05. January 2006 · Comments Off on Arrrrgh – I’m Mad As Hell · Categories: My Head Hurts, Rant

In the spirit of Julia’s last post, just call me Howard Beale. But my current outrage is with software updates.

You’re totally happy – doing just fine with the old version. And the dialog box keeps popping up – “you need the newest bells and whistles” – and you finally say, “ok, I’ll do it.”

Well, it’s 3:40 in the morning; I said that about 5 hours ago. Now my PDF reader doesn’t work (the same 6.0.1 I had before – I guess the new one doesn’t run on 98SE), Trend Micro HouseCall makes my screen go blank when I try to delete infections, and I can no longer click File>>Internet Radio in Winamp and select Radio Paradise, KCRW, or the few other things I listen to, from a simple list.

Arrgh. I’m too tired and frustrated to deal with this any more. Manana.

Update: It seems that the Winamp thing is a known bug. You now also have to click on Online Media>>SHOUTcast Radio. I know… “why am I not asleep?” I was just drifting off when this hit me. 🙂

01. January 2006 · Comments Off on FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION · Categories: General, General Nonsense, My Head Hurts, sarcasm, The Funny

Ever get one of those words in your head that just won’t go away? Or a tune that keeps on running through your head, and you can’t banish it no matter how hard you try? This long word did it for me. After seeing the GEICO Insurance commercial with the word in it for several thousand times, I just had to know what it meant. Yep. It’s a real word, for sure. A noun, the meaning is that it is a nothing word. Each element of the word has a meaning of nothing, or intense triviality. This leads to the word meaning something of really low importance, or low/no use. That gives floccinaucinihilipilification a humorous overall meaning in the context of the commercial and the product they are trying to sell. I really got a good laugh out of it when I looked it up in an online dictionary.

So there! Getting the new year off to a rousing, “my head hurts” post, we who are about to go back to bed salute you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

12. November 2005 · Comments Off on We’re Not The Only Ones Who Need Tort Reform · Categories: My Head Hurts, Stupidity

This from Perry DeHavilland at Samizdata:

Alexia Harriton, an Australian woman who is deaf, blind, physically and mentally disabled and requires round-the-clock care, is suing a doctor for allowing her to be born, with the full support by her mother. Never mind that rubella during pregnancy does not guarentee what happened to Ms. Harriton.

30. October 2005 · Comments Off on Plame Game Errant Thought · Categories: Ain't That America?, General, Home Front, Media Matters Not, My Head Hurts, That's Entertainment!

After what seems like months of this impenetrable, three-ring media/political circus, I have finally had a thought about the Plame Affair… no, not the one which everyone else has had… “Say What?????!!!” coupled with a plea for aspirin. This thought is original to me, and I have not seen it suggested anywhere else, and that is…

What if practically everyone inside the Washington Beltway was already vaguely aware that Valerie Plame Wilson worked for the CIA? What if this was such common knowledge that practically everyone involved really cannot remember how they came to know it, or who first told them… especially if it came about through casual social gossip?

Well, really, it would account for a number of supposedly clever, politically adroit politicians and reporters suddenly stuck in the spotlight, fumbling for an answer to the question “Who told you, and when did you know?”

Practically anything sounds better than “Everyone knew, I don’t know and I forget when!”

04. September 2005 · Comments Off on HERE WE GO AGAIN! · Categories: A Href, Ain't That America?, Domestic, Good God, My Head Hurts

A lot sadder, maybe wiser, here we go again, off to bring help to people who need it most. I have transferred everything from my dead van to Nurse Jenny’s 4WD Dodge Durango, probably a more sensible vehicle anyway, for going to the gulf coast right now. For those who aren’t aware of the mission, reference my earlier posts here and here. (It has been a while since I worked with the html tags. Whew!) It has been quite a saga for the past few days, believe me!

Yesterday, when I got only 100 miles from home and the transmission in my van died, my heart was broken, and I was devastated. But, as we talked about it and cried, on the way home behind a rollback truck, we felt maybe the Lord has a hand in this, as we believe He does in all things – in one way or another. It is just possible that I may need the 4WD, something that had vaguely crossed my mind. Anyway, when I actually leave our driveway tomorrow morning, I believe I will be more careful and a lot more sober in my assessment of situations. (And Mary, maybe we can have lunch tomorrow, after all!)

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the effort, whether to our own small pittance of effort, or to the larger, mega-need ! Now, just so everyone knows, and I would much rather stay in the background without mentioning this; we need help to be able to do this. I am accountable to those who help me, and Jenny is going to keep records of all who help. We have a paypal account, in the name of our email address, come5311@bellsouth.net. Anyone who can and does contribute, will be acknowledged, and we will pass the same thing on to others after this need is over and we again become able to help other people financially.

I spent nearly everything we had getting ready to go on the trip. When I had to pay a tow truck operator to haul the dead van back home, that did it completely. My neighbors have made small contributions, and anyone who feels that you can help, please leave something for us in the paypal account, and the depths of our gratitude will be boundless. As I said before, every single scrap will be accounted for. The accounting, BTW, is necessary on another level, as the Assemblies of God and the ARRL will be holding me strictly to the rules! And, face it, I was raised by my Mama to be honest, anyway…..

Thank you, thank you, thank you! God bless every single soul who helps.

Now, for the next step: We have enough room in our house to accomodate a family of 4 or 5. Would someone please step up and let’s start getting some temporary homes set up for these people who need to get out of those huge shelters and back into a more home-like setting? This is gonna take a lot of work, so maybe we need a committee. NEXT!!

03. September 2005 · Comments Off on when a plan doesn’t come together · Categories: General, Home Front, My Head Hurts

Well, the best laid plans…..I left today enroute to help with rescue and communications in the gulf coast. Sorry folks, I only made it 100 miles. As I approached Macon, GA, the transmission on my van gave up the ghost. I was loaded to the gills with stuff for the folks out there and my own survival items, so now I may have to find another way to get things out there. As for me going, that’s out. Last time I replaced a transmission it ran $1700, and I have already spent all I had on things to take out there. The van is gonna sit under my carport for a month or so while I try to find a way to get a new (or used) transmission.

You never know…..I’m just glad it didn’t wait until I was in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, to let go. It cost me almost $400 to get it transported back home by rollback truck, so that’s it for now. What devastates me is not being able to do the job I know so well how to do. I don’t care about the truck, I just wish I could have done my job.

More later…..Right now, I’m going to go crawl into a deep hole. I can’t help those people who have nothing, and that’s the absolute worst for me….

Pray for the people who lost it all, friends!

20. April 2005 · Comments Off on Scratchin’ My Head, Air Force Academy Edition · Categories: Good God, My Head Hurts

Associated Press, April 20 2005, AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Less than two years after it was plunged into a rape scandal, the Air Force Academy is scrambling to address complaints that evangelical Christians wield so much influence at the school that anti-Semitism and other forms of religious harassment have become pervasive.

There have been 55 complaints of religious discrimination at the academy in the past four years, including cases in which a Jewish cadet was told the Holocaust was revenge for the death of Jesus and another was called a Christ killer by a fellow cadet.

Two of the nation’s most influential evangelical Christian groups, Focus on the Family and New Life Church, are headquartered in nearby Colorado Springs. Tom Minnery, an official at Focus on the Family, disputed claims that evangelical Christians are pushing an agenda at the academy, and complained that “there is an anti-Christian bigotry developing” at the school.

The Whole Story.

You really need to spend some time in Colorado Springs to get the full irony of this…Dr Dobson and his folks have pissed off so many locals with their intrusive brand of Evangelism that they sell “Focus on You’re Own Damn Family” bumper stickers at the 7-11s.

19. April 2005 · Comments Off on We Have a Pope · Categories: Good God, My Head Hurts

Don’t look at me, anything I could say would be meaningless to this man. He previously ran The Office of The Inquisition which means not only do we have to endure pedophile jokes, we now have a Monty Python tie-in.

If it wasn’t so freaking funny it would be so very sad.
—–
Scott writes about his Mom’s feelings over at Dean’s World . May be the best Catholic/American post I’ve seen.

19. March 2005 · Comments Off on A Nice Story · Categories: General, General Nonsense, My Head Hurts, Wild Blue Yonder

I just posted a story about my week’s flying – funny I hope! at my personal blog here

Enjoy!

Joe Comer

18. March 2005 · Comments Off on I Must Have Completely Lost Touch… · Categories: My Head Hurts

…with my inner Neocon because I just can’t get all that excited about Terri Schiavo.

What I want to know is if ANY of the people fighting to “save Terri” have ever had anyone on life support in their lives? Have you ever watched the person you know and love simply disappear in all but body?

If my quality of life is that of a hydroponics farm…turn off the freaking faucet.

Time to make sure the living will says everything I want it to say.

Update: Michele has her buck and a half’s worth of commentary. As always, she’s much more eloquent than I am.

03. March 2005 · Comments Off on Iowahawk has me LMAO over SCOTUS · Categories: General Nonsense, My Head Hurts

Must go to Iowahawk now. Do NOT have anything in your mouth you don’t want all over your screen.

Via Reynolds.

20. December 2004 · Comments Off on Little Angel · Categories: General, My Head Hurts

In this time of glad tidings we are short an angel.
He was murdered before the holidays at the hands of his mother’s significant other.
He was 3 months shy of two.

I remember seeing him from time to time, and I will remember him as a happy, smiling baby.
I cried when I saw his tiny body, black and blue, in his little casket.
How wrong that seemed and so very unfair.
Why did this happen, How could someone do this to such a small helpless child??

This Christmas, parents hold you children tight and tell them how much you love them; because I’m sure the angel’s father would want to be able to say the same to him.

In Loving memory of
LB Benoit
Feb 2003 to Nov 2004

30. November 2004 · Comments Off on Oh…My…God · Categories: My Head Hurts

I’m sitting here at work listening to Dark Side of the Moon, the intro to “Money” to be more specific, and one of the contractors looks at me, stops to listen, looks at me again and asks, “What the HELL is that?”

He’s not that much older than me…is this even possible?

Just asking…

06. November 2004 · Comments Off on Who Else Lost? · Categories: My Head Hurts

As I was reading Mary’s post below, a thought crossed my mind and actually stuck at this late hour:

When Senator Kerry lost on Tuesday, was that the end of the liberals in the Democratic Party?

Discuss.

21. October 2004 · Comments Off on Geek At Work · Categories: General, My Head Hurts, Site News

I’m adding a new banner for the site and some other stuff to the index page. The page looks okay in Internet Exploder, but the blog body slides under the banner in Netscrape. Grrrrrrrrr!

Please bear with me as I’m a hardware guy, not a bit counter.

Update: The Banner works in Netscrape now, yea!