Rant for the day....

I'm so frelling sick and tired of gas being so god damn expensive. Come on now, here in Kansas City, regular unleaded gas is $2.86 per gallon, and I think that it is getting a bit ridiculous. Not more than 2 days ago, gas was $2.56 a gallon. Now, yes, I understand that the reason that it's gone up so much in the last few days is because of Hurricane Katrina and the closing of the oil refineries in the area effected by the hurricane.

What bothers me is a couple things...

First off.... America has what's called the "Strategic Petrolium Reserve", which is a stockpile of oil, some 700 million barrels of crude oil. From my understanding of how the SPR works, it is for emergency use at the President's discretion. Now that's all well and good, save for the fact that our current president's family made a LOT of money in the oil industry, so what incentive would he have to help keep the cost of gasoline down? And of course there's the fact that quite a few of the politicians that help govern our country have been backed for many many years by the oil industry. And of course, they want to keep that money flowing into their bank rolls, so they're not going to put in any type of real legislation to move towards more effective solutions for the impending energy crisis that will occur when we run out of fossil fuels.

Second.... Speaking of oil companies... from what I've been reading, the majority of the oil companies have made INSANE profits in the past year(some up to 300% profists), due to the fact that they were raising prices for their products, such as gasoline, but the price of crude oil is not fluctuating that much. Yes, I understand it has gone up, but I don't think that it's gone up enough to necessitate the raises in gasoline prices that we've had to put up with.

Now what brought all this on....
Well, between the van and the car, I put $50 in gas in the two vehicles, $30 in the Windstar and $20 in the Escort. The Windstar has a 22 gallon tank, the Escort about a 13 gallon tank, if I remember correctly. With what I spent in gas this morning, each of the vehicles has 5/8 a tank of gas. Now in the Escort, that'll be enough to last a couple weeks, as it gets like 28-30 mpg city. The Windstar, however, is another story altogether. It gets between 16-20 mpg city. Yeah, it's got a bigger engine, but shit, at the rate things are going now, I'm not going to be able to afford to take the boys to Kindercare anymore. Not because I can't pay the tuition at Kindercare, but because I'm not going to be able to afford the gas to take them. I think it's getting close to an economic emergency to where people are not going to be able to afford to purchase gasoline for their cars, which in turn will prevent them from going to work, which will lead to the economy crashing.

What a wonderful world we live in, eh?

Woo...weekendness....

I had a pretty good weekend, at least I think it was pretty good. Didn't do a whole lot of anything Saturday. Caught up on watching Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica, along with a couple other tv shows that I had recorded. Cindy worked 11am-8pm, so I stayed at home with the boys all day, which we just played and hung out most of the day. Watched both the Chiefs' 3rd preseason game and the NASCAR Sharpie 500 race at Bristol. Had to switch back and forth between them, because I had some other things due to record on the DVR, or I would've recorded one and watched the other.

Yesterday, just hung out around the house. Woke up about 8.30am and went for a walk. Decided that it was time for a walk, which I need to start doing more of anyways. Then went home, picked up the boys and went out and did some shopping, just picking up some odds and ends that we needed to get. Other than that, did a whole lot of nothing, which was nice for once. I needed a good day to just relax and do nothing.

Hope everyone else had a good weekend. I'm off to face the day that is Monday.

Woo for Friday!!!!

Yes indeed, woo for Friday!!!!

I'm so glad that this week is finally almost over. It's been a hell of a week, full of problems and things that have just caused me ungodly amounts of stress, a lot of which I'm not going to go into detail right now. Not because I don't want everyone to know, but I just don't feel like rehashing it all. Been having a good day so far, and I don't feel like bringing it down. :P

Good news for one of my long time friends. She got a job at Northrop Grumman, in their communication division. She's going to be moving to California soon, which is very good because she was having terrible luck finding a job where she is from, and very good because it means that she gets to be with her fiance. I'm so glad that things are looking up for her and going so well, because she's had a terrible stretch going for her up until the last few weeks. Of course, I'm sure that it's going to piss off her family a bit, and of course the father of her son. I would call him her ex-husband, because that's what he is, but he doesn't deserve it, hence "the father of her son".

Other good news....
I got an email yesterday from one of my very close friends from high school who I haven't talked to in several years. I guess she found my information on classmates.com, which is cool, cause I was actually just thinking about trying to get in touch with her, along with one of my other friends from high school. She told me that she's married now, with a 15 month old and another on the way, which makes me very happy for her. Amazingly enough, she still lives in Kansas City, so we're going to try and get together sometime soon and catch up on what's happened in the past few years.

Well, I think that's it, for now at least. Not a whole lot planned for this weekend. Can't go to the ASK-C meetup tonight at Minsky's, don't have the money or the babysitter. Cindy's gotta work tomorrow, 11-8, so I'll be home with the boys. I doubt we'll do a whole lot other than watch the NASCAR race tomorrow evening.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Google Talk: 15 screens of it and it's features

Another page of information about Google Talk, this time with some screenshots of how the different screens look.

digg description is as follows:

After I commented on the google talk story to add me (I was the second one to do so), I was swamped with messages from digg fans. I decided to take some screenshots of google's talk service and share them with the digg community. Hope you enjoy!



read more | digg story

Google Talk.....

~drools~

So Google Talk was released earlier today/late last night. But what is Google Talk, you might be asking. Well, it's Google's new instant messaging client, that also supports Voice over IP (much like Skype, which I also have, leave me a message if you want me to add you to my contact list on Skype). I've also heard that down the pike it may include functionality to connect to other instant messaging networks, such as ICQ/AIM/MSN. I've also found out that Google Talk works on Jabber protocols, so any client that is able to connect to a Jabber network is able to connect into the Google Talk service. Now, I don't know how long that functionality will last, but I've already tested it out with my Trillian that I have installed here at work, and it connected and worked perfectly.

Here is a review by the people at DownloadSquad.com about Google Talk, another review at The Unofficial Google Weblog. Here is a link to a blog that I found on Digg that will walk a person through setting up the Google Talk connection in programs like Trillian, Gaim, and iChat.

I'm still debating on if I'm going to continue to use the Google Talk client, or if I'm going to set up the connection in my Trillian and use it that way. I don't know if I'll lose the VoIP functionality by using the Trillian interface over the Google Talk interface. I like the interface/functionality that Trillian offers, and I try to keep things on my computers as clean as I can, and if I have an instant messaging client that will allow me to connect to as many of the networks that I have accounts on as I can, then hell yeah, I'm going to use it as much as possible and keep my computer as unclutterred as I can. I'm going to have to play around with it a bit and see which interface I like more.

If anyone would like to add me to their friends list on Google Talk, just leave me a message here with your gmail address, and I'll send ya a message and get you added to my lists.

You know...

I sometimes really hate the time of the month when it's a full moon. People can be such assholes during the full moon. Fucking magnetic fields and such changing how peoples' moods can be. I've had two people on the phones, back to back, that have been complete and utter assholes to me, for no fucking reason whatsoever. It's like someone came up behind them, ripped down their pants and violated them, without using any lube. I wonder if there's ever been any scientific research done that can prove/disprove that a full moon can radically effect someone's demeanor. IF there hasn't, I definitely think that there should be some, starting soon! Hell, if they pay well enough, I'd be happy to be a research subject. Lord knows I could use the money.

I've decided today.....

I've decided that I'm not going to actively worry about making anyone else happy anymore. I've been doing such a poor ass job at it recently that it seems pointless anymore. I think it's more time to focus on making myself happy and let the chips fall where they may. I've tried so hard recently to make everyone happy, but have been failing miserably. I'm tired of being depressed because I can't seem to do things right by other people. It seems like anymore if it's not one thing, it's another, and if it's not another, it's everything. I'm so sick and tired of everyone not being happy with me and the decisions that I make.

I'm off for the rest of the day. I hope everyone has a good day.

Why is it that....

....people want you to be upfront and honest with them, but when you tell them something in all honesty, they get pissed off at you about it?

The weekend....

Didn't do much of anything, really.

Saturday it rained pretty much all day in Kansas City, so I just stayed at home with the boys while Cindy was at work. I never realized how much I missed having them around, even though they get on my nerves sometimes. I cleaned up the apartment, sorted through the laundry, just some housework, along with playing with the boys quite a bit.

Sunday, again didn't do much of anything, but for different reasons. Had to work from 11am-3pm Sunday, my monthly scheduled weekend shift. Didn't end up leaving until 3.45pm though, because I had 2 calls come in RIGHT BEFORE the call center closed for the day, and they stayed in the queues until I could answer the calls and get their problems fixed. Went home and watched the NASCAR race that I had recorded while I was at work. Waited for Cindy to get home from her friend's house, and she ended up not getting back until almost 9pm, which upset me a little bit, so about 8.30pm I decided to go for a walk, ended up walking about 4 miles and got back around 9.30pm. I'm glad it didn't rain last night while I was out walking. Now that would've sucked ass. I've had that happen before, right in the middle of the walk that I normally take, and I was stuck for about an hour waiting for the rain to subside a bit. It felt good to get out and get the exercise though, and it was a very nice, temperature-wise, night to do it.

I think that's all I've got for today. Not a whole lot else to say.

Have a good afternoon, everyone!

Supposed friends.....

~gets up on his soap box and gets ready to go into rant mode~

Supposed friends is what I'm going to talk about, or more appropriately rant about, today.

I'm sick and tired of being friends with people who want the world to revolve around them, and then when the world doesn't they go and get fucking pissed off and say that they don't want to be friends anymore. That's such childish high school shit, and I'm not going to put up with that crap anymore.

I don't care if other people are happy with the decisions that I make. I will make the decisions in my life that are right for me, and I don't expect the majority of the people that I know to be happy with them. All I ask of the people I consider friends, especially my close friends, is that they accept the decisions that I make and understand that I choose how and where my life is going to go. I'm not out to make other people happy most of the time, I'm going to keep myself happy and if everyone else around me is happy, then it's so much the better. If not, then they can just get the hell on and find someone else to be friends with.

I don't know about everyone else, but I don't consider someone a friend when that person blows you off, treats you like a piece of shit (no matter how you treat them), says that they don't have time to talk to you but are then more than willing to talk to anyone else in the world. If that's your idea of friendship, then you've got a pretty fucked up idea of friendship. I consider someone a friend if they are willing to talk to you, to spend time with you whether at work or not, if they enjoy your company.

I'm fucking sick and tired of the roller coaster that some people put you through, wanting to be all nice and happy and friends with you one day, and then you do something or say something or they misinterpret something you say/do/have on and things go to shit again. That's not how friends treat each other. That's not a healthy relationship, whether it's friends or it's something more.

Now, I know that people who are friends are not always going to be all good and happy every day, but it's stupid to let little things bring down a friendship in flames. It's stupid to let little things build up until things come to a head and then friends get into a huge argument and people want to destroy the relationships that they have. I think than any relationship, friendship or otherwise, is built on a small amount of trust, and if you can't trust the person that you are friends with, then why even continue to be friends with them.

I'm tired of having friends who only want me around to make them feel better with no regard for my feelings. I'm tired of being here only when they need me, but when I need someone to talk to they could care less. I'm pretty fucking tired of being peoples' whipping boy. If you want me to be your friend, you will have to respect me and treat me as an actual person, not just some plaything that you can throw away whenever you feel like it.

~steps down off his soap box and disengages rant mode~

After all that, I hope that everyone has a good weekend!!! I've gotta work Sunday, and it's supposed to rain most of the weekend here in Kansas City, at least off and on, so it'll be an interesting weekend, to be certain.

The Scene...

What is The Scene, you may be asking (or may not)...

It's a downloadable fictional tv show, fully free. It's being distributed on the internet at http://www.welcometothescene.com.

It's about the underground movie pirating scene. One of the members of a piracy group decides to sell movies to an Asian movie pirating ring, and the story unfolds from there. It's actually pretty damn good. Almost all of the dialog is done through IRC chat or instant messaging clients. So far it's up to 11 episodes, each between 10-20 minutes. If you get the chance, definitely check it out.

I think it's interesting to see how the internet is changing delivery of content, from things like The Scene to all of the different podcasts that are out there. The internet is certainly making it easier for people to create/distribute interesting content, on a variety of subjects.

That's it for today, have a good day everyone!

Links from digg.com that I've found for the day.

That's No Space Station
Cassini got its closest view of Saturn's moon Mimas on Tuesday, the one that looks like the Death Star.

read more | digg story

Will Your PC Run Windows Vista?
Not all PCs will gain a full view of Windows Vista.
Microsoft Corp. has yet to finalize the minimum requirements for a PC to run its forthcoming operating system.

read more | digg story

Apple iPod Mini Gets a Facelift
Highly reliable sources have confirmed that the next iPod mini will gain a full-color active-matrix TFT screen while the form factor will remain largely unchanged. The color screen will be able to display colors clearly and brightly regardless of ambient lighting, even outdoors in direct sunlight.

read more | digg story

The Art of LockPicking Video
Here's a great video about lockpicking to help us all be more aware of our physical security.

read more | digg story

Optimus Keyboard launching in 2006 : FAQ here
The Optimus keyboard official site has been updated with an F.A.Q, answering most of the questions people have. It is real, it is not going to cost a bomb, and its (hopefully) available in 2006!

read more | digg story

GIM? A Google Instant Messenger could be coming soon...
It would make sense for Google to branch out its communication efforts to other mediums. Text, to real-time text, audio, video... the sky's the limit. Yahoo's IM undertaking has proven itself moderatly successful, but is a new IM application really practical?

read more | digg story

Vista Viruses Unleashed!
An Austrian hacker earned the dubious distinction of writing what are thought to be the first known viruses for Microsoft's Windows Vista.

read more | digg story

Updated iPod shuffle, mini coming, but no video iPod in 2005
A higher capacity iPod shuffle and color screen iPod mini are both likely to be introduced this year, while a video iPod isn't expected before the end of 2005, according to one Wall Street analyst.

read more | digg story

Google now a hacker's tool
Somewhere out on the Internet, an Electric Bong may be in danger. The threat: a well-crafted Google query that could allow a hacker to use Google's massive database as a resource for intrusion.

read more | digg story

Alienware Getting into Rackmounts
Doing a little more to move into the office, Alienware is getting into rackmount servers.

read more | digg story

PIXAR on the way down?
This article checks on the current status of PIXAR, from the DVD sales slump to what's in it's future.

read more | digg story

Virtual x86 OSX
Screenshots of OSX in vmware.

read more·|·digg story

FCC Okay's Sprint-Nextel Merge
The FCC okay'ed the Sprint-Nextel merger, combined, they will have 44.4 million subscribers. The deal will go through for $35 billion.

read more | digg story

And so another Thursday comes to pass.

As I sit here and think about things and how they've happened up to this point, I realized that some of the decisions I've made in my life have not always been correct in other people's eyes, but they've been the right decisions for me. I think that anymore, other than the boys, that is all that I'm going to worry about, that I make the right decision for me and that I do what I feel is right. I'm through worrying about what other people think, I'm tired of all the bullshit that comes with trying to make everyone else happy, but never worrying about my own happiness. If people can't be happy for me and the things that I choose to do, then so be it and they can go on their merry little way.

What brings this on you might ask?? Oh, nothing in particular this time, just venting a bit and getting something off my chest that I've been holding too long.

That's it for today, just a small rant, but I feel better now.
Have a good Thursday afternoon/evening everyone.

all I have to say is....WTF?!?!?!?!?

http://www.email.net/work-well-together.html

Nothing much new for today....

so.....

here's the link to my del.icio.us bookmark list, which I'll really just use as a list of things that I find interesting through the day.

Feel free to check it out at your leisure.

I've got some other things going on today, but I really don't feel like talking about them right now, but things may change and I might post about them later, who knows.

Whee for Tuesday!

Well, at least as whee as a Tuesday can be. ;)

Cindy's going to speak today with the Lowe's she's transferring back to in order to find out exactly when they want her to start working. I think she was hoping to start this Saturday, so that she only ends up losing a week of pay. I think she's also going to go check out a couple places that help people find apartments, to see if they can help her find a new apartment up here in Kansas City. I hope that she finds a place soon, because we agreed that when she moved back up here, she could stay with me for a little while, but she would have to find a place on her own.

Mikey had a check-up yesterday regarding his asthma, and the doctor said that everything looks good, that his breathing sounds MUCH better than it did a couple weeks ago. I'm so glad that they were finally able to figure out that he has asthma and that we're now able to get him the treatment that he needs and keep things under control. Joey also had a check-up yesterday, and things are going well with him. He's right about where he should be for his age group and everything looks normal for him.

The both of them are starting Kindercare next Monday, hopefully. Cindy still has to get some paperwork filled out regarding the assistance that she is getting, but once that's done, everything should be good to go on the daycare front.

I think that's all I've got for today.
Hope everyone has a good day!