won the lottery.

What I would do if I won the lottery:

Really, my plans for any lottery winnings would depend on how much was won. But lets pretend it is the $300 million lottery. Taking the cash and after taxes, I'm guessing there would be about 125 million simolians in my bank account after all the dust settled and Uncle Sam got his share.

First, I would give ½ to charity. That would be about $62.5 million dollars (I think most of it to charities the help the families of US service men and women who have been killed or injured). Then I would openly challenge John "you little people don't do enough for the poor" Edwards to match the donation.

Second, I would setup a college fund for any and all family members. The fund would be such that any family member who wanted to tap into it could. It would be a small interest loan (like 1.5% or something ridiculously low), unless the student received at least 4.0 GPA, then the loan would be forgiven and they would not have to pay any amount back. This might seem like a high GPA, but when one doesn't have to work, and all of their expenses are paid, and they get a monthly allowance for pocket money, there should be absolutely no reason why one cannot get a 4.0 GPA.

Third, I would hire a plumber and have all the plumbing in my house re-done.

Fourth, I would hire an electrician and have my entire house re-wired.

Fifth, I would quit my job and tell the little dictator in the corner office to 'have a nice day'

Sixth I would seriously investigate what it would take to get a fuel cell generator for my house. Not only would it generate electricity, but also produce water. And, if rumors be true, any electricity one produces but doesn't use, gets pushed back onto the grid, so the electric company has to pay them for the power (it would be SOOOO cool to get a check from those folks for once!). And for water, if I could get off the city water supply and have pure H2O - well, all the better.

Seventh, I would get the 5/8th that Jaguar she has always lusted after.

Eighth, I would by myself a big fat Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and ride the Al-Can highway on my Hog, camping from here to Alaska. Well, okay, I can get one for the 5/8th also, and she could come if she wanted to (I guess).

After all that, I figured I'd have about 20 or 30 million clams left, and I could use part of that to open a coffee shop. A roomy place, with tons of hard back books and giant, comfy leather chairs and big couches. Like those libraries one sees in those movies made from Agatha Christie novels. People could come in, be comfortable, enlarge their knowledge with old dusty books, drink coffee (or chai tea or whatever else suits them) and surf the 'Net if they so wanted. Oh, and board games, I'd have board games for people to play, checkers, chess, Chinese checkers, pente, Monopoly, stuff like that (hey, anything to keep them in the shop drinking coffee or what not). I'd need the business because, with only 20 or 30 million bucks left, even if on got only 5% interest on investments, that is only about 1 or 1.5 million dollars a year, and who on God's green earth can live on that pittance? I'd need the business to supplement that measly income.




Technorati Tags: Honda Insight, Winning The Lotto, Charity, Dreams

Religious History

I have, for years, been interested in apocrypha and the gnostic texts and other books of antiquity and scripture that is not part of the canonical bible. There is a very good website which hosts these texts at the Internet Sacred Text Archive. The texts contained in that site are all in the public domain. One can also get a CD or DVD of the site's content.

At about Easter time (which is the usual time for this stuff) the History Channel aired several shows, "Banned From the Bible" and "Banned From the Bible II". Four hours of information discussing ancient texts which, while widely read and well known at the time, were for whatever reasons not included in the official canonical bible we all know and love today.

There are a variety of reasons why these books were left out. Some, especially the gnostic texts, were (and still are by some) considered heretical. As more and more of the earth is used and settled upon and trampled, more and more of these ancient writings are coming to light. They are being found where they were left thousands of years ago. This is terribly fascinating to me.

One of the books discussed in the section we watched last night (we Tivo'ed the shows for later consumption) discussed the "Testament of Solomon". This is one book I would like to read. I couldn't find it on the Sacred-Texts archive, but I'm certain enough of an internet search will reveal one or more translations. In this book, which was discovered as a 14th or 15th century manuscript, but is believed to me much older due to several early AD and even some BC texts that reference the writing.

In "Testament of Solomon", Solomon is not only super wise and super rich, he is also quite the wizard. He is given (I suppose by God or an angel) a special ring which gives him the ability to control Satan and the demons (like "Lord of the Rings" - kinda). He uses the demons as slave labor to build the great Temple of Solomon.

Sheesh, sometimes I just ramble don't I.

Hey, thanks for visiting!





Technorati Tags: Religion, Apocrypha, Ancient Scripture, History, Gnostics

Viva Las Vegas!

When I was a kid, I used to watch a television show named 'VEGA$'. For three seasons Dan Tanna - played by Robert Urich - tooled around Las Vegas in his little red corvette, helping people and doing the right thing. This was in the late 70's. I think the show started in 78 or 79, but I can't be 100% on that.

That show started my fascination with Las Vegas. Since then there have other shows based in Vegas. 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' - which I throuroughly enjoy even though it doesn't so much glamourize the city. My current favorite show about the Soddom of the Sands is 'Las Vegas' with James Caan as the president of the fictional Montecito casino (the Montecito also made an appearance in the NBC show 'Heroes' when Hiro was kicked out of the casino for suspicion of cheating).

The show 'Las Vegas' really captures the fantasy that is Las Vegas. From Highrise condos, to the glitz of the strip. They don't seem to make it to downtown area much, but that is probably because the strip is really where it is all happening.

One of my favorite story arcs was when Danny, Mike and the girls build a new home and were renting it to a gay couple. The couple broke up and one of them, in a fit of anger, burned the house down. And they were under-insured. I don't know why that tickled me, probably because it is always refreshing to see seemingly perfect people do dumb things.


This post brought to you by:

Las Vegas Homes


Technorati Tags: Las Vegas, Television, Entertainment, Real Estate, Las Vegas Homes, millionsaver.com

They don't watch '24' in China

I have to assume that the good folks in China do not watch the Fox TV show '24'. If they did, the Chinese official on the show would have done a couple of things differently;

1. He would not have kidnapped and held Jack Bauer prisoner
2. While holding the kidnapped Jack Bauer prisoner, he would not have tortured him
3. He would not have kidnapped and held Jack Bauer's girlfriend prisoner
4. After all of the above mistakes, he would not have required a meeting with Jack Bauer

You see, if they actually did watch '24' in China, this bloke would know that anyone that kidnaps and/or tortures Jack Bauer dies at the hands of...Jack Bauer. Not to be stereotypical, but Asians are usually very smart people. Then again, maybe that is why this dunce is a government official and not working on their space program. He is completely oblivious to who Jack Bauer is, what he does and how he does it.

I'm pretty certain it was SunTzu in his writings 'The Art of War' that said "know your enemy" (I could be wrong - it has been a long, long time since I read the book). At any rate, after saving America from sure nuclear annihilation at the hands of terrorists, Jack now has to steal a component and hand it over to the Chinese, or his girlfriend dies. Riiiiiight, how much you wanna bet the Chinese official actually walks away with the top-secret component?



Technorati Tags: 24, Television, Entertainment, Jack Bauer, Fox