Speculations

Good evening. Tonight I bring to ya'll some speculations about life in general, some of which might actually be true. Enjoy - or don't - I guess it really doesn't matter to me as long as you keep coming back.

Speculations and their descriptions:
1) Why when describe movie categories do we say action / drama or romantic / comedy or comedy / drama? For that matter, why don't we abbreviate those things? Suggestions: actma, romanedy, and comma respectively.
2) Why do we abbreviate everything? Yes, I know the irony that this speculation contradicts the first, but the question begs to be asked. Speaking of abbreviating, has anyone else noticed that names longer than 1 syllable get hacked into a single one? Examples: Andrew = Andy, Charlene = Char, Jennifer = Jen.
3) Why has the language of blogs become that of a 10 year old? Examples of this one are everywhere. LOL, WTF, J/K, LMAO, IMHO.
4) Since when is it "cool" to abbreviate / modify words with numbers; was it really the idea of some computer cracker to make themselves sound "133t"?
5) Is the true nature of the internet to sell products or ideas? I would like to think the latter is a more accurate depiction, however it seems that one can purchase almost anything on the internet - including but not limited to almost any drug, guns, and marijuana seeds.
6) If computer programs can simulate intelligence, why does the computer always end up losing? Almost every war type computer game has an artificial intelligence of some sort now, however each are internally flawed to not learn from their mistakes. I can hear you now saying something like "if the computer learned, you would never be able to beat it". I understand that, but the point I am trying to make is that the computer doesn't learn at all. This is why playing against other human players has such an appeal. Admit it, if you could trash talk your computer - have it learn your strategy and force you to adapt new techniques, you would; simply because that is exactly why you play against another human. They will inevitably learn your tactic, and exploit it to take you down.
7) While I am on the topic of computer intelligence, why haven't we ventured into the realm of learning computers? The closest things I have seen (aside from the gaming industry) are spam filters - and these aren't really learning, they are just adapting to a variety of variables that are adjusted by a user. Shouldn't we be able to get a computer figure out if that the message with the cryptic subject that contains an advertisement for "V14GR4 with0ut a prescript10n" is spam?
8) Why do I have to pay to have my credit card "protected" from identity theft? Shouldn't this be a standard feature that comes with the privilege of the card? Furthermore, why do they charge you $3.99 per month for this feature? Last time I checked, most of the people that had their identity stolen were compensated in some way for the charges made on their behalf.
9) Why is it that if get more than a few thousand dollars in debt I have collectors called while the U.S government can continue to get further and further in debt without any negative effects? Yes, this one spurs from the inability of our current leader to reduce the national debt. I believe that there should be a policy in place that requires each administration to pay down the debt by making equal payments of (at least) 5% of the total as of today, per year. Of course there would be loopholes for natural disasters and such, but wouldn't it be nice if we weren't paying so much interest? When I buy something, it is extremely rare for me to simply "charge it" and not have the money available before the purchase is made. I believe that if we setup a pay-in-advance system then there would be no need to tax the American people so ruthlessly.
10) Why do we have any tax penalty for being married? If two people make money from separate sources of income, and they happen to wear a ring on their left ring finger, why is it that they are penalized? If our government really wants to push the "Christian values" on America, shouldn't there be a marriage bonus?
11) Why does the FBI peruse people who illegally trade files over peer-to-peer networks, worth - at the very most - a few thousand dollars while never quite nailing down Enron executives? I still haven't gotten over the Enron scandal. Thousands lost their entire retirement in one day, few were compensated but many more got nothing. Lets do a little math here, assuming that the average value of an illegal file passed over the internet is valued at ~$100 (and I am assuming this is high), and assuming that only 1000 people had their entire 401k plan invested in Enron the day it went under that still means - at bare minimum - 4000 illegal files would have to be distributed to compete with these numbers.
12) Why do we tell kids that they "can be anything they want" when they grow up, but never accept that they want to do a job that doesn't require a college education? When was the last time you heard a kid say that they wanted to be a janitor, or a McDonalds manager, or a garbage collector? My guess is never - and if you had heard them say that, you would convince them that those jobs are for people that are less important than them - and to think bigger, telling them to look forward to a more prestigious job as a fireman, the leader of the free world, or a CEO of a corporation. Finishing my question, everyone uses hundreds of people each day to get them through. Everyone from the person who grew the coffee they drank in the morning to the person that stuffed their mattress, whether they know it or not. If someone doesn't do these jobs, the infrastructure of our country would fall apart in a matter of days.
13) Why is it that as few as 20 years ago, a person could easily survive on one paycheck and now it can't cover basic needs? I live in an area that has rather high property values, and as such I pay $650 per month in rent alone. The total of my individual bills comes to ~$1200 per month. My current monthly income is ~$1700, and that is with my new high paying job. With my previous job I was pulling in ~$1350. If my wife didn't work as a substitute, we wouldn't have any saving any money.
14) How did we ever let basic health care evade so many lower and middle class citizens? I am one of the many Americans that haven't got the money to afford health insurance and I frequently worry that something might come up that won't be covered by our meager savings.
15) What is the price of Iraqi "freedom"? Currently 1559 U.S. lives have been confirmed lost in this endeavor, and while I support the individual troops that are doing their duty, I do not agree with the reason we are in Iraq. Does anyone remember why we went there in the first place? Yep, weapons of mass destruction (WMD's, another abbreviation), which we did not find. As Michael Moore said, we attacked (and invaded) a country that had never threatened the United States in any way. I know that those 1559 people (and counting) will never be coming back to their families and I wonder about our government.
16) Lastly, what has changed in our society that lets has so many teenagers have sex with many people without regard to their own safety, mental well-being, and better logic? It seems that lately I have been meeting a lot of people that are only interested in "hooking up" (not with me mind you, I'm taken). It makes me wonder if monogamy will survive in the next generation.

Ok, that was a really long Rant of the Minute - wouldn't you agree? I can't think of any other speculations to discuss, but I leave the floor open for further debate. Also, if you disagree with me I urge you to not hold my views against me personally. I would also like to apologize for going so far into my personal beliefs; I know that you don't talk religion or politics with people that you want to keep talking to because eventually you will hit a roadblock that may destroy the relationship.

Until next time,
~ Mr. Me ~

Bad Hair

Have you ever had a bad hair week? This week has been hell on my hair. Monday, as all you avid readers know, was my first day at a real job in a while and as such I had let my hair grow a bit much. I usually wear a goofy Yellowstone hat that you can see here. My new place of employment doesn't exactly *prohibit* the wearing of hats, it is just highly frowned upon. Therefore my usually hidden (hippyish) hair was falling in my face for the first 2 days of the week. On Wednesday I visited a hair cutting place ... the name escapes me ... and got an immediate reduction in my overhead (he he he). Unfortunatly for me, I was in a hurry to get out of there (having waited over 30 minutes) and didn't check how the back looked. Therefore the back of my hair is noticably longer than I would have prefered and how one side has this akward sideways dip thing and the sides of my (usually parted down the center) hair also have this funky -wave- thing going. God willing, it will grow out in the near future enough that I don't feel so hokey. This concludes this Rant Of The Minute.

That felt remarkably femine, talking about my hair for so long. So now I would like to relate a little thing that I thought was funny.
The other day I was at work and noticed a newspaper on the table. Glancing down, one of the articles near the fold caught my eye. The article title read: "Tsunami Blamed For Dozens". Logically I got a good kick out of how they had blamed tsunamis for sets of 12 items. It got me wondering what they were going to blame for bakers dozens.

It is starting to worry me that my peeps haven't updated their blogs since I started updating mine again. For now I'll assume that it has just been an uneventful week for them. Of course, the previous statement does not apply to Baren - my condolences my friend.

Changing gears -- I think that I may have found the next big thing. I was recently bragging that I had be playing with Adobe Photoshop Album, a nifty program that lets you organize your pictues by applying tags to each one. This is a very unique feature that I had not seen in any other program. That is, until today I browsed to a Google owned program called Picasa. Not only does it seem to incorporate all of the features of the Adobe product, it has more features - and it's FREE! Anyone that is interested in organizing and/or sharing their pictures should definitly check Picasa out. I downloaded it earlier today and have yet to install it, but by looking at the features (and interface screenshots) I think it is far superior.

Ok, the advertisement section is done - and I am out of here.
Enjoy the software ya'll,
~ Mr. Me ~

Work is ... Work Related

Janitorial work isn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. The worst part about the whole thing is (aside from the hours) being on your feet for ~7 of the 8 hour shift. Thank goodness that I had proper training to work up to this job. I can thank my FIL for making me do back breaking labor and (mostly) standing for the entire day, it kinda got me set for this job. I do need to invest in a new pair of sneakers, the ones that I have now are giving me a blister / callus on my right pinkie toe.

I would like to thank the participants of my first point race for partaking of the joy that is my insanity. The point breakdown is as follows:
1) Maggie = 10 points
2) Dr. Worm = 8 points
3) Baren = 2 points
4) Exquisite Dead Guy = 0 points
For an explanation of how I assigened these points, you can read the comments for my last post. I would also like to mention that you can lose points as well as gain them. I haven't decided how you can lose them yet, but I will (good suggestions rewarded with points). Speaking of suggestions, I'm looking for your next point earning opportunity.

Ok, I think I commercialized that last bit a little too much. Moving on then.

Oh yes, I was about to tell you what all my job has included so far. I have been on the surface cleaning crew and the trash crew so far. I am starting to understand the floor plan of the building (which is very good since it is freaking huge and all the halls still look the same). The surface crew does detail work in each office, wiping down desks, keyboard trays, and telephones. It is their duty to ensure that the office is complete when they leave, this also leaves them to check that the trash has been properly emptied and that the floors get vaccuumed. As for the trash crew, they go around to each office - get this - removing trash. Big surprise eh? Both jobs are relatively easy. The trash crew is a whole lot faster paced than the other (almost a power walk everywhere, while pushing garbage / recycle bins). It is critical that the trash crew get done as soon as possible so that any other crews coming in after them don't have to worry about trash.
The surface crew has to be a little anal about their job becuase it is the touch-up work that really makes the offices shine. This means that even the smallest *finger print* gets wiped off. All and all it is a lot of common sense.

Last night (my first night on the job), I tried to go to sleep as soon as I got home and didn't succeed for about a half hour, I was too wound from working. Tonight, I have learned my lesson - take a shower, update my blog, and chill out for a while to let myself slow to a sleepier pace.

Speaking of sleepier....................*snores and wakes up*
must be time for bed.

Until later then,
~ Mr. Me ~

Fear and Cheese

Mark your calendars because today is a red letter day - yes it is the day that I, Mr. Me, triumphantly return to the world of the internet. You may be asking - what took you so freaking long to update your blog, and you would have a legitimate gripe, however I decline to directly answer your well thought out question and instead respond with another question. What took you all so long to decide to come looking for me?!? I am appalled that it took such a long time for ya'll to come hunting me (notice how I cleverly diverted the anger you had at me, he he he). All said and done, I have been busy - yes a tried and true reason that most people will readily believe and for those of you that don't believe it, you have good reason since I have actually been lazy and lurking behind the scenes waiting for someone to notice that I am gone. Hopefully it won't take this long when I die for everyone to come looking for me or I will be quite stinky by the time they find me.

In all honesty, I want to apologize for not taking the time to contribute my 2 cents for you to read up on. Speaking of my 2 cents, has anyone read Dr. Worm's latest post? I read it 3 times - once aloud - to see if I could figure out how to pronounce that cursed word. I finally broke down and asked him (over the phone), he said Fah. Now I know that I can do a better job of describing the exact sound of this word than he did. It's like you are about to say "fuck" but you notice that your parents are watching so you cut off the "ck" at the end. See that makes a whole lot more sense.
Since I am taking the time to criticize Dr. Worm's posts, I figure that I had better poke fun at Baren's too ................... ok, I looked and he has been infallible recently - don't hate me Dr. Worm, seriously it was nothing personal.

Jebus! I almost forgot to let ya'll know why this post is finding it's way to the net after midnight on a Friday (yes that is odd for me). I got a new job. Yes a real job that doesn't require me to be outside where it is currently 24 degrees (and it hasn't gotten above 45 for the last week). Now I know that there are going to be some critics when I tell you my job title, so let me start off by telling you other uninteresting facts. It is a job with the state and although it is a temporary job (~6 months) there is a possibility of staying on full time afterwards. Even if I don't get invited to stay longer, it will look good on my resume. It is a night job, from 5 pm to 1 am. Perfect for me ... it just means that I have to shift my sleep schedule to accommodate it. It pays the most I have ever been paid and has potential for overtime hours. Just in case you were wondering - a whopping 11.88 per hour. If I do get to stay on, there will be benefits for very cheap. For those of you that just skipped most of the above paragraph, the job is a Janitor at the legislative council bureau. See, I knew that you would judge me - hippies (*sniff sniff*).

And now you know why I finally found time to update my blog for ya'll to enjoy, my wife is asleep and the internet needs refreshing - nothing new on my fav sites. See I do need you for something ... entertainment silly! For those of you wondering, yes I know that the majority of people that read this are related to me in one way or another and probably know most of the things contained herein, but then what would be the fun of reading all of this? Perhaps to make your also dull lives less dull and more spamtastic? Or perhaps because you had given up on me and vowed to only check my site once a week to punish me? Who knows - it will be interesting to see who acknowledges my big return first - my bet is Dr. Worm since I kind of tipped him off when I last communicated to him. However there has been a lot of crying wolf, so perhaps someone else will beat him to it.

The race is on - comment below to let me know you were here and I'll award some points that mean nothing to the first place, and fewer points to the next few.

Until later then,
~ Mr. Me ~