Category: blog

No, this isn’t a Star Wars post. That’s my new nephew’s name – Lucas George Jackson. Before anybody accuses my sister and brother-in-law of being major geeks, the middle name George is for Alex’s father, just as their first born (Caleb Thomas) was named for Suzanne’s father (my father, too!). And just in case you wanted to see just how cute he is, here’s a picture along with his big brother.

I would like to read more. I have piles of books that I’ve purchased over the past few years (many with bookmarks buried inside) and very few that I’ve actually read. Yet I am still looking for more to buy. Most recently I’ve been considering Al Franken’s liberal-minded Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them and possibly even Ann Coulter’s freak fest for a look at the other side (and a good laugh). For some odd reason I decided to read a few reviews. We all know my general take on Internet reviews, so I’m not sure why I thought this would be any different. I don’t see a way to link directly to the reviews on Amazon.com, so I’ll simply quote them.
Continue reading “Double negation and the art of reviews”

So I’m called up to our production facility yesterday. I don’t even know that I can say much about the specifics because of FDA regulations and all, but I’ll try to tell the story anyway. Basically Paul and Denis were in a bit of a panic because they needed to start some processes by next week and the control system kept rebooting. It turns out that the control box was just a modified PC chasis mounted inside a metal box with just a touch LCD screen exposed – it even ran Windows XP. The whole rebooting issue was actually just that – no crashing, no memory dumps, no kernel panics – the machine just suddenly shutt off and restarted. There was no indication that the software was causing the problems, and it continued to happen even when it was isolated from the rest of the systems. Eventually I concluded that, although the power seemed clean, there must be an issue with the power supply. After replacing it with one from an old system everything ran perfectly and they proceeded to sing my praises.
Continue reading “Computer geek or fraud?”

I better link to Dave Barry’s take on telemarketers before I forget it. After linking from someone else’s page Brian sent it to me via e-mail. It really is great.

Challenging incumbent stupidest state Florida, California just completed a move that all intelligent people recognize makes no sense. They have removed their own elected Governor Davis in favor of an Austrian body-builder. For some reason, a large number of people from one of our most liberal states has decided that a man with no political abilities whatsoever would make a better Governor than… a porn star? What the hell is wrong with that state? People are so clueless that they fail to realize that this was nothing more than a power move by the Republican Party which is sick of not being able to win elections legitimately. Instead they cry foul about the horrible economic situation to force a recall and then ignore that issue completely because it will, of course, point back to them in the end. Anyone else notice that Bush has helped the entire nation into an economic downfall? And of course the funny thing is that people still don’t get why I think democracy is a lousy form of government.

I don’t even want to post much about all the crap that’s gone on recently. Mainly it centers around the total BS that is the Hoboken Police Department (I may be sued for having my car totaled by some asshole cop) and moves on to me getting sick the night of Gibby-palooza. At least I got to see my boys pull out a nailbiter at the end while a fever rushed through my body. Lisa and I also went shopping at the Secaucus Outlets on Saturday and spent a lot of money. While Van Heusen was the biggest winner (accounting for more than half of our purchases), the best bargain of the day was an incredible leather jacket at Kenneth Cole that I paid nearly a quarter of the MSRP for – just in time for the cold months ahead.
Continue reading “First slammed, then sickened”

“And on the seventh day, God came to rest upon the Earth in the form of Bruce Campbell…”

What can I say, I love the king. When the Angelika sent out newsletter saying that Bruce “Don’t call me Ash” Campbell was going to be at showings for his new movie last Saturday, I nearly wet myself. And that’s looked down upon at my company. Needless to say, I got tickets as soon as I could and rubbed it in the faces of those who could not attend. Although I didn’t get to shake his hand (I probably would have passed out from the excitement), Bruce came down to the front of the theater (about 4 feet from my seat!!!) before the movie and conducted a fun Q&A session before it began. It included him making fun of all of his fans, ridiculing his own lack of true success, mocking other actors, hanging up on someone’s cell phone, and getting laughs from everybody. He really is that awesome. And of course I had my trusty camera, so here are some side shots of the Chin and 3 ladies who just wanted to worship the King. Now, on to the movie…
Continue reading “Bubba Ho-Tep”

So this morning I says to myself, “Self, you got a trial coming up. It’s about time you asked for a personal day for that.” So I quickly go through my file folders to grab the notification. Hmmm, new court date is 10/2 – isn’t that Thursday? I guess I can at least be thankful that I checked this morning and not at the end of the week. By the by, the court date will be about a week and a half shy of the one year anniversary of the accident. I really love the Hoboken court system.

P.S.(I just realized that this is the 13th day this month I’ve posted – and obviously the last. That makes 4 months in a row.)

Quick, let me hop back on that bandwagon before it leaves town – the Eagles rocked Buffalo yesterday after alienating most of their fans during their first 2 games. No, I’m not hoping right back on the whole support ship, but they’ve gone a long way to show they actually care. They blew it big time during the NFC Championship game last season and this was the first time I’ve truly seen them play passionately since then. I think they took those boos to heart and realized that they do owe their fans some honest effort for this season. I look forward to next week against the ‘Skins. Peter King say you’re crazy if you don’t think the Eagles are playoff bound, and I agree if they continue this style of playing and get back some starters. Meanwhile, Pete Prisco continues his assinine writing with his entire take on the game being that the Bills shouldn’t have gone for the two-point conversion. Yeah, that’s what killed them. Anywho, here are some highlights of the game:
Continue reading “I wanna fly like an eagle”

What can I say, sitting around in the Willowbrook Mall eating my crappy lunch and my mind starts to wander. I rarely get around to posting these rather oddball thought processes, but here are the mental notes I’ve made today:

1. The Eagles are stinkin’ it up big time so far, but then again the whole league looks pretty mundane this year. D-Mac may be in a funk (and I say bench him for at least a week if they lose against the Bills), but I don’t get singing the praises of someone like Bledsoe who is middle of the road for accuracy, throws a lot of interceptions, and has no mobility.
2. Wendy’s has gone downhill fast. Mickey D’s has way better chicken strips, and don’t even get me started on that awesome Spicy Buffalo Sauce (I could base my entire eating habits around that). On top of that, Wendy’s is a lousy value – stop putting “BIGGIE” on your smallest size of french fries!
3. I honestly have no idea what to do anymore. I mean, when people go out, what do they do? The concept of socializing barely goes beyond drinking, listening to a band, or watching a movie for me.
4. I want to get ESPN NFL 2k4 – but that Warren Sapp cover really pisses me off.
5. Worf was a really great character. Seriously, the guy did a great job at portraying a displaced character who tries to strengthen his ties to his roots but often misses the true meaning of his culture. It’s exemplified by the fact that he almost never laughed – something other Klingons did regularly yet he avoided as he was so serious about his heritage from which he had been detached.
6. That new special edition of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes looks pretty awesome. Even if I can resist the first two season of Saved by the Bell, this may be too much.

I’m sure that was fascinating for all of you.