observations

Auto Insurance Some Observations, Needs And How To Get Yourself The Best And Cheapest PolicyBy: Mark RobinsonThe recent study conducted to gauge the driving knowledge of common Americans revealed that the Oregon drivers fared best with a score of 89% (the average score required to pass a normal driving test is 70%) and the Rhode Island drivers were ranked lowest with an average score of 77%.The re

The past several weeks I have made a point to unsubscribe from newsletters and email lists that I don’t utilize. It has been interesting to see how the various systems respond to that. I have been subscribed to dozens of mailing lists over the past several years and am making a point to clean house [...]

It was all so sudden. My experiences have been completely unexpected, and they came without notice or warning. In the recent days, I have seen the many different faces of humankind. In the beginning, I became fearful. But after constant exposure, I have only begun to learn how to handle the sophisticated characters of people. Each [...]

 Reflections on a Day of Air Travel Seat Belt Extenders? Getting on the plane, the very large gentlemen in front of me asked for something I had never heard of:  a seat-belt extender.  Shouldn’t this be the point where the person gets charged for an extra ticket?

In this post I mentioned that the Stinkermobile was closing in on 200,000 miles. Well, yesterday was the day. w00t! w00t! The Stinkermobile broke 200,000 miles on the way home from work! The Stinkermobile is a tricked-out ‘94 Honda Accord, the 4-door LX model. And by “tricked-out,” I mean it has a variety of special [...]

Being that this is the first serious serious boyfriend I've ever had, and the first man I've ever lived with, [let's not forget the first man I've ever had a kid with] adapting to the changing circumstances has been somewhat difficult and trying.Here are some of the things I've learnt and some of the things that drive me fuckin batshit crazy:1. The person who snores [The Boyfriend] always falls a

I personally believe that the most highly sought after state in this upcoming election is Virginia. Until this election it was a solidly Republican state for Presidential elections. Now we have a new Rasmussen poll that puts Obama ahead by one point. This is entirely within the margin of error, but means that no matter what, McCain will have to work hard not to lose this state. The easiest sta

Btarlinian writes “GLAST (the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope) was launched Wednesday at 1605 GMT. GLAST was built in a rather interesting manner, in that much of the work was funded by the Department of Energy. In fact, the main instrument on GLAST, the Large Area Telescope was assembled at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. [...]

I have but a few miscellaneous things to report on today. For the really funny stuff, you’d better go here. I was driving up I-675 to work the other day and I passed a “Dayton Adult Daycare Service” van. It was going 50 mph with its left blinker stuck on. Dunno why, I just thought it [...]

1. For a reason I can't quite articulate, I see like of sports as a sign of mental health so I bribed my son with a day of unfettered access to his new Wii if he watched fifteen minutes of the game. He ended up watching the whole four quarters. 2. Sports are men's non-intellectual, but down-to-the-soul, elemental pleasure like America's Top Model or Oprah is for women. For "atmosphere," I watch

1. For a reason I can't quite articulate, I see like of sports as a sign of mental health so I bribed my son with a day of unfettered access to his new Wii if he watched fifteen minutes of the game. He ended up watching the whole four quarters. 2. Sports are men's non-intellectual, but down-to-the-soul, elemental pleasure like America's Top Model or The View is for women. For "atmosphere," I wa

Product Description "They misunderestimated me."—President George W. Bush It seems like too easy a target, too cheap a laugh, but Mark Crispin Miller, with the deftly trenchant wit that always distinguishes his writing, uses the blunders and malapropisms of George W. Bush to make a larger point about the way in which we elect our presidents. Miller places Bush in the context of other

I found this series on You Tube Clips via The Black Republican posted back in April. If you have the time you should watch them together because it really shows why liberalism is such a socially corrosive disorder What is leadership? “Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man [...]

Auto Insurance Some Observations, Needs And How To Get Yourself The Best And Cheapest PolicyBy: Mark RobinsonThe recent study conducted to gauge the driving knowledge of common Americans revealed that the Oregon drivers fared best with a score of 89% (the average score required to pass a normal driving test is 70%) and the Rhode Island drivers were ranked lowest with an average score of 77%.The re

When I returned from Annapolis, I stopped home briefly then made my way over to my other office– Panera Bread. Before arriving– almost in the same location as the black female with the Green Camary the day before- a long haired white male with a monster [huge wheels– is that what they are called?] [...]

Hey Guys, Hope everyone had a restful weekend- I certainly did. My workout on Friday was extremely demanding; soreness is commonly a reminder of that. Quick Tip: Give Yourself the necessary sleep! Shoot for 8 hours if possible.

Life on Mars Theories Take a Hit New observations show that if life exists on Mars, it's probably going to be much deeper underground than expected Scientists have posited that if life exists on Mars presently, it is probably hidden out of view in aquifers beneath the planet's barren surface. Unfortunately, new data collected by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggests that these aquifers, if

Cut Copy compels my body to move energetically even when clothed in leather and a stifling sweater while being crushed by the drunken, sloppy masses in a restricting space reaching infernal temperatures. This must mean they are good. ...

“Mom?”“Yes dear?”“How comes you don wear onenna them cool jogging suits like Mrs. Whatsherface?”“Um…...probably because I don’t jog.”“Mrs. Whatsherface doesn’t jog either, but she always looks so nice. She wore a pink one today wiv little jewels on the butt. You always look so……….”“Black and white?”“Old…in a nice cuddly kinda way.”***“Mom?”“Yes dea

Busy, busy, busy. Other posts in progress along with some other stuff. In the meantime, have a few of the random thoughts rattling around in my head on this the last Hump Day of April 2008. I Nominate… By far my funniest TV moment of the week so far, Leonard pushing the button on the time machine [...]

Check out the woman who forgot to put her dress on over her trashy slip. Her BFF should have told her! Boobs, belly button and undergarments (if any - we can hope) on full display. What self respecting woman would do this? Oh wait, they wouldn't. I can't imagine what kind of event they are attending, with the fashion statements displayed in this photo, complete with beer bottles and flasks. Any guesses?Of course, my real objection to this photo is the pig in the tee shirt. First of all - COVER THAT UP! Again, what person with any self respect would display themselves in this pathetic and sad way? He's no victim, though - he's the one doing the damage with that ignorant message on the shirt. His message is clear - if you 'beat' the disease called anorexia, you'll look like him. Better to ke

Just a brief mention for these ovulation prediction kits, or OPKs as they are known in the acronym rich world of TTC.These are expensive little buggers, aren't they?€32 for a package of 7 from our local friendly communist chemist. When you factor in mass panic, widespread insanity, a little stupidity, and not to mention being in the 13th cycle, that adds up to a whole lot of cash spent on a non-existent kid and no small amount of piss covered plastic.Buying in bulk online would be admitting horrible things that should never be spoken. So that's what we've just done.I also really want to meet the designers of these bloody things, what smart arse decided it was a good idea to have a 'smiley face' appear on them with a positive test?Considering the positive result means you end up having

A multitude of reasons suggest commodity prices might not remain this high for long (oil just might)My post on “The financials of 2008 – What will we talk about” has proven itself so far (to my great surprise). True, I didn’t think the credit crisis would prove to be so deep but my thoughts on inflation, commodity prices and the Chinese market were pretty accurate. In this post I’ll be sharing my observations on commodity prices. Naturally, this is my personal opinion and should not be used to make investment decisions.Commodity prices have continued their unprecedented rise. Corn, wheat, rice, oil and many other commodity prices have all skyrocketed. The rise in basic food products’ prices have caused riots to erupt in developing countries such as Egypt, Cameroon and Burkina F

A multitude of reasons suggest commodity prices might not remain this high for long (oil just might)My post on “The financials of 2008 – What will we talk about” has proven itself so far (to my great surprise). True, I didn’t think the credit crisis would prove to be so deep but my thoughts on inflation, commodity prices and the Chinese market were pretty accurate. In this post I’ll be s

Shah Rukh feels cricket is commercially doable and  will  reverse to essentials if cricket fails. Shah Rukh Khan remarked that the opportunity to make money from cricket and then... This is just a summary of the real stuff ..click on the link to see the full post on :)

I saw this t-shirt on a rack at my local Home Plus store and it really made me laugh. I thought the t-shirt should be green or maybe the letters, something. But I am thankful for the heads up. My wardrobe is seriously lacking in green. This photo is also a shelve in Home Plus. Sesame seeds in all kinds of brands and colors. I have no idea what the Koreans do with sesame seeds. One of the many mysteries I must solve during our stay here in South Korea. I had two sleepovers last week. This is a picture of the girls from my apartment security camera. We always have a great time and I learn so many things about Korean culture. Here's a few of the recent discoveries: 1. Playing basketball makes you taller. All the jumping involved in basketball stretches your muscles and bones. I didn'

Over the last few years I've taken to marking passages from most of the books I read, even novels, so that I can more easily find the quotes again when I go back looking for them. I didn't use any quotes in my comments of a couple of days ago on The Secret of Lost Things but a few things did seem "mark-worthy," in particular some of the characters' observations about the shop's customers: “I

Obama’s Pastor Slurs Italians in Latest Magazine By Penny Starr - CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer (CNSNews.com) - Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago where Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has been a member for two decades, slurred Italians in a piece published in the most [...]

Visit to Knossos, most popular archaeological site in Crete: ancient Minoan palace (AKA Minos) settlement built around 2000BC. Neolithic remains suggest area settled as far back as 6000BC!... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Knossos – well-restored rooms. Spacious. Light-filled. Vast storage jars called: pithoi. Tick. Three 20-something backpackers read sign outside rooms. Sign says: MAGAZIN. Girl says: “I didn’t know... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

-Day 76. Nyquil side effects: May cause your bladder to shrink to the size of a toddler's. Once you take it and are about to fall asleep, you will have to pee right away. May cause bruising due to sever drowsiness. Your walk to the bathroom will be zombie-like with the walls moving and hitting you in the face, body and feet. Concentrate once in the bathroom to prevent swaying..So....I've come to the realization that my sofas were designed by torture loving freaks. I must do something about them before the next flu season. .While shifting incessantly on them Saturday night and all of Sunday, I was subjected to the weirdest TV shows/commercials ever! Since it is my objective to educate all of you on all the nonsense in the world....Mirapex commercial:MIRAPEX for Restless Legs Syndrome. "Oh,

You know, I love a good songwriting contest. A songwriting contest brings out the best in songwriters because it gives them something to write for.  A deadline to achieve. I am always amazed by the amount of people out there that put pen to paper and just go for it, it’s fantastic. You also get to hear some [...]

The people of Crete are proud of their villages, the village way of life, and their traditional customs. The image here of an elderly village couple hangs on the wall at one of Chania's chicest... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Just as excessive sweating can complicate our lives its cause can also be complex in nature. The cause of primary “hyperhydrosis” is still not known. In terms of secondary “hyperhydrosis” it is said that it somewhat linked to our “sympathetic nervous system”. More: continued here

Welcome to my new series, Random Observations. I find being a p/t housewife to be an occupation in which many curious but random observations come my way. To most of the world these might not be newsworthy. But to other housewives or housepeople or unemployed people or people who simply spend a lot of time in their houses looking at the way the light comes in through the blinds and lights up the dust particles, these will not only resonate as extraordinarily fascinating observations but perhaps—I hope—they will resonate as deeply familiar experiences. Perhaps you will read what I'm writing and realize that even in our most ordinary solo lives, we share moments of common humanity that unite us all! And so I aim for this series to recount the sort of anecdotes in which you will react wit

I've been a loyal gym member in Chicago for about 2.5 years and it seems like every time I go, I see something new that intrigues me.On a daily basis, I see one or more of the following "gym types," which usually cause me some form of amusement:-- "Cutie" - dresses in matchy, matchy outfits that barely have seen a sweat. Spends more time primping in front of the mirror to make sure her workout waist band lays perfectly over her toned stomach.-- "Sniffer" - works out 2 times a day, listens to very loud techno music that everyone can hear out of his headphones and who makes a loud "sniffing" noise when he's done with a set or rep-- "Man Child" - older guy who dresses like he's 20 and says "dude" a lot in his sentences. Usually enjoys bragging about his job and "connections."-- "Hogger" - hog

Today is exactly one week that I registered and installed entrecard widget. I get most of my traffic from entrecard. From the first day I registered, I was curious about how to increase the credits to advertise on my blog. I noticed that the blogs/website with less Alexa ranking had more credits to advertise on their blog. To increase your advertising credits It is advisable to put the entrecard widget at the top of your blog. Most entrecard droppers don’t want to look for your entrecard widget. Drop as many entrecard as you can. Entrecard droppers usually drop their entrecard on people in their inbox first before scavenging for entrecards. If you are looking for entrecards, start in your category. Then drop your entrecard and click on the advertisi

Terror And Iraq Ya Think There's A Connection? Faux News Tells Me So How Is It That Folks Will Do Anything If Scared Instead Use Your Brain Manipulation You Just Use The Magic Word It's "Security" The More That Things Change The More That The Same Old Tricks Will Get The Job Done Last Year In Office Don't Let It Hit You On The Way Out The Door, You Dummy The Morality Of Keeping Your People Scared 1984 Sorry, My Mistake Like You'd Ever Read A Book Without Big Pictures You Only Need 1: The Big Book Of Fairy Tales AKA: Bible Let Me Get This Straight The Earth Is 6K Years Old? You Graduated? Mikey Huckabee You Scare The Crap Out Of Me You Believe This Stuff? Hey, Who Wants To Be One Of The Last Ones To Die For A Big Mistake Where Does The Buck Stop President Incompetent Fox Guard

Just back from a trip to Germany, so here are a few observations in the areas of energy, environment, and society. These thoughts compare Germany with America, as well as Germany with itself--at least from the perspective of an American who has visited on average one or two weeks a year for the past 30 years, sometimes as a tourist, sometimes as a student, sometimes spending Summers with my Grandparents in Berlin when I was younger (which probably distorts my view with a fair amount of fantasy).Over the last two weeks, we drove about 1600 kilometers through Bavaria, in southern Germany. While most of Europe, and Germany in particular, is known for its efficient and high-speed rail service, there was no shortage of trucks on the road. Even with diesel fuel at $7.25/gallon, the freeways w

Kakie Fitzsimmons, Vice President and Co-Founder, Farmer’s Hat Productions and Co-Author of the Bur Bur and Friends Children’s book series It was a cold day in December and on a whim I decided to bring my video camera along. The battery was low so I had to keep turning it off until it was his turn [...]

Kakie Fitzsimmons, Vice President and Co-Founder, Farmer’s Hat Productions and Co-Author of the Bur Bur and Friends Children’s book series It was a cold day in December and on a whim I decided to bring my video camera along. The battery was low so I had to keep turning it off until it was his turn [...]

You may have heard that LAUSD, the school district I help out when I'm not blogging, is suffering through a massive payroll problem because of a computer switchover (wait until the same guys run your health care). Well, today I wasted a nice chunk of your money waiting in the LAUSD downtown office to fix one of those problems. On the other hand, I got to watch daytime TV! 1. Three observations on daytime commercials: First, I'm impressed by the job training opportunities available to my temporarily home-dwelling brothers and sisters. Second, people who watch daytime TV seem to be very accident prone. Finally, I'm glad there's enough legal representation for them. I don't know if this is Jacoby or Meyers; either way, he'll "fight for you." 2. To set things right, Montel Williams will kick anybody's a**: disobedient teenagers, wife-abusers, train collectors, anybody! And, man, does he ever want to help! Montel tries his best for the forty minutes he's allowed to intimidate a

Scene #1 Listening to the radio this weekend I heard the station advertise that they would be playing Christmas music from now until Christmas day. The thoughts that bounced off the cobwebs in my head: Since sometime mid-to-late November I have been plagued by radio stations playing Christmas music assuring that I will be sick and tired of “Jingle Bells”, “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy” and even “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” before December 25th arrives. This will continue until Christmas day - the day that the Christmas season begins. The very next day, on the second day of Christmas radio stations will cut off the seasonal tunes and return to their regular format. On Thanksgiving and throughout the season of Advent they are playing Christmas music. During the Christmas season, with the exception of Christmas day itself, it will be back to rock ‘n roll, country, alternative and golden oldies. That’s a bit backward, isn&rsq

So, the initial early reports from Friday morning (pre 7am). Observations taken from locations in 4 separate towns in Massachusetts. Please leave your observations in the comments section. Mobs: Wal-Mart (WMT): Parking lot filled past capacity well before the 5am opening. Wal-Mart.com also makes them a bug winner today. I was able to pick up some things at the sale prices before I left the house this morning at 4:30am and saved a trip there to shop, enabling me to go to other stores. I... Continued at Todd Sullivan's ValuePlays

I was thrilled to find the following post in my inbox yesterday. It being Thanksgiving today, it makes for an appropriate time to say that I am thankful for Teresa Boardman, and all the other generous guest authors that have contributed to the Real Estate Tomato this year. 2 Years Later… By Teresa Boardman My business blog is now two years old. Not the oldest blog out there by any stretch but older than many of them. This is a kind of short re-cap of experiences I have had because of the blog. My blog is my business, or my business is my blog. My blog is my number one and most valuable business asset, and prospecting tool. My marketing costs have gone way down, but I have less free time. The amount of time I spend on the keyboard has gone up, and my neck hurts. The amount of...

As noted in my welcome message, the purpose of the 'NYC' Bubble BIG Picture blog is to provide a learning resource for reader benefit. The information compiled and provided here is volunteered time at no cost for a reason. The need for prudence with financial decisions within the current economic climate is clear. Mindless bickering serves no purpose.There is no bias on this site, but rather overwhelming evidence of a downtrend due to a 'loss of faith' globally in current U.S. inflationary monetary policy and financial instututions' integrity, and serious geo-political malaise. Multiple views on the economy at large and real estate pricing trends are available by link here if explored, watched by video, read and followed for any period of time. Absorb what is available before posting simplistic slanted articles already linked, or stats not reflective of fact and current trend. What I find most compelling on some ‘comment’ threads, despite the serious and escalating econo

Even though most trees have lost their leaves, and without a good show of color, around here... for some reason the ones who held out ( or more precisely held onto) now are showing a surprising blaze of last color. Certainly it isn't as effective as when the trees all color en masse, but it sparks the dreary November landscape which usually is a neutral gray and beige. Early this morning as I ran off to exercise in the opening hours, there were shades of scarlet and some bright golds. One surprise as I breezed by was the beautiful golden hues of a pin oak. I didn't think oaks ever carried off the autumn so well, but shining off by itself was the unmistakable shape of the pin oak with its pointy leaves all golden and shining in the morning light. As a matter of course was the effusive red color of the euonymous elatus, or burning bush as it is commonly known. That is a shrub that is maligned nowadays. Injunctions against such plants, as that and the purple loosestrife.The farmers are

Germany is an interesting place if you are American. Historically and physically. I mean, the Allies bombed the shit out of the country in World War II and then there was the whole East Germany vs. West Germany until the late 80’s. Actually the wall started to come down on November 9th, 1989. Funny enough, the Germans celebrate on October 3rd. As you may know, we were in Berlin on October 3rd. What a party. The town was alive and the day was sunny and beautiful and there were concerts and the whole town was a party. Here is a picture of me at the Brandenburger Tor (Brandburg Gate to you and me). This was the demarcation of the east and west during the cold war. Now it is on of the biggest tourist attractions on Berlin. At the base of the gate, the city had set up a big concert stage and many of Germany’s biggest rock acts performed all day. Because we had the Farty Pants twins and the in-laws with us, we decided to bypass the festivities at the gate and moved on to other si

I was thinking the other day about my trip to Germany and how efficient the German transportation system is. Everywhere you want to go in Germany can be reached without a car. There are subways and trains and buses and taxis to every destination you can think of. And when you do want to drive, you have the Autobahn. No speed limit and the only two lanes wide on each side. Unlike our American highways that can have 4 to 6 lanes each direction, the German Autobahn usually only has two lanes and every driver knows that you only use the left lane to pass. Otherwise get your ass in the right lane and drive at the speed of the other vehicles. It still amazes me that we Americans haven’t figured this out with as many lanes as we have to drive in. But…. one thing we have that is way more important than the rules of the roads is the Americans with Disabilities Act. This allows for people with handicaps to maneuver around more freely with wheel chairs, or other devices to aid people

My colleague Andy Cochran, wrote an excellent article posted on the Counterterrorism Blog on October 12 2007. It was a succinct summary and assessment of the newly released report by the Defense Department which is a Study on Disrupting Terrorist Financing. According to Andy’s post, the most important element of the monograph recommended that one overarching organization be given the mandate and funding authority to direct the government’s overall terrorist financing efforts. Andy quoted directly...(read more)

First, let me say that I apologize. For months, I was writing with my greatest efforts at this Blog. With such success under my belt, I prayed and was led to start up four more. Each time, the next Blog received greater attendance than this one. I couldn't understand why. Was it because people didn't want to hear about faith? That's what I thought at first. That wasn't it. It was because this site someone wasn't getting advertised. I'm still trying to figure out how it works because dismantling it would be far too much work. Thanks for your patience.

Well I have been in Germany for almost a week and I have made some simple observations that I want to share. Boy these people love to eat meat! Specifically pork. It’s cheaper than steak and they eat a lot of it. You will be invited to BBQ’s even if it is snowing outside. Oh, and you will eat outside even if it is freezing. I know this from last night’s dinner. It didn’t snow, but it was COLD! I dare you to get the checkout lady at the grocery store to smile at you. In fact, I will give you a Euro if you can. Everyone knows everyone else in a small town. If you are not from here you will get lot’s of people staring at you. If you like pork, you are in heaven. If you like eating outside in cold weather, you are in heaven.  Sorry, no pictures to post yet. We are leaving my brother-in-laws house tomorrow and heading towards Berlin. It may be days before I can post more observations or any pictures, but I promise I will. Oh, and can the U.S. not bomb Iran u

Well, the golden waves of grain are now golden piles of corn being poured from the harvesters into the bins and off to the silos. Huge trucks with arched covers, telltale spills of grain on the road, and bare fields of chaff- not yet plowed, are September's story. The dried cornstalks of fields yet unharvested wait their turn, but soon all will be shorn clean until next year. The soybean fields will be next, but presently they are still greeny gold.Everywhere the colors of early fall are apparent, and in my garden it is the purple and pink of asters. When I moved here and started the garden I bought named varieties, but since then all the asters are self-seeded later generations. They grow like weeds and I am constantly pulling them out, but they are gorgeous in their time, so I like to keep parts of the garden given over to their rangy, but floriferous selves. Golden rods are blooming now, but the autumn clematis, for me, is over. It turns to clouds of diaphanous seed heads, with a

Korean boyfriends are very attentive to their girlfriends, carrying their purses is not an uncommon sight to see in Korea. I have also noticed that when they eat a take out sandwich, they leave the wrapper on.I was channel surfing the other day and the name of this show caught my eye, "3 Color Women Talk Show." I admit to being curious as to what the hostesses looked like. These are the hostesses. Another name for toilet paper holder.

I posted this earlier today on ActiveRain, and thought the audience here would like to take a look…  On the original post, I made some comments on what I feel are the most valuable aspects of AR.  I also asked some questions, and even though I’ve only received 18 comments at the time of posting this, the answers to my questions are insightful… so I will share them after the main body of this post. =============== Today is my 1 year anniversary on ActiveRain… and I have some observations I’d like to share, and questions I’d like to ask the ActiveRain community. It has been an interesting ride.  I remember my first week vividly… I wrote like a mad man.  In the first 4 days, I wrote 3 posts per day, and hit 10,000 points in that first week.  I was addicted to the points, but most of all I was addicted to the community.  Name one other place on the internet for the real estate community where you can come

I posted this earlier today on ActiveRain, and thought the audience here would like to take a look…  On the original post, I made some comments on what I feel are the most valuable aspects of AR.  I also asked some questions, and even though I’ve only received 18... Continue Reading at The Real Estate Marketing Secrets Blog

1) Had lunch with Alvin just now. When I returned with my food, I saw a stranger sitting beside Alvin and our bags stacked up on one chair (orginally they weren't). I glanced at Alvin, who gave me that "what-to-do" look. Immediately I understood what had happened: another case of sitting down without asking. So with the plate of rice in hand I purposely asked Alvin if there's anyone taking the

As usual, since for some reason we get the Pennsylvania CBS, I'll be watching the Pittsburgh Steelers in action today against the Browns. To tell you the truth, I really don't care what I get to watch today, as long as it's some meaningful football. You could let me watch KC-Houston while getting dry humped by a killer whale and I still wouldn't complain.The Browns have some nice young pieces on offense to build around. There's Kellen Winslow, Braylon Edwards and now Joe Thomas on the o-line. But they're starting Charlie Frye today at quarterback and that basically nullifies everything.The Browns just tried a punt on their first series and committed 4 penalties on that play. I'm thinking that that must be some kind of record. On the bright side, at least they're already in good form...Well, that didn't take long. Large Benjamin finds Hines Ward in the end-zone and the Steelers lead 7-0. Pittsburgh's is making no secret of it that they are going to donkey punch Eric Wright, th

Sadly, Peter King was not a part of the halftime show. We'll have to wait 'till Sunday to hear about his latest colonic. But damn, I really can't believe that I'm actually watching some meaningful football right now. My erection could break a window right now.Marvin Harrison starts the second half by burning Mike McKenzie on a deep reception. Joseph Addai caps off the drive by running it in and the Colts lead 17-10.Wow, I went to answer a phone call and suddenly the Colts are over the Saints like Mark Chmura on his babysitter. Two Reggie Wayne Td's and a Vinatieri field goal has this game at 34-10....and the Saints give it right back. Freeney forces a Drew Brees fumble and the Saints are not really looking like Super Bowl contender here. It feels like this one is over. Sean Payton is trying to challenge the play, but I think he's just trying to distract himself from assaulting someone.Poor Jason David. Marvin Harrison's Td and Reggie Wayne's 2 Td's all came lined up against Da

Fuck me sideways and call me Remmington, the season is finally starting. To say that I've been waiting for this moment like a virgin on prom night is understating it badly. I am actually naked right now. I'm typing this very sentence while sporting an erection the size of David Boston's upper body.It only took 13 minutes but John Mellencamp has already made an appearance and I don't think that anyone can be very happy about this.For fantasy purposes, I've got Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Drew Brees and Devery Henderson tonight. As for the game, you know that I'll be rooting for the Saints. I'd rather get raped in my ears by Mike Tyson than see Peyton Manning win anything.Rich Eisen just said that "the season is next". I have to piss now. Badly.First play of the game and Joseph Addai gets hammered and he's slow getting up. Al Michaels reminds us that the Colts have a dead bird and a blind worm behind Addai on the depth chart. But Addai gets up and the city of Indianapolis can

One of the best things you can do with Virtual Observer is to easily make "greatest hits" lists of their recorded calls with the best results. They can publish it to a cd, website, or their intranet and use it for training material. Agents can listen to it to hear a benchmark of what they can be striving for. Just like that feature works, I thought I'd highlight the best blog posts we've done: our customer success stories. This will help customers see what kind of successes they can strive for with VO, and new prospects can be "trained" with real-life case studies.Without any further introduction, here are links to the Greatest Hits from the "Virtual Observations" blog:- Easing the fear of Big Brother - Day-Timers, Inc. selects CSI for call center monitoring - Crutchfield turns up the volume in its' call center- Maverik leverages VoIP technology to build a world class call center- Results Companies Inc. selects Virtual Observer to rapidly create better trained customer service agent

I was planning on doing a "Random Observations" thing on the Braves tonight since I hadn't done one in a while, and the thought was to mention that Willie Harris should be back on the bench again.See, Willie got off to a great start when he was called up, worked his way into the line-up and lead-off spot, but has struggled as of late. And by struggle I mean really struggle. Harris probably single handedly lost the game for the Braves yesterday and plenty of fans (including myself) were down on him but he bounced back by having a monster night in front of a record crowd.Harris went 6 for 6, had two triples and had 6 rbi's to go along with 4 runs while leading the Braves to a 14-6 butt-raping of the Cardinals. Funny how that works. Either way, on to the observations.If not for that horrible 5 game stretch where the offense scored less than Bruce Vilanch, this team has been pretty fun to watch at the plate. Going into tonight's game they were 3rd in the league in hits, 5th in average a

For those of you who have been reading my blog since day one, you all know I have no love lost for Barry Bonds, as a person.However, as an athlete, he’s perhaps one of the best baseball players of this – or any generation.Recently, I went out to San Francisco and caught the All-Star events out there. Knowing I was going to be in the epicenter of the whole Barry Bonds and BALCO hoopla, I always took a moment to ask what Giants fans felt about him.For the most part, most fans out there loved him with great reverence and it was irrelevant to them whether or not he cheated or not. They appreciate a guy, no matter how he was perceived by the media, as one who was loyal, brought them great joy and more importantly has made history time and time again in front of their eyes. Well, unless you have been away from the television or the internet, Barry Bonds is on the cusp of breaking Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. In that respect, most fans outside of San Francisco and even the co

Another All-Star game and another donkey-punch for the National League. At least the ninth inning was entertaining, which is more than I can say for the previous eight. Either way, here are some random observations...I admit, I liked that convo between Willie Mays, Griffey and Jeter. But I would've liked it more if Mays would've stabbed Jeter with a rusty butter knife. It probably would've made the rest of the night pretty tense and uncomfortable, but whatever.Speaking of Mays, he still has a stronger arm than Juan Pierre. (eh, I couldn't pass it up) The Dodger players really got to hear it from the fans. I'm surprised that Brad Penny didn't get impaled by a javelin.Prince Fielder is to fielding what I am to classical Russian Ballet. It's just a very bad combination.Ichiro's post-game interview was the highlight of my evening for sure. I'm pretty sure that he called Jeannie Zelasko a "dirty pirate hooker" somewhere in between there.I don't know what's worse, Eric Karros' ha

Though this may not be the specific and ultimate rules , but some simple observation especially to those who want to get their feet wet trading the Stock Market. Trading requires Knowledge, Discipline and Patience. Discipline: I believe this is the most important of all, we must have the discipline to adhere to any trading plan that we adopt , not forgetting effective risk control. Apply limit on your loss and stricly adhere to money management technic. Trading Plan/Strategies: Just like in any other business set up, trading plan can be seen as a business plan. I believe one need to be clear on the objective, whether it is for cash flow or capital appreciation and action required when an opportunity arises. And remember to hold cash while wating for the right opportunity is a trading plan itself. Patience: This is the final element, where patience is needed to wait and observe for the right opportunities or setup. And remember to let your profit run, when you are right. Tips

The NBA Draft was finally upon us and even though I wasn't very pumped for it, I do have a couple of random observations.Joakim Noah's suit is so utterly ridiculous that I'm actually admiring him for it. Either that kid has balls the size of North Dakota, or he needs medical attention . If I'm a Bulls fan right now, I don't know if I'm smiling or if I'm extremely terrified...Everyone expected the Hawks to pick Barney and a dead turtle with their first round picks, but Al Horford and Acie Law was probably as good as they could have done.And just like that the Knicks are a play-off team. Getting rid of Steve Francis' remains while picking up Zach Randolph is pretty damn impressive if you ask me. But I'm a bit concerned though. Putting Randolph in New York is like putting Tank Johnson in a gun shop. Bad things might happen then...The Warriors trading Jason Richardson for Brandan Wright and drafting Marco Belinelli was pretty snazzy as well. That sound you just heard was the Dall

Every so now and then, I'll bust out my "Random Obersvations" on the Atlanta Braves but you will notice that today's edition will be quite bitter. The Braves are only 4 games over .500 and will be playing the Red Sox and Tigers this week, meaning more bleeding for me.So yes, on to the observations....Kyle Davies has just about entered that Lance Cormier zone where you concede the game when he's starting. If the opposing pitcher is horrible, you hope to win the slugfest, else get ready for a fleecing. I don't know, I'm just not a big fan of Davies right now.Speaking of getting fleeced. Andruw Jones is as big of a menace at the plate right now as dead crocodile. He couldn't hit a beach ball if you told him it was coming and threw it underhands for him. When I die from extremely high blood pressure soon, I'll blame it on him.Nice to see Jeff Francoeur go back to being "mister swings at everything". Between him and Scott "The king of pop-ups" Thorman, it makes things much easier on

Ron MacLean: "As you know it's a little easier to get a penalty nowadays. I'm not saying the standard is spreading, but not even the Sopranos got whacked."After MacLean shows some images of Jagr laughing at his jokes at last year's awards, Ron quips: "I don't know what I said that was so funny. Probably said 'backchecking'."Crosby looks like his mom.Franke Selke Jr to Gilmour: "Hey, you look nice tonight, but you always looked better in the blue and white." Amen to that.Mrs. Lidstrom.........Ron MacLean: "The next award is the Vezina, there are 4 finalists for the first time in history. So there's a greater chance of you sitting next to a loser tonight!"Did you see the look on Luongo's face when Brodeur was announced the winner of the Vezina? It looked like he wanted to whack him and let the crows eat his caracass.Did you see Kelly Hrudey gawking at Trish Stratus?? Or was he eyeing George Stromboulopolous? Gordie Howe: "It's hard to believe that anybody can give (playing hock

In the last week I have read two pretty interesting articles on the Internet, the first, based on a recent report compiled by Ofcom, showed that per capita Ireland and the UK have the greatest amount of Wi-Fi hotspots on the entire planet... just not really something you would expect.The second was an article I read in The Irish Times about the possible adoption of a city wide..FREE..WI-FI Internet service implemented by the government. The first project of this type was pioneered in Norwich city center last year, when 200 Internet transmitting antennas were set up, effectively creating a hotspot that covered all areas of the city and gave Internet to the masses.I must say that this would be an amazing idea, and would allow work, entertainment etc ANY time to ANY person with a computer for free. Although still in its pilot stage, the Norwich project cost a modest £1.1million so would not break the bank.I wonder what current internet providers would make of all this though, those selli

You can tell a lot about a person by how they eat a box of chocolates The psychology of a box of chocolates.   The Rationer: The person who carefully selects a single chocolate everyday, regardless of the success or failure of that selection. (‘Cos, let’s face it.  Some chocolates are just plain failures.)  Practical and possessing unusually strong willpower, they will be able to enjoy their box of chocolates for the better part of a month at which time they can move on with the satisfaction of a hand well played   The Prima Donna: Then there’s the kind of person who is so unwilling to risk the possibility of eating one of the many dismal failures that they suspiciously dissect and examine each and every chocolate, molecule by molecule, before they’ll even consider putting it in their mouths.  These people can go through as much as an entire box of chocolates in a single sitting.  Not because they’ve eaten them all, but because they’ve ea

The Braves finished a brutal weekend series with the Phillies today by getting swept, Philadelphia's first sweep in Atlanta since '95. Atlanta has now suddenly lost 10 out the last 14 and is now 4.5 games behind the first place Mets.And yes, to add cyanide to an already gaping wound....Ryan Langerhans hit a grand slam today for the Nationals. Ryan Langerhans, the former Brave that has less pop in his bat than a arthritic hamster. A Grand Slam. Amazing....So yes, I'll jump awkwardly into my Random Observations, focusing on the Braves after they lost this horrible series...Pete Orr and Chris Woodward bring absolutely nothing to this team. I look at those two guys and they convince me that I could also make it in the Majors. Really, when Chris Woodward gets a start, Bobby Cox is just letting the opponents know that he's already given up on that game.Speaking of Cox, I can't wait to see him break the all-time ejections record. I wonder if he'll come out for a curtain call after the h

Charles Noble just gave my car fire story a plug over on his blog Daily Observations. Thanks, Charles! One of the cool things about blogging is how this content lives on over the months and years. Daily Observations is an excellent music blog, and I'd encourage folks to check it out.Check out his post about my story here. He also used one of my favorite flaming car photos for the post!Related Posts:My car caught fire and exploded!My car caught fire and exploded! - part 2I fly plane!Freelancing + Snow = Painread all crazy gig stories back-to-back

Ah well, that's all for me with this game. Milan wins yet another European title and my mood is officially in the gutter, right next to Joe Buck. Horrible...So much for the exciting finish. Liverpool did not manage to get another chance and it's game over. Milan are European Champions for the 7th time and Inzaghi is running around like a retarded gecko. Maybe he blows out his knee while celebrating....you never know.And out of nowhere Liverpool gets a goal. Kuyt heads the ball in after a corner kick and Liverpool have life with a few minutes left. It sets up to be an exciting finish...I don't often wish physical pain upon someone, but I'll make an exception for Inzaghi. I have a deep hatred for that gentleman.Oh, and there's the ballgame. Inzaghi times his run well, goes around the goalkeeper and slots the ball into the goal. His 2nd of the game and that should do it. The game is just about over now.And AC Milan takes off Jankulovsky, who had a horrid game today. Kulovsky must hav

And we're at the half. Liverpool was creating chances mainly thanks to the actions of Pennant, but it's Milan that strikes first and are now in the driver's seat. Just horrible...And there's the first goal. Andrea Pirlo takes a free kick and it deflects off of Inzaghi and into the net. It's amazing how Inzaghi always seems to get some sort of flimsy goal in the big games. Milan 1, Liverpool 0 and my mood just took a plunge.The first yellow card of the game and no surprise as it goes to Gennaro Gattuso. Gattuso is the Bruce Bowen of European Soccer. So much for Milan being a bit more dangerous. The past fifteen minutes it's been all Liverpool, mainly because of Pennant. Another blunder by Jankulovsky led to another run for Pennant and yet another shot for Liverpool. I dunno, but a see a trend developing here...Jankulovsky just refuses to defend Pennant and it almost leads to the first goal of the game. The ball bounced nicely to Alonso who shot just wide. Jankulovsky should really

The Poverty Business by Cryptogon - 5/17/07 snip:This reads like another evil-corporations-fleecing-ignorant-poor-people article, and it is, but it’s a huge mistake to think that the poor mindset only affects poor people. I know people who make a quarter of a million dollars per year who live week to week and are always struggling for more. I also know people who have declared bankruptcy who buy iPods. The lack of the concept of enough is the root of this. It creates the prisoners and the prison, regardless of income. Do you know the one thing I’ve noticed that all people with the poor mindset seem to have in common? Television. Rich, poor, Ivy League education, no education, it doesn’t seem to matter: If they watch a lot of TV they are in debt up to their ears. Have you noticed this too? I wonder if anyone has done a study on hours of tv watched per day vs. household debt?...Credit Market `Bubble' May Be at Bursting Point by Bloomberg - 5/17/07 snip:Calling the turn in the c

In the 80s, well along the time that the oil scares happened, people began to demand more from a car than mere function and style. After all, by the 80s, most, if not exactly everyone, had a goodish number of car choices. The “people’s cars”–those purposely designed for individuals of the working class, had already come out. And around this time, the quality of car operations were also much improved. Before the war, the affluent bought cars like Rolls-Royces or Hispano Suizas (more…)

Normally I do not post articles form political discussion forums as by their very nature they will generally be one sided and self serving. Thats not a slam against that type of discussion forum, I have spent years at them both as a member and a staffer. But in the case of this one so much of it coincides with other sources I think its safe to assume it to be fairly accurate. ~RJHFree Republic post linkPRESIDENTIAL OBSERVATIONS BY THE SECRET SERVICEObservations by Dave KulowPosted on 01/27/2006 9:18:40 AM PST by JimRedWe had a neighbor when I lived in DC who was part of the secret service presidential detail for many years. His stories of Kennedy and Johnson were the same as those I heard from the guys who flew the presidents' plane. Yes, Kennedy did have Marilyn Monroe flown in for secret "dates," and LBJ was a typical Texas "good ole boy" womanizer. Nixon, Bush 41, and Carter never cheated on their wives. Clinton cheated, but couldn't match Kennedy or LBJ in sty

It is wholly interesting to note how things change. The 50s had their grease machines, the 60s their drag racers and the 70s their low riders. One will most likely note that for nearly the length of four decades, the car industry was focused on one main consumer draw: individuality. (more…)

1. Drew: Mom usually doesn’t mind when Porter picks up junk off the ground because he does that everywhere, but she really freaked out when she realized he was carrying this empty bottle. She told us it was called Jagermeister.  She said Jagermeister is an energy drink for animals and the bottle probably had horse germs so Porter had to put it down immediately.  When she said that Daddy started snorting and I saw a booger moving up and down in his nose.  There was a picture of a deer on the label of the bottle, but I didn’t see any animals at the concert.  Well, I saw crawfish, but they were dead and people were eating them. 2. Finn: My brothers and I were at the Chick-fil-A tent getting dinner while Mom bought our drinks.  I saw her talking to a man while she was at the Budweiser tent buying my dad a beer.   I think the man was trying to flirt with her.  I told Daddy, “That man is trying to put the moves on our Mom.”  We got our chicken nuggets and ra

The Braves just beat the Dodgers 6-4 to take 2 out of 3 from the weekend series and a couple of things stood out while watching the games.The Braves need to find a way to get Jarrod Saltalamacchia more playing time. I don't care if it's at first base or where else they could plug him in, but the kid needs a regular spot in the starting line-up. If they trade him for mediocre starting pitching, I will scalp myself.I see no reason why the Dodgers start Juan Pierre every game. The only thing he has is speed and he even messed that up by getting picked of twice during this series. I refuse to believe that Ned Colletti can't find a better center fielder anywhere else.Speaking of which, the Dodger outfielders would have trouble throwing out Jim Leyland. It's not often that throws bounce twice before hitting the cut-off man.Edgar Renteria still has much range as my couch. Watching Renteria try to get to a groundball actually hurts me. It physically hurts me. But the man carries a big stic

Believe it or not, it really is pretty out here. It's a different kind of natural beauty, for sure; but the skies are so gigantic!The wind blows almost constantly. I don't know if it's because there are no trees or because we are over 3k feet above sea level.Apparently trash is picked up behind my house in the alley. After letting bags pile in the garage for 6 days waiting to see when my neighbors put their garbage by the street; I finally figured there might be something different going on.I've been in Lubbock for 10 days total in my entire life, and it's rained for almost 5 days of my time here. The locals tell me this is unusual.Prairie dog towns are interesting for about 5 minutes. For 4 year olds it tops off at 3 minutes.It's been a long time since I've lived somewhere that is so easy to get around in. For those friends in Dallas, they will understand.When they don't have your size at Old Navy, don't ask where the next closest store is. Because it's not within 250

It's been a while since I did one of my "random observations", so I thought it'd be fun to bust that bad boy out again. And by fun I mean horribly dissapointing...The Braves have played 21 games so far and have a record of 13-8, which is pretty decent seeming that the Mets and Dodgers are the only teams with a better record. So yeah, here are some things that I've liked so far, and some things that make me want to bathe with my own urine.Edgar Renteria has the range of a dead penguin. Renteria is still a very good offensive player but Stephen Hawking could do a better job right now with the glove.Mark Redman is the worst pitcher in a Braves uniform that I've seen in a long time. Worse than Albie Lopez, Jorge Sosa, Dan Kolb, Chris Reitsma, the old version of Mike Remlinger and Jason Shiell. The Braves have lost 8 games so far and 3 of them have been because of Redman. Watching Redman pitch is worse than getting donkey punched in a prison shower.Brian McCann is the young version of

Asilomar #2(won LPAPA "Best of Plein Air" Juried Exhibition 2006)Oil, 9 x 12 inchescopyright Ed TerpeningEd Terpening continues to interest and inform with his series of 10 observations on plein air painting. You can click the Top Observations tag on his blog "Life Plein Air" to see the first half of the series (#1-5 ) - or view individual ones on the links below. I've included a small extract from each one for you to get a flavour of what Ed's saying. Of course it also means I've got a quick digest in one post of where he's up to at the half way mark!10 Observations on Plein Air Painting - an IntroductionOver the coming months I plan to launch a series of posts that expose what I consider my top 10 observations as a plein air painter. Many of these apply across mediums and I’m sure you’ve seen many in one form other the other in books, workshops or other sources. These represent my take on these topics, offered to give you another perspective.Observation 1: To Move, Be Move

These are just a few observations that I’ve had. Some readers may have seen them before because I’ve written them on Open Diary several years ago. Furniture stores Is it just my city, or are there furniture stores going out of business everywhere every weekend? Has anyone else noticed this, people standing on the corner [...]

Current Mood: Since the New Year's Eve fiasco I've been scrutinizing myself; trying to figure out what is wrong with me and how to fix it. I can't stand being this way anymore. If I don't do something about it, I'm afraid it will kill me. The fact that the hospital tried to commit me was a very loud wake up call.I've already been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder as well as generalized anxiety disorder. I've been researching various mental and mood disorders, trying to figure out how to cure myself. After all my research I've discovered my symptoms also match avoidant personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. I'm not a shrink so I don't know the difference between the two, but I do know that I exhibit most of the behaviors that are listed in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for both of these personality disorders. I don't know if they are co-morbid or if they a

Schnauzer Logic, Episode 39 Date: December 20, 2006 Full episode: Schnauzer Logic Episode 39 Summary: If you're going to stand out in performance, you gotta find a place where you can develop your true and honest voice. The Schnauzer Logic podcast is shaping up as an uncensored platform for my manic comic artist's persona, where host Robin Diane Goldstein and her studio panel respond generously to almost every one of my halting, half-formed observations from the downslide. After a couple of visits, we've settled into a comfortable pattern where Robin sets up the premise, I stutter through a joke, the crew (gifted raconteur Sean Meehan, comic plumber Parviz Fathali and quietly present Sheri Stevens) bust out in laughter. When I'm on Schnauzer Logic, I can pretend I'm a big success. "Feel free to workshop your material on our little show anytime!" Robin writes after my appearance on the program's 2006 finale, which also wraps up its first year online. Busted! It's like radio

Schnauzer Logic, Episode 39 Date: December 20, 2006 Full episode: Schnauzer Logic Episode 39 Summary: If you're going to stand out in performance, you gotta find a place where you can develop your true and honest voice. The Schnauzer Logic podcast is shaping up as an uncensored platform for my manic comic artist's persona, where host Robin Diane Goldstein and her studio panel respond generously to almost every one of my halting, half-formed observations from the downslide. After a couple of visits, we've settled into a comfortable pattern where Robin sets up the premise, I stutter through a joke, the crew (gifted raconteur Sean Meehan, comic plumber Parviz Fathali and quietly present Sheri Stevens) bust out in laughter. When I'm on Schnauzer Logic, I can pretend I'm a big success. "Feel free to workshop your material on our little show anytime!" Robin writes after my appearance on the program's 2006 finale, which also wraps up its first year online. Busted! It's like radio