BLATHER REVIEW

On The Road Again...

Yep, the nightmare is over. I finally got the car on the road yesterday. The most amazing thing about yesterday was that it went so smoothly.

One nice new thing that started this week: The buses now give out what they call a "Zip Trip pass". Unlike the old transfers that you use only once (and never on the same busline that issued it), the new Zip Trip pass can be used over and over again on any bus for the 90 minutes after it was issued. Rather than insert it into the fare box and watch it disappear, you swipe it like a credit card and get to keep it.

I got on the southbound #4 at 1:17. My Zip Trip pass is good 'til 2:47.

I got downtown at 1:30, hopped on the northbound #8 at 1:35, got to my aunt's place of employment at 1:45, she notarized my form and I was out the door by 1:55. I got back on the #8 southbound at about 2:15 and arrived downtown just in time to catch the #12 at 2:30. Four bus rides for the price of a single $1.50 fare. Sweeeeeet.

I arrived at the DMV at about 2:45 and, amazingly, there was only a little over an hour of sitting around time before my number was called. I'd fully expected another glitch, such as having to put the car through an inspection before I could register it. But, nope, everything was in order and I was out the door five minutes later. Sweeeeeet.

So, I left the DMV at about 3:55, was on the #12 at 4:15, got downtown at 4:30, hopped on the #4 at 4:40 and got home at about 5:00.

I put the new plates on the car and turned the key. No go. The battery was weak. I'd left it sitting there for about three weeks straight without starting it up, and when I first put it there it was bitterly cold. So my housemate gave me a jump and all was right with the world.

I decided that the first place to go was to Massimo's Pizza. I hadn't been there in a couple of years 'cause it's on the other side of town. In fact, it's around the corner from the DMV. I headed on over and made the crosstown trip in seven minutes. Sweeeeeeeet.

And oh what a day it was today for an afternoon drive with the window down. Now all I gotta do is get some money coming in. I mean, the car's a nice place to sit and drive around in, but I wouldn't wanna live there.

When Cats Attack

Via the Connecticut Post:

A ferocious feline terrorized a quiet Fairfield neighborhood, to the point that residents are seeking help from the law to stop the so-called "Terrorist of Sunset Circle."

Lewis, a 5-year-old, black-and-white longhaired cat, attacked at least a half-dozen people on the cul-de-sac and even took on the local Avon lady, neighbors say.

Usually you can't get near a cat that doesn't know you. But, this one? I guess he got bored with hunting mice and decided to try his skill at bagging bigger game. One of Lewis' victims described one recent ordeal:

"I was walking along the sidewalk when he sprang at me. I never saw it coming, but that's how it often is. He comes at you from behind, springs and wraps himself around your legs, biting and scratching," she said. "The last time I had three bites and eight scratches and I ended up at the walk-in clinic.

"The Avon lady was getting out of her car when Lewis attacked her from behind," Kettman said. "She ended up going to the hospital."

It got so bad that a restraining order was imposed.

At first, the restraining order allowed the cat limited freedom if Cisero [Lewis' owner -- TS] gave him Prozac. But the cat refused to take the drug, Cisero said. And it got out of the house and attacked another neighbor, Maureen Bachtig, according to police.

"I felt Lewis' claw on my left leg and I shook him loose, he then lunged and clung to my right leg, leaving one very deep puncture wound, one long deep gash across the top of my knee," Bachtig told police.

Cicero explains that Lewis is "a cat's cat"; he climbs trees and sits of rooftops and it's a travesty to keep him locked up inside all day.

I wouldn't worry too much, though. Cats are clever. Lewis will find a way to do what he loves to do.

Heh

This is kewl. Too bad they're sold out.

Yet Another Wasted Day in the ol' Gettin' the Car on the Road Saga

So, I took the bus downtown and transfered to the Main Street bus to visit my aunt at work so's she could notarize a form that I need to bring to the DMV so's I can finally be on the road today.

She wasn't working today.

Rather than take the bus back downtown and transfer to take another bus back north again, I decided to walk westward home. Took an hour and a half.

Actually, it took two hours because I stopped at the supermarket.

Mmmmmm, foooood.

Total Eclipse of the Facts

Sheesh. The Associated Press can't even get simple, well-known, scientific facts right.

AP's Kwasi Kpodo describes the "path" of tomorrow's eclipse thusly:

The moon is expected to first begin blocking out the sun in the morning in Brazil before the eclipse migrates to Africa, then on to Turkey and up into Mongolia, where it will fade out with the sunset.

Huh? Yuh!

But Kwasi isn't the only floater in the pool. Check out this graphic that accompanies the article:

"A total eclipse will occur Wednesday, beginning in Brazil, before crossing over Africa and Asia."

Heh. Heh heh. **snort** BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

In truth: The eclipse will begin and end at sunrise in Brazil and will **gasp** (say it with me now) si-mul-tan-e-ous-ly begin and end at sunset in Mongolia. The total eclipse only lasts for a few minutes, fercryin'outloud. It ain't gonna begin in Brazil and "cross over" Africa and Asia. If it did then, amazingly, the Sun would be moving across the sky from west to east tomorrow.

They seem to have a somewhat talented graphics team, but could they hire some better copy editors? Like, maybe, people that are at least as bright as my elementary school-aged nephew?

This is almost as amusing as the news babe who said during a live TV report: "The president wont be landing in Air Force One, he'll be arriving in, oh, 'Helicopter One' I suppose we can call it."

I don't expect everyone to know everything, of course. But, I mean, these are the folks who are supposed to be giving us info'mation and I think it oughta be morer accurater.

"Helicopter One". Crikey. I expect even CBS to get that one right.

So, anyway...

I remember the video, all those years ago, of American and Afghan Northern Alliance forces riding across the plains on horseback. I remember the dancing on tanks in Kabul and the footage of Afghan men shaving their beards for the first time in years, finally able to be defiant of Taliban rule and it's accompanying warnings that shaving was blasphemus and thus punishable by frickin' death.

This impermeable mountainous landlocked region, where some of history's most brazen bullies had, for years and years, imposed their version of Holy Submission on God's wary sheep, had finally found it's voice; it's freedom to celebrate Freedom. Oh, yeah, baby. The casting away of theocratic tyranny was a cause for celebration, indeed.

Then came Abdul Rahman.

The problem with bringing the fullness of Liberty to a region that has never known it is that that region doesn't know what Liberty looks like. We can try to dismiss the appologists of slavery, f'rinstance, on the grounds that they were merely uncomfortable with changing the world, overnight, in such a dramatic way. They were more comfortable with the ordinary. They were willing to choose the devil they knew rather than the devil in the dark; the undiscovered country; the Future.

And so Rahman faced death for leaving Islam and becoming an "apostate". A Christian, in this case.

Condi Rice inexplicably (very nearly) excused Afghanistan's recent tribunal as a symptom of a "young Democracy"; a work in very early progress, if you will.

I disagree.

Ferphuqusake, the case of Abdul Rahman is not symptomatic of a "young democracy", it is symptomatic of an old theocracy.

Our founders didn't allow any wiggle room for arguments of religious persecution on this continent.
They not only vehemently opposed it, they decisively defeated it.

The first act of a tyrant is to disallow your disapproval of their tyranny. The next act of a free People is, then, to reclaim their sovereignty. If Afghanistan is to join the community of Free nations then it must renounce, reject, repel, relinguish and rejoice in the extinguishment of religious government. Only a free People can define their society, and only a Free society can prosper.

The Future has spoken.

Sic semper tyranus.

What the huh?

Afghan Abdul Rahman was charged with having converted from Islam to Christianity. He faced the death penalty. He refused to renounce his faith in Jesus. He openly confessed to an unshakable faith, even though he knew that that meant that he may have to face death.

His case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence.

Service With A Smile

^{[I received this amusing e-mail last night from honorary sistah, Lawruh. I just GOTTA pass it along. Apparantly Microsoft is outsourcing their customer service desk to Nigeria or something...]}

So I'm thinkin I'm soooooo smart. I found this beta program offered by Microsoft. They are giving away free websites with your own fully registered domain...all FREE!! Whoopeee, right?

You have to sign up and wait to be accepted and finally after a few weeks I got the accpetance email and a code to unlock my treasure chest of goodies. I'm so excited, I've had the design for my website all ready to go and now I'll be official with my own website and no setup charge, not a cent to register my domain and no monthly fees. Awsome.

I follow the link in the email and put in my code...tada, I'm off and running, on my way. I answer all the questions, yadda yadda yadda, offical form, yes yes yes, I accept and voila, my very own domain, laurajillco.com, is registered. Fantastic. This is great, right? Come on...would I be writing if it was great?
Okay so it takes me to the official Microsoft Office Live Basics website and all I have to do is sign in and I can start uploading my files.

Alrightly...hummm...can't sign in....cant do anything. It says I have to download the latest version of Internet Explorer which I have but rarely use on my Mac. Well, okay, no problem, I'll get the latest version. Humm...says here that it's only for PCs. I can't get the version I need to use the program on my Mac. All my files are on my Mac. I do everything on my Mac. I wanna use my Mac.

I skip over to my PC. I sign in, no problem. Tooling around their website seeing what I can do. Well, I don't have my files on that computer so I can't do anything. Shoot. I'm getting a little pissed now too. I mean, my files aren't in HTML yet so I'll have to convert them all to be able to open them on the PC and then, since the fonts arent compatible, I won't be able to edit the files. Geez, this is really getting complicated. The files really arent PC compatible and the website isn't Mac compatible.

I thought I read everything, looking for the loop holes, but I didn't see anything about the necessity to be on a PC. I know, I'll ask for help.
Great, there's a link to the support area and attached is my questions and replies from Microsoft Office Live Support. Ya gotta love it!

--- Original Message --- From: laura-jillxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 3:49:07 PM UTC To: OFFLV.BASC.NA.US.EN.WIP.BOM.TS.T01.SPT.00.EM Subject: Microsoft Office Live Basics

Full Name:
Laura-Jill

What e-mail address would you like a response sent to?
laura-jillxxxxxx

This is not a technical question. I have questions about the website beta program I just started. I have files on my MAC I would like to upload. The latest version of IE says it's just got Windows. Can I use my mac to upload the files. Can I use my own index page created on my computer? Is there an FTP option? How do I access the 5 email accounts if not in an email client? Will this website be registered without the "temp" "officelive" in the domain name? *In other words, is it www.laurajillco.com?* If I decide I want to move my website, can I switch to a new host and keep the domain name? Thank you for your speedy reply. Laura-Jill

-------------------------

Hello Laura,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. My name is Piyush and I will be assisting you.

I appreciate your interest in our service. I understand that you need the assistance for the following queries related to Microsoft Office Live Basics subscription.

1. To upload the files through MAC
2. Using of index page.
3. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) option.
4. Accessing 5 e-mail accounts without using an e-mail client.
5. Switching to new host without changing the domain name.

Laura, please find the answers below to all your queries:

1. I would like to inform you that you can not upload the files through MAC. You need Internet Explorer 5.5 with Service Pack 4 (SP4) running on Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003.

2. You can use Index page which is created using HTML codes only with Microsoft FrontPage 2003 and this feature is available with Microsoft Office Live Essentials subscription.

3. Laura, I am sorry to inform you that in the beta version, the feature for using FTP to design the web site is not part of the Microsoft Office Live service. This is because Microsoft Office Live works on a more robust Share Point technology which allows online web designing but does not support any offline uploading of pages such as using FTP. Since Microsoft Office Live is in the beta phase the features that are available may appear minimal compared to the needs of a number of experienced web developers.

4. You can directly access your 5 e-mail through Microsoft Office Live. For accessing e-mail you have to perform the following steps.

a. Go to http://officelive.microsoft.com
b. Sign in with your Microsoft Office Live account
c. On Left side of navigation bar click on “E-mail”
d. On right side Click on “Inbox”
e. Type your e-mail address which you have created using Microsoft Office Live and type the password.

Note: You can also access your e-mail from www.hotmail.com

5. You can switch to other host or registrar with keeping the same domain name. In this case you have to first contact your current domain registrar and ask them to release your domain at their end. Once the domain is released from their end, your domain transfer would take several days.

I hope the above given information would be helpful to you. If you have any other queries or suggestions, please write back to us and we will be glad to assist you further. You can also send your findings and feedback to the link given below.

http://feedback.officelive.com

Laura, we appreciate your association with Microsoft Office Live and look forward to providing you with consistent and effective service.

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. Have a great day!

Regards

Piyush
Microsoft Office Live Support

-----------------------

--- Original Message ---
From: laura-jillxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 2:36:52 AM UTC
To: OFFLV.BASC.NA.US.EN.WIP.BOM.TS.T01.SPT.00.EM
Subject: Microsoft Office Live Basics

Full Name:
Laura-Jill

What e-mail address would you like a response sent to?
laura-jillxxxxxx

To ensure a quick resolution, provide as many details as possible, including the date and time the problem occurred, a description of what you were trying to do, the detailed steps you took that led up to the problem, and details on any error messages that you received.
RE: SRX1011174238ID - Microsoft Office Live Basics

Thank you for your quick response.
Unfortunately the answers are more than disappointing, they are not acceptable for my needs.
I will not be able to participate in the beta program and would like to be able to transfer my domain to another server. How do I go about gettng it released?

Laura-Jill
Laura-Jill & Co.,LLC
laura-jillxxxxxx

------------------------------

Hello Laura,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. My name is Jayesh and I will be glad to assist you.

I understand that you wish to release your domain associated with Microsoft Office Live and transfer it to another server.

I regret the inconvenience caused to you.

Laura, releasing your domain and transferring it to another server will require you to cancel the Microsoft Office Live account. Your domain will be unlocked after sixty days from the date of registration of the subscription.

Please reply and verify your subscription with the following information if you wish to cancel the subscription:

1. The primary e-mail address with which you have signed up for Microsoft Office
Live.
2. The last four digits of the credit card number which you used while signing up.
3. The name of your domain associated with Microsoft Office Live.

Please mention that you would like to cancel the account “immediately” so that the next representative can do the needful. The domain registration key will be given to you with which you will be able to access the DNS information of your domain at the following website:

http://www.melbourneit.com.au/

However, the DNS information cannot be edited unless the domain is unlocked.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused on our part.

If you have any other queries, please write back to us and we will be glad to assist you further.

We value your association with Microsoft Office Live and look forward to providing you with consistent and effective service.

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. Have a great day!

Regards

Jayesh
Microsoft Office Live Support

------------------------

--- Original Message ---
From: "Laura-Jil"
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 6:45:18 PM UTC
To: OFFLV.BASC.NA.US.EN.WIP.BOM.TS.T01.SPT.00.EM
Subject: Re: SRX1011270692ID - Microsoft Office Live Basics

I do not want MY domain locked out of use for 60 days.
This offer was targeted at small businesses of which I am one and use of an online presence is of utmost importance to me. A 2 month delay of the ability to have a website is simply not acceptable.
I would love to participate in your program however I was told that I can not upload my previously designed files from my computer to your server. The lockout period is not a mechanical issue. It's "paperwork" and arbitrary and certainly able to be worked through with the touch of a button.

I don't know who "melbourneit" are but there is no doubt that with the proper authority they could simply release the domain which was in existence less than 24 hours before I emailed and found out that I could not participate in your program because I am a graphic designer and only work from a MAC. I didn't know that your program was exclusively PC and that I would not be able to upload the website that I designed for my business onto my domain. Logically speaking, that would be self defeating.
Also please note that I immediately acted upon my discovery. I am not looking to get something for nothing, I simply want to leave without indecent, detriment or loss.

Please respond as soon as possible as my business depends on a web presence and there will be a measurable loss of business due to your delay.

Thank you.

Laura-Jill

Laura-Jill
Laura-Jill&Co,, LLC
laura-jillxxxxxx
203.xxx-xxxx tel
203.xxx-xxxx fax

-------------------------------

Hello Laura,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. My name is Anoop and I will be glad to assist you.

I understand that you want to release the domain associated with your Microsoft Office Live account without having to wait for another sixty days.

I apologize for any inconvenience caused on our part.

Laura, Melbourne IT is the official domain registrar for Microsoft Office Live.

You would not be able to transfer your domain to another registrar before sixty days because as per ICANN Policies, you need to stay with a Registrar for a minimum period of sixty days before transferring your domain to another Registrar. For information on policies related to domain transfer, please visit the following link http://www.icann.org/transfers/policy-12jul04.htm.

If you have any other queries, please write back to us and we will be glad to assist you further.

We value your association with Microsoft Office Live and look forward to providing you with consistent and effective service.

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. Have a great day!

Regards

Anoop
Microsoft Office Live Support

--------------------

--- Original Message ---
From: "Laura-Jil"
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 10:20:46 PM UTC
To: OFFLV.0000.NA.US.EN.WIP.BOM.ES.T02.SPT.00.EM
Subject: Re: SRX1011270692ID - Microsoft Office Live Basics

My first issue is that I didn't see anywhere that I will not be able to use the free web hosting beta program offered by Microsoft Office Live Basics with my Mac computer. Now that I agreed in good faith and I'm locked into closing down my business from all e-commerce including my local clients who expect me to have a website and have none to view for another 60+ days, what can Microsoft Office Live Basics offer to do for me OUTSIDE the box. Not a cut/paste answer from your catalogue of answers for every occasion.

Why not let me use another FTP my files up and manage it through your Beta program? It's just an issue of getting the files in place and then I can leave it for the 60 days until the transfer is complete.

Honestly, I have more to do with my time then argue things that aren't going to change the world either way. Can't we all just get along? It's like I just put my toe in a room and ended up with a mortgage for the entire house. Just help me out here, will ya?

LJ

-----------------------------

Hello Laura,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. My name is Anoop and I will be glad to assist you.

I understand that you want to use FTP to upload your files.

Laura, as of now this feature is unavailable with the Beta Version of Microsoft Office Live and I regret the inconvenience this has caused. However, your suggestions are valuable to us and will be forwarded to our Microsoft Product Development Team. They will use these suggestions to improve the flexibility and quality of the product and this feature may be available in the near future.

If you have any other queries, please write back to us and we will be glad to assist you further.

We value your association with Microsoft Office Live and look forward to providing you with consistent and effective service.

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. Have a great day!

Regards

Anoop
Microsoft Office Live Support

----------------------------------

--- Original Message ---
From: "Laura-Jill"
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 12:00:21 AM UTC
To: OFFLV.0000.NA.US.EN.WIP.BOM.ES.T02.SPT.00.EM
Subject: Re: SRX1011270692ID - Microsoft Office Live Basics

Anoop,
Please offer me a suggestion not just an apology. I appreciate the consistant level of pleasentness and although easier to work with than being obstinant and rude I would rather get some answers by someone crass than just shuffled along with a smile.
Anoop, what are we going to DO about the situation?

LJ

------------------------------

In a message dated 3/25/06 6:43:48 PM, OFFLV.0000.NA.US.EN.WIP.BOM.ES.T02.SPT.00.EM@css.one.microsoft.com writes:

Hello Laura,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. My name is Anoop and I will be glad to assist you.

I understand that you want to use FTP to upload your files.

Laura, as of now this feature is unavailable with the Beta Version of Microsoft Office Live and I regret the inconvenience this has caused. However, your suggestions are valuable to us and will be forwarded to our Microsoft Product Development Team. They will use these suggestions to improve the flexibility and quality of the product and this feature may be available in the near future.

If you have any other queries, please write back to us and we will be glad to assist you further.

We value your association with Microsoft Office Live and look forward to providing you with consistent and effective service.

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. Have a great day!

Regards

Anoop
Microsoft Office Live Support

---------------------------------------------

Hello Laura,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. My name is Anoop and I will be happy to assist you.

I understand that you want to get your domain released before sixty days and be given the ability to use FTP to upload your files.

Laura, I greatly appreciate your patience involved in trying to resolve this issue.

Since Macintosh Operating System is not compatible with Microsoft Office Live, I suggest you to work on a computer which has Windows Operating System installed.

If you have any other queries, please write back to us and we will be glad to assist you further.

We value your association with Microsoft Office Live and look forward to providing you with consistent and effective service.

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. Have a great day!

Regards

Anoop
Microsoft Office Live Support

--------------------------------------

--- Original Message ---
From: "Laura-Jill"
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 11:01:21 PM UTC
To: OFFLV.0000.NA.US.EN.WIP.BOM.ES.T02.SPT.00.EM
Subject: Re: SRX1011270692ID - Microsoft Office Live Basics

I'm communicating with a stone wall, arent I?
Is ANOOP some sort of acranym for one of the network computers?
Android Negotiating Overtly Offensive Politeness
Or perhaps more like Marie Antoinette in robot form!
"The peasants all have MACs and can't upload their files to the server."
"Ahhhh...then let them use PCs!"
I mean really? I should go out and buy a new computer with a different operating system in order to make up for the fact that I wasn't informed about the compatibility issue until AFTER my domain was registered? All this to take advantage of a FREE web host? I think not.
Do you not think these thing through before replying?
I can see that besieging you with clever banter will go unappreciated but I'm sure my blogger friend will have a ball putting this up on his blog and at least a few thousand Windows users, a mere drop in the world wide bucket, will know that in the event that Microsoft offers a Trojan horse, RUN!

I'll start the process to release my domain...bloody and broken but not defeated.

LJ

------------------------------

In a message dated 3/26/06 12:33:37 AM, OFFLV.0000.NA.US.EN.WIP.BOM.ES.T02.SPT.00.EM@css.one.microsoft.com writes:

Hello Laura,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. My name is Anoop and I will be happy to assist you.

I understand that you want to get your domain released before sixty days and be given the ability to use FTP to upload your files.

Laura, I regret for the inconvenience caused to you due to the fact that you cannot use Microsoft Office Live with a Macintosh computer.

However, the fact that Microsoft Office Live is not compatible with Macintosh Operating System has been mentioned on the Microsoft Office Live website itself. For more information regarding the same, you can visit the following link: http://officelive.microsoft.com/officelivebasic.aspx .

As mentioned earlier, your suggestions are valuable to us and have been forwarded to the Microsoft Product Development Team.

If you have any other queries, please write back to us and we will be glad to assist you further.

We value your association with Microsoft Office Live and look forward to providing you with consistent and effective service.

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Live Support. Have a great day!

Regards

Anoop
Microsoft Office Live Support

---------------------------------------

Yea, Anoop,
It took three customer service reps and 7 emails to find that well hidden piece of information. Not exactly an easily found fact some three quarters of the way down your list of FAQs which are displayed in a light blue that made my eyes ache trying to read through. So in response:

Hello Anoop,

Thank you for contacting Laura-Jill & Co., LLC. My name is Laura-Jill and I will be happy to assist you.

I understand you need some assistance creating an attractive yet functional website.
Anoop, I am pleased to inform you that I am a graphic deisgner and will be happy to assist you.

Regretfully though, since you are not compatible with Mac OS, the graphic industry standard, you can see proofs of the beautiful improvements to the website but they can not actually be uploaded and therefore will remain unused.

Your suggestions are valuable to us and have been forwarded to the Laura-Jill & Co., LLC Product Development Team.

If you have any other queries, please write back to us and we will be glad to assist you further.

We value your association with Laura-Jill & Co., LLC and look forward to providing you with consistent and effective service.

Thank you for contacting Laura-Jill & Co., LLC. Have a great day!

Regards

Laura-Jill
Laura-Jill & Co., LLC

By the way it WASNT on the page you sent me:
http://officelive.microsoft.com/officelivebasic.aspx
it is on this page:
http://officelive.microsoft.com/officelivebasic.aspx#18
and it took several minutes to find the specific link you were refering to but thats a lot faster than the three days it took Microsoft Office Live Support to find the link to show me.

Anoop, no reply is necessary. Go home, get some sleep. You earned it.

Franz Kafka Is Writing My Life

So anyway, I left the house on Wednesday at "1:30pm" to catch the 1:45 (give or take a few) Park Avenue bus downtown to catch the #12 bus that passes by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The bus ran "a few minutes late" and got downtown at 2:36. Huh? Oh, yeah: My watch is now running 25 minutes slow. Okay, the thing is old, but it's digital. Aren't these things supposed to just fade away, not slow down?

Anyway, I had no idea what the #12 schedule was, so I checked the bulletin board. A bus just left at 2:30 and the next one doesn't leave 'til 3:10. I grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's (yecch!) and caught the 3:10 at 3:20.

I arrived at the DMV at about 3:45 and grabbed the two forms I'd need to fill out -- one of which my cousin has to sign. I hopped on the return trip of the #12, made the connection downtown to the Coastal Link and headed out to the other side of town where my cousin works. That's the Black Rock section of town, for those in-the-know.

My cousin signed the Bill of Sale but, since the DMV closes at 4:30 on Wednesdays, it was hopeless to try and get back there in time even though I could've prolly made it to the insurance place in time. (The insurance place is only a five minute walk from the DMV.) So I grabbed a pizza and went home.

On Thursday (yesterday) I left the house at 12:30 (real time, not by my watch, btw) and headed downtown to catch the 1:10 #12. But the bus was late and we got into the terminal just as the #12 was pulling out. The next one was scheduled to leave at 2:30, so I grabbed some lunch at McDonald's (yecch!) and worked on the crossword puzzle in the local anarchist rag The Fairfield Advocate County Weekly. No biggie, really. The DMV is open 'til 7:00pm on Thursdays. Plenty of time. Ple-e-e-e-nty of time...

I arrived at the insurance place with Bill of Sale in hand at about 2:45. After much confusion over what I was quoted on Monday, we finally got the policy up and running. The only other hitch was that I had gotten the policy for an '85 Chevy but the VIN came back saying it was an '84. Whatever. Off to the DMV I went to register the car.

I walked up to the service desk and said "I need a number so's I can register a vehicle." She said, "I need to see your paperwork." I showed her the Bill of Sale and the Registration Form and she said "Where's the Title?" I said "I don't need a Title." She said "Why don't you need a Title?" I said "Because the car is 22 years old." She said "You need a Title for all cars '81 and newer." I said "....." She said "Take a form from bin 15 and have the seller fill it out and sign it. It'll be $25 to create a new Title." I said "But we called ahead and were assured that we only needed a Bill of Sale." She said "Well, I don't know who you talked to, but all cars '81 and up need a Title." I said "......" She said "Have a nice day. Next!"

So I grabbed the form and hopped the #12 bus back to the terminal to connect to the Coastal Link to get back to Black Rock to have my cousin sign the "New Title Form". Did I mention that each of these connections comes with a complimentary 30-minute standing around time? I arrived at my cousins place of employment at about 4:15. I wanted him to quickly sign the "New Title Form" so's I could get right back outside and catch the next bus back downtown and catch the 5:10 #12 'cuz if I didn't catch the 5:10 I'd have to wait for the 6:30 and the DMV closes at 7:00. All would lost and I'd have to complete the mission on Friday (today). He signed it and I left and caught the next bus after only about a 10 minutes wait. (The Coastal Link runs every 20 minutes during morning and afternoon rush hours.)

I got back downtown at about 4:50, so I had a good 20 minutes of girl-watching time. One young guy walked up to me and said "Dude, do you wanna get drunk with me?" "What's that?" "I need someone to get drunk with. My girlfriend kicked me out of the apartment. All my clothes are there. I can't even get a picture off the wall..." He told me a little more of his story with a mix of frustration and humor. Oh, I'd love to join ya, man, but I still a long way to go yet today."

I got on the #12 and arrived at the DMV at about 5:25. I got in line and took a number. My number was D-728. They were currently up to D-671. After 45 minutes they were all the way up to D-683. 12 numbers called in 45 minutes and only 45 numbers in 45 minutes to go before it was my turn. I left. I figured I'd just head on back this morning and finally get it done.

But, as I rode back downtown I looked over my paperwork just to have something to read. Then I saw it. Neither I nor my cousin noticed it earlier. Just below his signature, and right above the "Department Use Only" section, was a space for the signature of a Notary Public. My cousin needs to sign this in the presence of a Notary. This form is no @#$% good.

So, the plan for Friday would have to be: Catch the Park Avenue bus downtown, connect to the #12 and go back to the DMV, grab a fresh "New Title Form", catch the #12 back downtown, connect to the Coastal Link and get across town to Black Rock, meet my cousin on his lunch break at some place with a Notary Public on hand, get it signed and stamped, buy him lunch, catch the Coastal Link back downtown, connect to the #12 and get to the DMV in time to get a number that might actually be called before they close at 4:30. Yeah, right. And I might as well drop off some dry cleaning and learn semaphore while I'm at it.

So, I wasted some time trying to actually find a Notary Public. Shouldn't banks be required to have one on hand? I think so. Oh, by the way: If you want to speak to a live person, don't call Bank of America. Ever.

Not having found a Notary, I phoned my cousin an hour-and-a-half ago just to inform him that the form he signed yesterday was no good because we need it Notarized. He said that his mother does that. He's a-gonna get in touch with her and get back to me soonly. I hope. As I write, the DMV closes in an hour, so today is a bust. But, if I give the form to my cousin tomorrow and my aunt can stamp it on Sunday, I can head out to Black Rock Tuesday morning (DMV is closed on Mondays) and get to the DMV and be on the road Tuesday afternoon -- only eight days after I started this project.

Oh, yeah. Piece o' cake. Easy as pie.

Shoot me.

UPDATE: My aunt will be stopping by on Sunday afternoon to stamp the form so I should be on the road on Tuesday afternoon. Yay! Now I'm gonna go catch the bus to the supermarket and get some grub. I think Im in a lasagna mood today. Yum.

UPDATE 2: My aunt will NOT be stopping by this afternoon 'cause, apparantly, my uncle is riding her ass about doing some house cleaning or something. But she works in town and I can stop by and have her stamp the form tomorrow afternoon and get to the DMV, as planned, on Tuesday. Oy.

Two brief notes:

On a sad note: My first blogcrush, Jennifer's History & Stuff, will not be resuscitated.

On a lighter note: Well, I'll be damned. It's true!

Where's Matt Drudge?

Has anybody else noticed that the Drudge Report hasn't been updated since, like, Friday?

UPDATE (3/21): Nevermind.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

So anyway, I couldn't make it to the bank downtown before it closed on Saturday. So, even though I had money in PayPal, money from my aunt at my sister's house and some unemployment benefits checks that finally arrived on Friday, I had no cash and no real food in the house. I lived on spaghetti and bananas on Saturday and Sunday afternoon while I defrosted some chicken breasts that have been in my freezer since last spring.

Once they were thawed enough to allow me to remove that plasticy/papery thingamagig they put in the package to absorb moisture (I presume), I put them in the oven. I ate one at about 10 o'clock last night and put the other two in the fridge. By midnight I wasn't feeling so hot so I went to bed.

I woke up at 6:30 and hurled. Then I went back to bed.

My sister was coming over this morning so we could visit the bank, go to City Hall so I could pay some back property taxes, get car insurance and go to the DMV to register my car. She phoned at about 9:30 but I was in no condition to get up and answer the phone.

I hit the shower at about 11:30 and, while brushing my teeth, hurled some more. If we had unlimited hot water I'd have just lied down in the tub and napped for a while.

I phone my sister a little while after that and she came by. We hit the bank and City Hall, but I desperately needed something to eat before we did anything else, so we stopped at a diner. I had scrambled eggs, toast, home fries, coffee and some bacon that I chipped a tooth on. She had chicken and rice soup and a chocolate milk.

After attempting to start up insurance I found out that I needed to actually own the car first. So we went to the DMV. It's closed on Mondays. So much for getting on the road today. My sister dropped me off at the supermarket. I got some groceries and took the bus home.

So, tomorrow morning I'm taking the bus downtown and catching the connection to the bus that goes to the DMV where I'll pick up the neccessary paperwork to transfer ownership of the car. Then I'll take two more buses out to where my cousin works and have him sign on the dotted line. Then I'll take two buses back to the insurance place and start the policy. Then I'll walk to the DMV and register the damn thing and get my plates. Then I'll take two buses home and put the plates on the car. Then I'll fire it up and maybe go for a spin.

Wednesday I'll actually be able to apply for jobs that aren't on a bus line. Yay! All of my applications so far were done online and I haven't received a single callback in two weeks. Booooo!

It's almost 6 o'clock and I'm only just now beginning to feel normal again. Needless to say, I wont be eating the rest of the chicken. I wish I could take a nap, but I've never been able to. Once I'm up in the morning, I'm up until I go to bed at night. Oh, well. Time to start dinner. Pork chops, carrots and a baked potato.

Maybe I'll make some gingerbread later.

Mmmmm.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

Can We Get One Thing Straight Today, Please?

I mean, is it sooo @#$% hard to understand that Democracy and Theocracy are incompatible?

Huuuuuuuuuh...!!!

Brr-rr-rr-rr

Oh, great. It's only mid-March and we ran out of heating oil. Housemate Chris doesn't wanna spend any more money on oil 'cause we'd have to get a minimum delivery of 150 gallons which'll prolly cost well over $300. The house has been 45 degrees for the past few days. Hope it gets warmer soon. Tea. Need more tea.

Happy Anniversary, Iraq

Three years ago, the liberation of Iraq began.

There were protests, today in many cities around the world. Sydney, Athens, Tokyo, Istanbul, London and others, I'm sure. (The French were busy with protesting something else.)

But, of course, there were none in Baghdad. Well... 'cept maybe by this guy:

So, let 'em protest. Hopefully they'll take a moment to give thanks for being free to do it.

"Holiday Day": a final solution

As Saint Patrick's Day approaches my mind turns to the true meaning of the various holidays that we celebrate. While the so-called "Holiday Season" has passed some three months ago -- and shall return again in about eight months -- I think that this is an opportune time to reflect on just what we need to accomplish, in the meantime, to ensure that the yearly "assault on Christmas" does not rear it's ugly head yet again.

As we saw last year, many municipalities had taken to refering to their towns' Christmas trees as "Holiday trees". This begs the question: "What holiday does the 'Holiday tree' represent?". Since Christmas is the only holiday that is celebrated, in part, by decorating a tree, it is safe to conclude that the term "Holiday tree" is woefully disconnected from reality.

The solution, therefore, is to do away with the observance of Christmas and to replace it with a "Holiday Day". This would be one day, in late December, when all of the co-equal religious and secular holidays would be observed simultaneously by all Americans.

The exception, of course, would be the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Since the Muslim calendar does not strictly follow Earth's curcuit around the Sun, Ramadan occurs at different times of the infidel "year" with each passing. And, since Ramadan cannot, therefore, be observed on the proposed "Holiday Day", it shall be observed by all Americans as if it were their own holy month in order to avoid any unnecessary offense.

As we've seen, religious offense can lead to some very unfortunate effects including, but not limited to, violence, vandalism and suffering. Since we have no right to impune the behavior of those whom we do not understand, we must address the root cause of their anger. And the root cause of their anger, all evidence suggests, is our own stubborn adherence to the idea of free expression; our own selfish protectionism toward individualism and liberty; and a wanton disregard for the sensibilities of those who disagree.

In order to allay the fears of the offended we must look at our own propensity to offend and to correct ourselves accordingly. Resistance to the establishment of the theo-neutral "Holiday Day" must be dealt with swiftly and harshly lest a situation deteriorate from mere protestation to full-blown insult. Co-operation must be the number one priority if we are to finally rid our society of the clashes that nurture our divisions.

The way is clear. In the name of all that is good, our mission must be to make the world safe for diversity. Afterall, we are building a Utopia here. Dissent will not be tolerated.

Allahu, Aloha.

Did You Know That...?

The full word is "oleomargerine", but, on packaging, you'll almost always see it shortened to, simply, "margerine". The only time you'll ever see it refered to as "oleo" is in crossword puzzles.

NOW YOU KNOW...

One Fine Day At The Broad & John Bus Stop

So anyway, I was standing at a bus stop waiting for the northbound Park Avenue bus. I was standing to the left of the bench/shelter and there was a guy about my age, or maybe a little younger, sitting on the bench and eating something out of a plastic bowl -- the kind you get with a small side of macaroni or potato salad at the supermarket's deli counter.

As I stood there awaiting the arrival of the bus, he chucked the plastic container into the middle of John Street. That's right, just flung it out side-armed as non-challantly as if he were tossing bread bits to pigeons or seagulls in a park or a parking lot somewhere. It scraped acroos the pavement and settled under the rear driver's side tire of a truck in the far lane.

This was followed almost immediately by the fork or spoon or spork that he was using. It settled in the middle of the near lane. He rubbed his hands together with satisfaction, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, as he finished chewing the last of the side dish as he glanced up the street awaiting his bus. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that what he'd just done was supremely wanton, unlawful and thoroughly, enragingly obnoxious.

"Dude," I said with alot more restraint than I wanted to. "That's disgusting." He never even looked back me.

My bus arrived a few minutes later and, thankfully, he was waiting for a different bus than I was. I hope I never have to see that @#$%ing, @#$%ing @#$%er and his @#$%ing, @#$%ible sense of propriety again.

Some of you may believe that God regularly tests our faith in God. In my experience, God's a lot more busy testing our faith in humanity. I'm jus' sayin' is all.

Allen The Family

What an odd story: A former Bush Administration advisor making high six-figures in charged with attempting to scam Target Department Stores out of thousands of dollars in fake returns. How could such a "goody-two-shoes" like Claude Allen go so wrong?

Well, well, well. Late last evening, Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall dug up some interesting high school photos of Claude Allen and his ne'er-do-well twin brother Floyd.

They say that even their close friends often can't tell them apart.

Interestingly, Claude has not come right out and said, "No no no! It was my evil twin!". Then again, Claude has bailed out Floyd before in troubled times.

Floyd was the twin who "kept running into bad times," while Claude Allen intervened repeatedly to help him, [Mrs. Allen] said.

Oddly, the stranger it gets, the more sense it makes. You just can't make this stuff up.

Or, can you......?

Tip o'the tam to (and more links at) Michelle Malkin.

Police raid movie set

Found this story at the Connecticut Post's website.

STRATFORD — Police with lights blazing and sirens blaring descended on Sikorsky Memorial Airport Saturday after reports of a dozen armed men of "Middle Eastern origin" on the tarmac.

What authorities found instead was the crew of a low-budget independent film called "Soldier in the Shadows." Crew members were dressed in dark-colored clothing and carrying large black rifles.

Six police cruisers from the Stratford and Bridgeport Police Departments stormed onto the tarmac at about noon yesterday. I wonder how close they came to shooting the scene...

He said a pilot who saw several armed men of Middle Eastern descent near the planes contacted the control tower. The tower personnel, however, failed to tell the pilot about the movie and the pilot then called 911.

Heh. Oops.

"The same thing happened to us about a week ago while shooting on a rooftop on the Lower East Side," in New York said Goldsmith, who plays Tyler, a former Delta force operative looking for revenge after his wife and daughters were killed in a terrorist attack. "The police broke down the doors and came onto the roof with their guns drawn."

Aren't the police supposed to be notified of on-site film making? I guess not.

The real shocker is that they may actually be making a movie featuring terrorists of "Middle Eastern origin" who are bad guys.

just some pointless points...

Barbra Streisand has a new "statement" up titled Art in the Pursuit of Truth. While I agree with her statement overall, what inspired it is a bit curious. This is her concluding "point":

Members of the Hollywood community should not be apologetic, but proud...proud to have provoked conversations, proud to have challenged ignorance and proud to have helped shape our history for the better.

Did I miss where someone suggested that Hollywood ought to be "apologetic" for making films like "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Schindler's List" and "The Grapes of Wrath"?

And just one more observation:

During the McCarthy Era, when actors and filmmakers were being blacklisted, the brave "Hollywood Ten," calling on their 1st Amendment rights, refused to testify in front of the House...Un-American Activities Committee. The courts disagreed and they all were found guilty of contempt of Congress and each was sentenced to between six and twelve months in prison.

Refusing to testify when subpoenaed is not a 1st Amendment right, it's a 5th Amendment right, and it's on the grounds that your testimony may tend to incriminate you. If the "Hollywood Ten"'s point was that their 1st Amendment rights were being assaulted by HUAC and/or Hollywood's own blacklist, then they are free to make that point to the Committee.

Ciao for now.

3-11

Two years ago today al Q'aida bombed trains in Madrid. Spanish voters responded by ousting Prime Minister Anzar. I guess they felt that fighting terrorism wasn't worth the risk because, well, there are terrorists out there. Whatever.

What a day!

A few days ago it was the dead of winter. For months it's been either cold or colder. For the past week or so the temperature has hovered right around freezing -- which isn't too bad considering it's wintertime. Everytime I looked at my weather pixie it was somewhere between 2C and -2C.

During the past couple of days, however, the temperature has been up around 6C pretty consistently. Yesterday it went as high as 9C. That's about 48F.

Then, today, I watched the temperature climb about 10C. Then 14C. At about 5:00pm the temperature was up to 16C -- about 61F.

Then the sun went down. It got even warmer! I refreshed my page and saw that it was 20C -- 68F!

Oh, yeah. That's it, baby! Don't stop now...!

Is Google trying to scam us?

So anyway, I received a pretty run of the mill scam spam the other day. Apparently there's a problem with a Chase account that I have that doesn't, in reality, exist.

So, I did my usual thang of copy/pasting the provided "secure" Chase link into wordpad, just to see who really sent it. Lo! and behold! This is what the copy/paste revealed:

Clic The link below in order to regain access to
your Chase Cardmembers Account,simply:
https://www.chase.com/ [http://www.google.com/pagead/iclk?sa=l&ai=BS65WglgGRKqCIK_IiAK50NjDBpTzkQyonIydAuDoqgegjQYQARgBKAI4AEDKEUiZOVCujeiYBpgB2lGgAfTPgP4DyAEBlQIDgkIK&num=1&adurl=http://c-24-147-232-232.hsd1.ma.comcast.net:82/chase/index.php]

It runs through Google! WTF?!

I report. You be careful out there, y'heah?

UPDATE: I've contacted Google and requested that they "please investigate and respond". I wont hold my breath.

UPDATE 2: Just got a response!

Thank you for your note. Google doesn't send unsolicited email, and we
don't permit others to send unsolicited email through our mail servers. A
number of unscrupulous businesses have sent out mass mailings that appear
to be related to Google. We're actively pursuing all available legal means
to stop these miscreants from abusing our name and your inbox.

We understand your frustration with spam mail. We, too, receive many
"Google" spam emails every day. Here are a few examples of the ones we
see:

- Emails that contain Google.com URLs. These URLs commonly link to images,
webpages, or search results.

- Emails with a Google.com return address. Unfortunately, forging email
addresses, though obviously unethical, is relatively easy.

- Emails that claim you're a Google Lottery winner. While it may be
disappointing, there's no such thing as the Google Lottery.

- Emails that boast you'll get rich quick through Google. Or, emails from
companies that claim to be a partner of ours and "guarantee" high ranking
for your site - for a large fee. We're not affiliated with the companies
that send these emails, and we do not endorse their offers in any way. In
fact, we suggest that you reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited
emails as you do for "burn fat at night" diet pills.

Thank you very much for your understanding, and please accept our
sympathies for any inconvenience this has caused.

Regards,
The Google Team

Babs Makes a Fool of Herself Again

Michelle Malkin points to a post at Beautiful Atrocities that highlights some of the finer qualities of Barbra Streisand's impressive way with words.

"Over the last 5 years, Bush's leadership has resembled that of a dictatorship. The arrogance of this C student [Bush has Harvard MBA, Streisand has high-school education] who maligns his opponents’ crediblity [sic] by calling them flip floppers, is the biggest flip flopper himself! When debating Al Gore during the 2000 presidential elections, Bush spoke against nation building, yet went into Irag [sic] a year later [sic] to national build [sic]…"

And there's lots more.

While taking a cheap shot at the scholastic achievements of the President, Streisand knocks out this paragraph:

. In the 1970’s[sic], during the Nixon Adminstration[sic], serious political curruption[sic] arose and the Republican leadership stepped up and took responsibilty[sic] by holding hearings and subpoening[sic] administration officials. Eventually, the President was forced to resign rather than face impeachment preceedings[sic] that likely would have been successful. It is clear that today's Republican Congressional leaders are not prepared to hold this President accountable. Therefore, it’s critical that people elect members of the Democratic party to the House and Senate so that a new leadership can take control. Only if this occurs, can we even begin to imagine a time when there will be a myriad of investigations so desperatly[sic] needed on so many issues…let alone the ultimate investigation which would involve the conduct of the President of the United States and the determination of whether his actions warrented[sic] impeachment proceedings.

[....]

...So it is not surprising to find out that the while the[sic] Bush Administration is trying to quietly slip this port security deal under the radar, they are simultaneously negotiating a free trade agreement with the UAE. Why be surprised? This President, ‘jokingly’ stated "If this were a dictatoriship[sic] it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

I don't even have the heart to address the actual "substance" of her "statement" as much of it has already been discredited in the days following her posting (Feb 28th).

And the award for Best Blog Post Title so far on this subject goes to.... DonkeyCons, with For Whom The Bell Curves.

UPDATE: Drudge has posted on this and links to a "Truth Alert" message from Streisand's "staff" (I guess) in 2002 after the whole "Gebhart" thang. After explaining that Babs dictated the note over the phone to a new staffer, the message assures us of the following:

THE IRONIC FURTHER TRUTH.. Hidden in this example of diverted news priorities is the fact that Barbra Streisand is a great speller, meticulous in her written communications!

Well.... most of the time, maybe. The ironic further truth of this latest missive is that she went out of her way to call Bush an intellectually lazy and/or underachieving "C student" at the same time that she posted a sloppily written, un-proofread thesis.

The 2002 "Truth Alert" also complained about the attention that the "Gebhart" gaffe received:

The incident illustrates how the Democratic message concerning the failures of this Republican administration are repeatedly pushed aside in the media, pre-empted by silly side-issues. The real truth, the really important and relevant truth, is having a hard time getting through.

Heh. Heh heh. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!! The "Gebhart" error got attention not because the seriousness of the issues of the election season were being "pushed aside", but because we don't expect to learn anything useful from the talking points tossed salads&trade that are the predictable, self-important, uninsightful and severely unsourced bloviations of Barbra Streisand.

But, as Sister Toldjah says, "...I don't consider this a 'serious issue' - merely a funny one! :)".

And, to be fair: At least she didn't misspell "potato"!

UPDATE (7 March): After seven days, Babs has finally corrected the errors. Yay!

Now, if only she had some friends who read her blog, she could get it done a lot sooner!

Images of Mohammed in olden times and new

The reason that creating images of the prophet Mohammed is severely frowned upon is that it is feared that someone might mistakenly treat it like an idol. This is the same reason why protestant churches don't have an image of Jesus on the large cross behind the altar, nor statues on display in their churches. Protestants do, however, allow drawings and paintings of Jesus in things like books and pamphlets since it's not expected that someone will see a drawing on a page and begin to worship it (or worship "through" it).

Well, I did a little googeling and found some old muslim artworks that depict the prophet. While much of the old art that depicts Mohammed either obscures his face like this:

(often his face is obscured by light shown as a white flame), many do not. Here is some 16th century Persian art that I found at Superluminal.com

And here are some more I found around the web. Some are ancient and some are more recent.

An early Persian depiction of the birth of Mohammed:
View image

A Sudanese-Mahdi rendition:
View image

Here's a whole bunch more, some old and some more recent:

View image

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(This one's a biggie:)
View image

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(Yes, I know that the colon + end parentheses put up a smilie, but I'm keeping it. :))

Unplanned hiatus

Sorry for the non-posting this week. I've been a bit preoccupied with kinda sorta needing a job.

Yep. As of 3:30, Friday afternoon, I've been unemployed.

Bossman hired a second pressman last week. The first job he ran he had to re-run because he "didn't like 'em" the first time. The job was delivered late. There were other problems throughout the week -- mainly mechanical in nature. I showed up Thursday and Bossman had me rush to re-do another job, some pads where NewGuy ran the ink way too heavy and, not only was the color way off, they "offset" in the cutter (the image was left on the reverse of the sheets). Then NewGuy ran a big 5-part NCR (carbonless form) in 3-colors. They were all crooked. Severely crooked, imho. But, I got the ax.

Why? Bossman says he needs a guy who can run the presses and take over management of the office area while Bossman is out drumming up business. He thinks I don't have the set skills even though that was never discussed with me. I think that the main reason, however, is that Bossman wanted someone who he knew could be at work at 8:30 sharp every day. Being that I was at the mercy of the bus schedule, my arrival time would vary a bit. Whatever. He said he hated to lose me but he just can't afford us both right now.

The irony is that, after I left on Friday, I had to come back at 5:00 as my sister was picking me up so we could head over to my cousins house and pick up the car that he's trying to give to me so that I can start working normal hours with no long-ass commute that saps my energy. They say timing is the most important element of good comedy.

So, I'm in the hunt. No leads yet.

Oh, and the car? It's sitting at the curb across the street right now with a red sticker on it. I need to get it onto private property tonight or it may be gone by tomorrow morning. Then I need to come up with a lotta cash in order to get it on the road. (Insurance, registration, plates, back property taxes, etc. Could top 500 bucks.)

So, on we go. Hey, at least it's snowing!