My 17 year old niece needed her license, her father isn't around, and my dad is 84... so again, the role of father fell into my lap. At my mother's instruction, I included her sister who is 13, and we headed out. Since I took my test nearly 24 years ago, I didn't know that once you have a permit, you don't need to take the written part of the test again... and apparently, neither did Sarah. Oh, and we didn't know you can take it and fail, no more that twice a day. This saga lasted more than one day...
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
one simple push
i'm laying here at nearly 4:30am... duh, my fault.
its not hard to get on or off a track in life. i'm still up at this hour because i slept in, stayed in bed after, didn't work out, went to my parent's house and ate comfort food, then took a nap, then laid in bed watching tv all night - surprise... i'm not tired until now.
there was a time when i got up and made it to 8am mass and worked out every day. there was a time when i avoided booze and put zero soda in my body, instead replacing it with the known weight-loss beverage of water. i also was smart enough to eat nothing but meat so i could lower my body fat instead of being that shapeless 'skinny-fat' and keep my chin and neck while losing my belly...
yes, there was a time.
so, if i was going to be smart, i would get up in 3 hours and get back on track - ugh. nothing is worse than knowing what works to look and feel good, then not doing it. i could make popular choices and make egotistic claims of being able to cut corners, but in the end, i know what i need to do like everyone else.
i'm not going to be one of those people who thinks he looks fine, but knows he really doesn't.
its not hard to get on or off a track in life. i'm still up at this hour because i slept in, stayed in bed after, didn't work out, went to my parent's house and ate comfort food, then took a nap, then laid in bed watching tv all night - surprise... i'm not tired until now.
there was a time when i got up and made it to 8am mass and worked out every day. there was a time when i avoided booze and put zero soda in my body, instead replacing it with the known weight-loss beverage of water. i also was smart enough to eat nothing but meat so i could lower my body fat instead of being that shapeless 'skinny-fat' and keep my chin and neck while losing my belly...
yes, there was a time.
so, if i was going to be smart, i would get up in 3 hours and get back on track - ugh. nothing is worse than knowing what works to look and feel good, then not doing it. i could make popular choices and make egotistic claims of being able to cut corners, but in the end, i know what i need to do like everyone else.
i'm not going to be one of those people who thinks he looks fine, but knows he really doesn't.
Monday, July 18, 2011
U2 (You Too) can be crazy
the show last night was awesome, just about everyone I knew was there... the floor was a massive party of friends and people who wanted to belong... but what's up with the streaming media?
I get it, you're happy to be there, but a post is pride... sending updates online every few minutes is a bit much- has anyone looked at the feed from last night?
I'm surprised I was able to text given the inability to use a phone during a baseball game. sure, communication is important, and tell your friends where you are and what you're doing... maybe give and arrival and post-event review online, and upload the pics to and album the next day. but how many people now have half their mobile uploads as blurry dark pics from that show?
not that a pic in the moment can't be random fun... here's what it looks like when Spoon wears sexy 4" wedges and has to sit on the ground after 5 hours of standing, ha.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, July 9, 2011
THIS GUY - i respect a little
Sure, he may be fat and surrounded by dolls... but he's proud of himself.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
sticking it out to fail
tonight, there was baseball...
my friend's wife has 2 season tickets and the couple who sits next them have two, so periodically they trade so there's 4 seats together. tonight they had 4 seats, but the wife had to use her company's seats to entertain a client - poof - its boy's night.
in the end, i'm sitting there with 3 friends, and one of them is the loud obnoxious type who does random shit that's often so outrageous that people have to sit back and laugh. the man is partially deaf, so he's very loud... and he drinks a lot, which doesn't help... and he just does and says things without thinking which in his hearing impaired and slurred speech can often end up being humorous if you don't take him seriously. and really, who can take him seriously if he's saying with complete confidence things like "tomorrow i'm gonna get a i4 phone at the apple phone! and they're gonna give me a dic-scount! AND give me first dabs on the dic-scounted i5 phone because i know how to negotiate!!".
but, god love him for believing in himself. whenever he gets around to taking himself to the 'apple phone' for his 'i4 phone' we have all told him not to get since a new model will be out in 2 months, and finds out the truth, we will all smile and nod, and give him a rash of trouble and move on. no matter who you ask, confidence always sells on some level.
most importantly, he can take the abuse. he stands up for himself. he's wrong in the end, but he tried.
at one point he noticed another guy we know 1 section over... this gentlemen alienated everyone 2 months ago because a relative of mine compared him to a gay television character. the character in question is hilarious and often the show stealer of the series, but he took offense to it, and even more offense that i told others that she what she had dared to say. the jury is still out on how he knew i emailed the story to other people, many speculate he secretly reads my email. i really don't care, i have nothing to hide.
so loud guy sees angry guy, and he starts calling out to him - i ducked down, and the other two started laughing. i like angry guy as much as any other friend of mine, but i really didn't want to deal with the drama and accusations because he is so insulted by being compared to a gay man or because i mentioned it to other people. the sad part is that he's oblivious to the fact that most people believe that only two types of people get that worked up about such things: those who are moronically homophobic, and those who are desperately hiding in the closet. the more he makes issues of it, the more people assume the latter.
he's convinced he needs to stick it out away from all such people who could criticize him in any fashion, he too is full of himself like the loud friend, and he too will fail. but he's doing it running away from the problem, he can't make a stand. somehow, he thinks that confidence is giving up and running away.
tonight, the Cardinals lost in 13 innings. the 4 of us stayed for all 13... even after an 8-0 score in the 7th when we turned it around completely. the angry guy left in the 6th inning, and missed the comeback, and the moments, and the best part of the game. and the Cardinals lost, but they can stand tall for losing on their feet and playing a good game and still being around to play another day. and we didn't let the set backs bother us, and got to see a great game.
good game guys.
my friend's wife has 2 season tickets and the couple who sits next them have two, so periodically they trade so there's 4 seats together. tonight they had 4 seats, but the wife had to use her company's seats to entertain a client - poof - its boy's night.
in the end, i'm sitting there with 3 friends, and one of them is the loud obnoxious type who does random shit that's often so outrageous that people have to sit back and laugh. the man is partially deaf, so he's very loud... and he drinks a lot, which doesn't help... and he just does and says things without thinking which in his hearing impaired and slurred speech can often end up being humorous if you don't take him seriously. and really, who can take him seriously if he's saying with complete confidence things like "tomorrow i'm gonna get a i4 phone at the apple phone! and they're gonna give me a dic-scount! AND give me first dabs on the dic-scounted i5 phone because i know how to negotiate!!".
but, god love him for believing in himself. whenever he gets around to taking himself to the 'apple phone' for his 'i4 phone' we have all told him not to get since a new model will be out in 2 months, and finds out the truth, we will all smile and nod, and give him a rash of trouble and move on. no matter who you ask, confidence always sells on some level.
most importantly, he can take the abuse. he stands up for himself. he's wrong in the end, but he tried.
at one point he noticed another guy we know 1 section over... this gentlemen alienated everyone 2 months ago because a relative of mine compared him to a gay television character. the character in question is hilarious and often the show stealer of the series, but he took offense to it, and even more offense that i told others that she what she had dared to say. the jury is still out on how he knew i emailed the story to other people, many speculate he secretly reads my email. i really don't care, i have nothing to hide.
so loud guy sees angry guy, and he starts calling out to him - i ducked down, and the other two started laughing. i like angry guy as much as any other friend of mine, but i really didn't want to deal with the drama and accusations because he is so insulted by being compared to a gay man or because i mentioned it to other people. the sad part is that he's oblivious to the fact that most people believe that only two types of people get that worked up about such things: those who are moronically homophobic, and those who are desperately hiding in the closet. the more he makes issues of it, the more people assume the latter.
he's convinced he needs to stick it out away from all such people who could criticize him in any fashion, he too is full of himself like the loud friend, and he too will fail. but he's doing it running away from the problem, he can't make a stand. somehow, he thinks that confidence is giving up and running away.
tonight, the Cardinals lost in 13 innings. the 4 of us stayed for all 13... even after an 8-0 score in the 7th when we turned it around completely. the angry guy left in the 6th inning, and missed the comeback, and the moments, and the best part of the game. and the Cardinals lost, but they can stand tall for losing on their feet and playing a good game and still being around to play another day. and we didn't let the set backs bother us, and got to see a great game.
good game guys.
Monday, July 4, 2011
sparklees: Staying True to Who You Are
sparklees: Staying True to Who You Are: "It's Pridefest weekend in St. Louis and I just wanted to share these thoughts... A past boss of mine was a lesbian and spoke about her part..."
Saturday, July 2, 2011
they are watching, again
lately there's been a lot of talk in the news about Apple and Android tracking their users. it was true on some level, the mobile devices operated by their software kept track of places the owners went to improve their use. i'm not going to bore you with the how, but in the end, if the phone remembers cell site info and wifi info, etc, performance improves.
my friends and i do a lot of these 'location based social networks'. Foursquare, Facebook Places, Loopt, and lately Google's Latitude. The first 4 you have to volunteer your location to, the last tracks you automatically. But, everyone needs to understand something here:
None of these services just show the world where you are. None of these show your location publicly. You have to approve everyone who can see your location.
Still there can be problems, with Facebook Places if you check in with someone else they fall under your security... meaning, they may have set it up so only certain people can see their Places check ins, but if you check them in, all of those who you've given permission to (which could be the whole world) can see their location.
BUT - in the end, I want to know who's out to get you? Sure, you'd be a moron to post your SSN and CC info online... but are you a member of royalty? are you a union leader? a high ranking government official from a third world country? when did you become a Hollywood movie star that's being pursued?
Everyone has the right to privacy - and should make use of it! But, if one of your friends wants to know what you're up to for an innocent reason, what are you hiding from them? And for me, I'm wondering why. I mean, we're not kids anymore, can't you be proud of how you live your life... even to your friends? Or is it more than that? Are you that big a deal?
or... do you really just wish you were that big a deal?
my friends and i do a lot of these 'location based social networks'. Foursquare, Facebook Places, Loopt, and lately Google's Latitude. The first 4 you have to volunteer your location to, the last tracks you automatically. But, everyone needs to understand something here:
None of these services just show the world where you are. None of these show your location publicly. You have to approve everyone who can see your location.
Still there can be problems, with Facebook Places if you check in with someone else they fall under your security... meaning, they may have set it up so only certain people can see their Places check ins, but if you check them in, all of those who you've given permission to (which could be the whole world) can see their location.
BUT - in the end, I want to know who's out to get you? Sure, you'd be a moron to post your SSN and CC info online... but are you a member of royalty? are you a union leader? a high ranking government official from a third world country? when did you become a Hollywood movie star that's being pursued?
Everyone has the right to privacy - and should make use of it! But, if one of your friends wants to know what you're up to for an innocent reason, what are you hiding from them? And for me, I'm wondering why. I mean, we're not kids anymore, can't you be proud of how you live your life... even to your friends? Or is it more than that? Are you that big a deal?
or... do you really just wish you were that big a deal?
gas prices - this isn't complex people
look its simple... oil is traded in dollars. every barrel of oil that is bought or sold in the world is priced in dollars.
when sheik abdul goes to sell a few million barrels, he's left with dollars. he can't sell them for euros, he can't sell them for yen, he's never left with rubles or pesos.
however almost everything he wants to buy with those dollars can be purchased with every other form of money. from eggs to ferraris to boats to chewing gum.
so, he wants a strong and valuable dollar, so that his dollars are worth more than everything else, and he can get more for his dollars.
then, we go out and create trillions in debt lowering the value of the dollar... now his dollars are worth less and he can buy less stuff with the dollars he got for his oil. to compensate, he raises the price of oil.
the more debt we create as a country, the more we force the value of oil down and the price of gas up.
now, some would say that its worth more to have whatever we got for that debt... the government jobs, the stimulus, etc.
the problem is that those things are not sustainable, they are a quick fix. however, a strong dollar has more value over time, and in more than lower oil prices. lower interest rates, lower prices for imported goods in general, and nominal inflation to name a few.
so... as your days progress, realize that charity is a good thing, and that the government should support its people, but its not up to the government to do either on a big scale. we are paying for it either way - if you want to help, don't let the government borrow, spend some of your own money hiring someone else.
when sheik abdul goes to sell a few million barrels, he's left with dollars. he can't sell them for euros, he can't sell them for yen, he's never left with rubles or pesos.
however almost everything he wants to buy with those dollars can be purchased with every other form of money. from eggs to ferraris to boats to chewing gum.
so, he wants a strong and valuable dollar, so that his dollars are worth more than everything else, and he can get more for his dollars.
then, we go out and create trillions in debt lowering the value of the dollar... now his dollars are worth less and he can buy less stuff with the dollars he got for his oil. to compensate, he raises the price of oil.
the more debt we create as a country, the more we force the value of oil down and the price of gas up.
now, some would say that its worth more to have whatever we got for that debt... the government jobs, the stimulus, etc.
the problem is that those things are not sustainable, they are a quick fix. however, a strong dollar has more value over time, and in more than lower oil prices. lower interest rates, lower prices for imported goods in general, and nominal inflation to name a few.
so... as your days progress, realize that charity is a good thing, and that the government should support its people, but its not up to the government to do either on a big scale. we are paying for it either way - if you want to help, don't let the government borrow, spend some of your own money hiring someone else.
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