frissonic

i see shrader beat me to the punch (yes ... pun very much intended), but here goes anyway. *ahem* or it could have been the start to a great afternoon. waka. waka. waka.

cold sores. 'nuff said.

ha ha ha! glad you liked it! tried a couple different programs ... settled on adobe audition finally, and it worked out a lot better.

butter fingers through the entire last drive. those last two, i can understand. but man ... that's just crap.

and here it is.

LOL! I actually worked on it last night some. Seriously ... it's nothing major at all. I'll tinker more with it today and see what I can come up with.

i swear, one of these days i'm going to make a mix of this and APC's "Judith." It's just too perfect not to ...

The legal system. This is a very messed up world where a state-run agency can level completely unfounded and false charges against someone, then drag their name through the mud and put them on some kind of "offender" database (not a sex offender DB, thankfully), THEN when ALL the evidence all points at the fact that this individual did, in fact, NOT do what they accuse him of, they try to strong arm him into dropping the civil case that he's pursued for well over 18 months in an attempt to clear his name--thus leaving his name on this offender database--with the promise that the state will not pursue criminal charges FOR SOMETHING HE DIDN'T DO IN THE FIRST PLACE. And the worst part of it all? He's considering taking the deal. When he lays out all the information--the fact that a prosecution lands him in jail, drags his name into the NEWS and not just HIS name, but probably his immediate and extended family, in-laws, etc, THEN puts him on trial in front of a jury who very well may come back with the completely wrong verdict, thus landing him in *prison* rather than just jail ... take all that and consider his family's long-term needs (raising his kids, not leaving his wife in a completely lurched situation, providing for his family, et al)--when he considers all of that, he feels almost compelled to take the "deal" just so he can guarantee to stay with his family and not risk a jury trial and prison ... all over something he never did in the first place. Happy effing Thanksgiving. His life is now utterly f***ed. How fair is that?

Just found out that my employer plans on expanding the wi-fi network to all general employees in the early part of 2012. As it stands, a network username and password are required, but only given out to those with a *real* need for wi-fi. Starting some time in January, they're rolling out a campus-wide wi-fi network to which all employees will have access. Pandora. Tune-In. iTunes Match (for those of us who have gone that route) This is a HUGE announcement, considering we cover the equivalent of about 12 city blocks. 6500 employees are going to have a very good Christmas at the first of the year. F'N Fantastic!!!!

is there 3 feet of snow on the ground? no? then it's a beautiful day in buffalo. :)

a legal requirement, no. however, it is a strongly enforced policy. we've been working with DCFS for about 5 years. and i'm pretty sure they're state mandates because we adopted through the state--not the county. though in the interest of full disclosure, i know that california's state policies differ drastically from utah's, so it wouldn't surprise me that NY's regs are different as well. there's no fedearl guideline as how to handle state-sponsored adoptions, so there will be different policies. i would be willing to bet that NY smiles favorably on single-parent adoptions, whereas out here, everything possible is done to place kids with two-parent, mom-and-dad homes. laws? no. policies? definitely. and vigorously enforced.

i know that, out here, the state requires both parents to be home on a regular basis. a lot of adoptions through a state are done through DCFS (department of child and family services ... might be the same in your state, might be called something else). a lot of the kids in the foster care system come from single-parent homes and some pretty messed up circumstances. i think that the state has that 'both parents home' thing in place to provide at least the appearance of an uber-stable home for kids getting adopted through the system. i know utah wasn't very lax about it. can't speak to other states, of course.

here here. or ... hear hear. whichever. i completely agree. my wife and i were in the same boat. still are, actually. we adopted our two girls in 2008 through foster care. it was the best choice we ever made. i know foster care isn't for everyone, and neither is adoption, but if you're open to the idea, i would highly recommend looking into it. and trust me ... i do indeed feel your pain. we've spent countless hours on our knees praying for something to happen, then went all out and tried everything we could within our means, and nothing ever happened. fertility specialists never managed to prevail. us trying to read her cycles and everything never worked. it's frustrating and impossibly painful on an emotional, psychological and yes--spiritual level. i can understand. really.

hope you have more than 3 bathrooms ... otherwise, you're never gonna get any throne time.

Here's a great complaint. Meetings where there aren't enough chairs, and the only wall space available to lean against is the space where the lights to the room, the overhead projector, and the screen switches are located. "Okay ... no problem. I can do this ... just don't lean back too hard or you'll turn off the projector. THAT would suck." This was not just an ordinary staff meeting. This was a group of higher-ups and team managers discussing a gap study (quit it with the perv jokes cuz i know precisely what y'all are thinking ... cuz I thought the same thing >) ) to determine whether or not a particular government facility has the knowledge base and man power to do what our company does before we turn over our program to them. So yah--lots of big wigs and ties. The first half hour was fine. No problems. Then I had to shuffle my notebook and my coke bottle around, and sure enough, I hit the projector switch. Screen goes dark, everyone looks around, then they look back at where the switch should be, but eclipsing that is my round ass. Everyone started staring at me, and I turned bright red, started getting really hot under the collar, and sweated profusely. Everyone cracked jokes, and tried to make light about adding a maintenance code to our time sheets (that's how closely time management is monitored here ...). So I flipped the switch back on, and we all waied for the projector to come back on. A few minutes later, it restarted, and the meeting resumed. A buddy of mine realized that his zipper was partially down, and he stepped out of the meeting to "adjust." As is always the case when you see someone perform a zipper check, that triggered an automatic response on my part to check mine. Sure enough, mine was all the way down, and gaping wide open. "Right. Cuz this meeting couldn't get any more embarrassing ..." So I stepped out and "adjusted" as well. Awesome.

that's only for orthodox ninjas. protestant ninjas show their faces wherever they damn well please. then they kick your ass for looking at them.

yes. it is indeed unfortunate that he got hurt. and after benching myers last night for his complete and utter lack of response, i fully expect him to be in "hunting" mode come the 23rd. if he's not, bench his ass again. i like the kid, but come on. he's as tall as and almost as tough as chara. he simply isn't living up to his potential. the thing that irritates me the most about that video is just how cocky he is. there is nary an joule of contrition in his voice, demeanor ... nothing. "heh heh ... yah, i ran ryan miller. oopsies!! sure sad that he's hurt." what a crock. "straightening my body" is the new definition for a upper body shoulder hit? please. no one with an ounce of respect for the game believes that for a second.

Wells Fargo is one of the dirtiest, if not THE dirtiest, financial institutions in this country. They are soley responsible for the swing to credit unions around here. My wife had an account with them for a few years, during which we racked up more overdraft fees in the 2 years we were with them than our entire lives combined pre- and post-marriage. We were with Key Bank, and WF swept in and bought them out. Key's policy was to immediately make your funds available on any deposit. WF's strategy was to hold your checks for 3 days to "verify that the funds will clear the issuing institution." Horse sh**. The reason for the hold was because they knew that Key's policy was to make them available immediately, therefore any pending transactions would clear. WF also knew that, if you assume that the policy would remain in effect, you'll continue to make little purchases that go against whatever balance you currently have--NOT including the deposits. So when we deposited our work checks, we went shopping, out to eat, made some other various little purchases and what-not ... then got slammed with approximately $250 in OD fees. When I approached them about it, they made absolutely no attempt to explain or apologize "for the inconvenience." No credits, no refunds ... nothing. So we moved to our current credit union. Not one overdraft in 9+ years of being with them. Then there was the debacle with her open account that had a 0 balance. They conveniently lost our mailing address after we moved, even though we know good and well that we gave it to them at a local branch. My wife maintained her account with a 0 balance for years. Then out of nowhere, they instituted this policy of account management for balances with less than $25 in them. One day, we got a collections notice indicating that we owed them close to $400. This was after months of charging for the under $25 balance AND THEN slapping us with an overdraft fee. for 8 months, we were assessed $50 for those fees. No notice of policy change, no statements--monthly, quarterly or otherwise. Just this collections notice. I went to the local branch and let them have it. In no uncertain terms, I informed their branch manager that I would not leave that building until a) the account was closed and zeroed out, the fees reversed, and I could physically see on their system where the account was permanently closed. He got pissy, I got pissy back. He threatened to call the cops, and I said I would call every news channel in Utah and tell them about their "policies." After I said that, it took him less than 3 minutes to forgive all the fees, close the account, and show me on screen and in printed receipt that the account was indeed closed and finalized. Wells Fargo is flat-out evil. I know everyone wants to rail on BoA for trying to charge $5 a month for debit card use, but I'll tell you what--at least they were up front about it. WF would have never told you, and your account would have just been debited the $5 every month without any kind of information being passed to you.

recorded this the other night. i replaced "the sun" with "your mom" when i sang it to my wife. she didn't find it all that funny. everyone else loved it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Sm0sloz44

well played, gentlemen. i'll bring it up (so to speak) at the next stockholders's meeting.

bought precisely 2 shares of Groupon's new IPO. got in on the ground floor--$20. It's up to $29.26 right now. F'N Fantastic!! lunch for a week. :)

well dammit. i only get to work 8 hours today. after working 11.5 hours yesterday, today i have to leave an hour earlier than i originally anticipated. CURSES.

:clapping: :worthy: :clapping: :worthy: jack would be so proud.

my wife is really getting into natural oils. some friends of ours got her into it, and now she's full-blown convinced that they are better than medicine. she takes grapefruit to calm her down, orange to calm down my ADHD daughter (in conjunction with when her concerta wears off, which when it does is so much more than just obvious), hell, even for this ankle issue she's been begging me to put on some lemongrass. i thought, "what the hell. let her have her fun." sho' 'nuff, ankle doesn't hurt nearly as bad today, and i stood on it for 10 hours straight yesterday. by the time i got home, i thought my entire right leg was going to rebel and just secede from my personal little country of a body, but after that oil she put on, damn. i could have stood on it another 10 hours. i'm still pretty skeptical about the overall use of oils vs. stuff like aleve, advil or even midol (for her, anyway ...) but i won't deny that they do have their effects, all of which are positive.

a) happy birthday man! b) i feel your pain. i have a head and throat cold going on. i was afraid it was strep. it's not. so, that's a small good thing. c) 31 is *not* old. i hit the big 4-0 next year. i couldn't care less. in fact, i'm taking the week off of work to celebrate it. my wife and i are pulling the kids out of school, and we're going to san diego to partay. well ... okay, fine--partay as hard as mormons can, which truthfully just involves disney world, coke zero, *maybe* a rockstar punched, and some beach time. but hey--it's fun for us, so whatever. anyway, my point is that 31 isn't old. age is a mental state--not a number. you've probably heard that cliche'd statement a bahzillion times, but it's true. don't want to feel old? do something not old! go on a spontaneous road trip. go sky diving. d) i really am sorry about the head cold man. that blows.