I'm in a foul mood today. . .a number of things have caused this, such as this and this, then I'm supposed to be all worked up because the Governor is going to temporarily cut state employee salaries and there's some picket march going on today. Frankly, I don't really care- state worker salaries get cut to minimum wage until a budget is finalized, but we don't get paid until the end of the month anyway, so, only if there is no budget by August 31 will state employees see any real result in "workers salaries slashed." Course, I'm not a temporary employee, so I'm not losing my job. Nevermind that it's the legislators who should be punished for not doing their job. In times like these, I begin to think that a part-time legislature would be ideal; let them concentrate their disastrous law-making in a much smaller period of time, instead of over several years.
But you know what, I'm beginning to care a whole lot less. If people want the government to start making their decisions for them because they don't want to deal with the results, fine, so be it. We are a nation of whiners; when we don't get our way, we complain; when we make a terrible decision, we blame someone else and want the government to fix it; when we travel to a foreign county and people don't speak english, we blame them for not speaking english. We want everything done now and entertain me in the meantime.
But what do I know. . .I chose to live here in San Francisco; I might as well just spit into the wind and then curse the wind.
I'll get over all of it in a few days though.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Really?
I cannot believe that I'm reading this.
That's right, if this law passed you could get a ticket if you cross the street while texting in Illinois. The government's ability to limit personal choices and decisions are growing each and every year.
To steal a line from an old bumpersticker: Texting is not a crime.
Under the proposed law, Illinois residents would get slapped with a misdemeanor and a $25 fine if caught using a cell phone or other wireless device while traversing streets.
That's right, if this law passed you could get a ticket if you cross the street while texting in Illinois. The government's ability to limit personal choices and decisions are growing each and every year.
To steal a line from an old bumpersticker: Texting is not a crime.
Monday, July 21, 2008
A day at the ballgame
July 3. . .day before 4th of July. . .Cubs are in town playing the Giants. So, with wife, 2 sisters and Vansmack in tow, we decide to hit up two of the four games the Cubs are in town. July 3 is the 4th and final game of the series. On StubHub I buy 5 bleacher tickets, not knowing that the seats aren't exactly together. Oh well, there are two seats splitting us, we'll just ask the people to scoot down two seats and no big deal.
I meet Vansmack a few hours before the game, first pitch at 4:05, at Gordon Biersch for some lunch and a few beers while we wait for the suckers to get off of work and meet us at the stadium. Have a cheeseburger and manage to put down two beers before it's time to head for the stadium and meet up with the girls, who finally show up just before 4. Walk into the stadium and head for our seats in the bleacher section.
We find our row and, sure enough, there are two people sitting in the two seats separating the five of us. We file down and ask the guy would you mind scooting down two seats so the five us can sit together? He looks at us and says, "These are my seats!" I should note that the bleachers are just long metal benches with numbers on them referring to seat numbers, so, we aren't talking about fold down seats requiring one to get up and move, we are asking if he will slide down two seats. I look at Vansmack, then ask him again, "Excuse me, there's five us and we'd like to sit together, we'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mind moving down two seats." Once again, "These are my seats." So, Vansmack and I decide we'll take the two seats and let the girls take the three, whereupon we spend the good majority of the next 3 innings having a running conversation across the two people. At various times two people go up for food and/or beer (mostly beer), and then hand the beer across to the other side. Each time, the guy just picks up his radio and turns up the volume as he brings it closer to his head. Each time we speak louder to each other.
In the meantime, Vansmack and I try to convince the second person if there's anything we can do to make this easier on everyone, and she says no, he's just obstinate like that since these are his season ticket seats. But, she's a good sport and Vansmack and I end up talking to her about soccer (Spain fan) and Wimbledon (Nadal fan), and how she's from Chile and supports Spain in nearly everything.
About the 5th inning, Vansmack and I run to get some beer and we come back and the guy is gone, but his friend is still there. Even though those are "his seats" he apparently can't sit down for very long, so he walks around, and doesn't return until the 7th inning, by which time we've come back with our final beers for the day.
Now, normally one encounters only one incident like that a day, if that much. However, this being a baseball game, the day before Fourth of July, resulting in people getting out of work early, not having to work the next day, and sitting in the bleachers, something extra special happened shortly after we got back from our final round of beers- a girl fight.
Ok, not really a fight, so to speak, but rather, a bunch of girls in Giants gear sitting down the row from my wife and her two sisters started getting in a yelling match about the Giants and the Cubs. I don't know what started the yelling, but all I know is that a series of curse words starting flowing toward us, by us I mean my wife and her sisters, from these girls, spewing all sorts of profanities and vulgarities about Cubs sucking and kicking asses. . .all of this with a variety of kids sitting in and around us. In an effort to defuse the situation, Vansmack started up with a "Take Your Tops Off" chant which was soon joined in by several guys in the area (including one who pointed which girls he wanted to see with their tops off- one of which did not make the cut), at least one female doing it out of jest, and a mom with a 2 year old sitting next to me (she denied it, but I know what I heard). After a few minutes of them standing on the bleachers, pointing and yelling at my wife and her sisters, a loud cry of "Take Your Tops Off" and another mom asking Vansmack to think of the children, the ushers finally came over and. . .escorted the Giants girls away.
Frankly, I don't know what started it all, or how it escalated into a yelling match (more active participants have been slow in getting me their take). What I do know is that 3 or 4 drunk, female Giants fans got escorted out while 3 Cubs fans, who, I guess, were not as vocal, got to stay. Kudos to Giants security. Course, having grown up here in the Bay Area and having attended a number of Giants/Dodgers game and having sat in the bleachers in Candlestick, this was all pretty tame- there was one game I went to when I was like 10, where someone had a Dodgers pennant and walked down every aisle asking people to spit on it, and then later in the game tried to light another Dodgers pennant on fire, and finally, dumping several beers on a Dodgers fan who dared venture into the bleachers. It was also a night game; a cold, blustery, foggy night game at Candlestick.
The Monday after the holiday I run into a guy I work with who is also a Cubs fan and was sitting a few sections away in the bleachers. I tell him about the yelling and getting the girls ejected and he said, "That was you guys?" Apparently several sections worth of fans in the bleachers were aware of this incident.
Anyway, the Cubs lost that game; in fact, they lost the two games we went to that series. So, another Cubs hat gets put into retirement as I continue in my quest to find a Cubs hat that I can continually wear to a Cubs game where they win. I suppose I could also look at countervaling forces, such as people who I went with, and so forth. Maybe I should give the hat another try under other conditions; say, a Game 4 this fall.
I meet Vansmack a few hours before the game, first pitch at 4:05, at Gordon Biersch for some lunch and a few beers while we wait for the suckers to get off of work and meet us at the stadium. Have a cheeseburger and manage to put down two beers before it's time to head for the stadium and meet up with the girls, who finally show up just before 4. Walk into the stadium and head for our seats in the bleacher section.
We find our row and, sure enough, there are two people sitting in the two seats separating the five of us. We file down and ask the guy would you mind scooting down two seats so the five us can sit together? He looks at us and says, "These are my seats!" I should note that the bleachers are just long metal benches with numbers on them referring to seat numbers, so, we aren't talking about fold down seats requiring one to get up and move, we are asking if he will slide down two seats. I look at Vansmack, then ask him again, "Excuse me, there's five us and we'd like to sit together, we'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mind moving down two seats." Once again, "These are my seats." So, Vansmack and I decide we'll take the two seats and let the girls take the three, whereupon we spend the good majority of the next 3 innings having a running conversation across the two people. At various times two people go up for food and/or beer (mostly beer), and then hand the beer across to the other side. Each time, the guy just picks up his radio and turns up the volume as he brings it closer to his head. Each time we speak louder to each other.
In the meantime, Vansmack and I try to convince the second person if there's anything we can do to make this easier on everyone, and she says no, he's just obstinate like that since these are his season ticket seats. But, she's a good sport and Vansmack and I end up talking to her about soccer (Spain fan) and Wimbledon (Nadal fan), and how she's from Chile and supports Spain in nearly everything.
About the 5th inning, Vansmack and I run to get some beer and we come back and the guy is gone, but his friend is still there. Even though those are "his seats" he apparently can't sit down for very long, so he walks around, and doesn't return until the 7th inning, by which time we've come back with our final beers for the day.
Now, normally one encounters only one incident like that a day, if that much. However, this being a baseball game, the day before Fourth of July, resulting in people getting out of work early, not having to work the next day, and sitting in the bleachers, something extra special happened shortly after we got back from our final round of beers- a girl fight.
Ok, not really a fight, so to speak, but rather, a bunch of girls in Giants gear sitting down the row from my wife and her two sisters started getting in a yelling match about the Giants and the Cubs. I don't know what started the yelling, but all I know is that a series of curse words starting flowing toward us, by us I mean my wife and her sisters, from these girls, spewing all sorts of profanities and vulgarities about Cubs sucking and kicking asses. . .all of this with a variety of kids sitting in and around us. In an effort to defuse the situation, Vansmack started up with a "Take Your Tops Off" chant which was soon joined in by several guys in the area (including one who pointed which girls he wanted to see with their tops off- one of which did not make the cut), at least one female doing it out of jest, and a mom with a 2 year old sitting next to me (she denied it, but I know what I heard). After a few minutes of them standing on the bleachers, pointing and yelling at my wife and her sisters, a loud cry of "Take Your Tops Off" and another mom asking Vansmack to think of the children, the ushers finally came over and. . .escorted the Giants girls away.
Frankly, I don't know what started it all, or how it escalated into a yelling match (more active participants have been slow in getting me their take). What I do know is that 3 or 4 drunk, female Giants fans got escorted out while 3 Cubs fans, who, I guess, were not as vocal, got to stay. Kudos to Giants security. Course, having grown up here in the Bay Area and having attended a number of Giants/Dodgers game and having sat in the bleachers in Candlestick, this was all pretty tame- there was one game I went to when I was like 10, where someone had a Dodgers pennant and walked down every aisle asking people to spit on it, and then later in the game tried to light another Dodgers pennant on fire, and finally, dumping several beers on a Dodgers fan who dared venture into the bleachers. It was also a night game; a cold, blustery, foggy night game at Candlestick.
The Monday after the holiday I run into a guy I work with who is also a Cubs fan and was sitting a few sections away in the bleachers. I tell him about the yelling and getting the girls ejected and he said, "That was you guys?" Apparently several sections worth of fans in the bleachers were aware of this incident.
Anyway, the Cubs lost that game; in fact, they lost the two games we went to that series. So, another Cubs hat gets put into retirement as I continue in my quest to find a Cubs hat that I can continually wear to a Cubs game where they win. I suppose I could also look at countervaling forces, such as people who I went with, and so forth. Maybe I should give the hat another try under other conditions; say, a Game 4 this fall.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Ipods
Within the last month of so my 2nd Ipod finally gave out. Hadn't had any problems with it for the 2 years I had it, until I decided to nearly fill the memory with songs in preparation for the trip to Europe, only then did I start to get hard drive issues. So, whatever. . .the first Ipod's hard drive went kaput after a night when the cats decided that it was time to knock it off a table and chase it around the floor. Got the second one a few months before moving out here, and a month before Apple released the video Ipod; I was upset, to say the least. So, for the past 2 years, I've been grooving to my 20GB picture Ipod with no problems. Decide to fill up the hard drive, boom, I've got problems. Got fed up with having to re-set everything, and then the Ipod not connecting to my laptop, that it was decided that I should just take the leap and get a new Ipod, my 3rd Ipod in 5 years. -And with that, went to the Apple store yesterday and plunked down the cabbage for a brand new 160GB black Ipod. Took it home, opened it up, connected it to the laptop and. . . . .nothing.
Yep, nothing. After a few tries I finally got a notification that this Ipod only works with Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher. Guess what I have: 10.3.9. So, call me a lazy bastard or a cheap-skate, but I had no real reason to upgrade the laptop's operating system beyond what's already there. Combine that with a plan to get a new laptop in the next few months leaves me with practically no reason at all to go out and buy Mac OS 10.5. So, I decided to try and find Mac OS 10.4, which is unavailable on through various Apple stores. Next stop was Ebay where I could find some for sale, ranging from $50 to buy it nows of $130. If someone is going to buy 10.4 for $130, just go out and buy 10.5 for the same price. Frankly, I can't really believe that 10.4 isn't just being given away, especially since it's now more than 2 years old.
So, I'm stuck with a brand new Ipod that I can't connect to my computer without an upgraded operating system, and an operating system that I don't need to upgrade because we're getting a brand new one in a few months. So, until I can find a cheap version of 10.4, I guess I'm stuck with an Ipod I can't use for the time being.
Yes, I realize that this is an incredibly whiney post, but so what, I just needed to vent.
Yep, nothing. After a few tries I finally got a notification that this Ipod only works with Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher. Guess what I have: 10.3.9. So, call me a lazy bastard or a cheap-skate, but I had no real reason to upgrade the laptop's operating system beyond what's already there. Combine that with a plan to get a new laptop in the next few months leaves me with practically no reason at all to go out and buy Mac OS 10.5. So, I decided to try and find Mac OS 10.4, which is unavailable on through various Apple stores. Next stop was Ebay where I could find some for sale, ranging from $50 to buy it nows of $130. If someone is going to buy 10.4 for $130, just go out and buy 10.5 for the same price. Frankly, I can't really believe that 10.4 isn't just being given away, especially since it's now more than 2 years old.
So, I'm stuck with a brand new Ipod that I can't connect to my computer without an upgraded operating system, and an operating system that I don't need to upgrade because we're getting a brand new one in a few months. So, until I can find a cheap version of 10.4, I guess I'm stuck with an Ipod I can't use for the time being.
Yes, I realize that this is an incredibly whiney post, but so what, I just needed to vent.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
That's odd
So, went to the local McDonalds for lunch, the same one with the $1.39 double cheeseburger (despite McDonalds' continued marketing of it as part of their $1 menu) and whilst waiting for my double cheeseburgers, a customer after me walks up and orders a Happy Meal. Now, this guy was like 5'6", bald and around 45 years old and in a suit. . .ordering a Happy Meal. What made it even odder was that he paid for his Happy Meal with a $100 bill. Just use you debit card and be done with; did you really need to break your $100 bill at McDonalds by ordering a Happy Meal? Couldn't you have splurged on the double quarter pounder and large Coke, instead of the Happy Meal with small Coke? I can't help but think there was a better usage for that $100.
Anyway, last night a group of us went the Cubs/Giants game here in San Francisco. We got decked out in Cubs stuff and sat in the bleachers. Several amusing events from the game: a whole rash of taunts and jeers went out to Jim Edmonds, 95% of them from people in Cubs gear; Ryan Theriot almost getting Ray Durham into believing there was an overthrow on a play at 2nd base; the "Express" bathroom underneath the bleachers with a line out the door; and having my friend Vansmack buy 4 hot chocolates for various females that were wronged by him at one point or another during the game was amusing as well. Those were just some of the random sights from the game last night, not even going into the terrible decision-making that went on in the 7th inning allowing the Giants to score the 2nd run. It was chilly, but considering that I grew up going to games at Candlestick, games at AT&T Park are more than manageable.
Anyway, last night a group of us went the Cubs/Giants game here in San Francisco. We got decked out in Cubs stuff and sat in the bleachers. Several amusing events from the game: a whole rash of taunts and jeers went out to Jim Edmonds, 95% of them from people in Cubs gear; Ryan Theriot almost getting Ray Durham into believing there was an overthrow on a play at 2nd base; the "Express" bathroom underneath the bleachers with a line out the door; and having my friend Vansmack buy 4 hot chocolates for various females that were wronged by him at one point or another during the game was amusing as well. Those were just some of the random sights from the game last night, not even going into the terrible decision-making that went on in the 7th inning allowing the Giants to score the 2nd run. It was chilly, but considering that I grew up going to games at Candlestick, games at AT&T Park are more than manageable.
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