And then I got lectured about dumping things on people at the last minute.
But it was when they dumped it on me (the day before it was due) that this whole thing got started in the first place.
It occurs to me that the universe is not exactly overrunning with fairness.
See, I did what I was told, but I just wasn't sure what I was doing. Which is why someone was helping me. But when I told that someone that I was stuck and that I'd finished what I could, they apparently didn't, well, listen. So when I went to Dutton today, the job I was working on didn't get done.
The kicker is, they've had this to do for two weeks...and they gave it to me yesterday.
Random
Thursday, July 29, 2004 ~ 09:26 a.m.
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It's been a slow week here at work. I've also not been sleeping well. Combine the two, and I'm this close to curling up under my desk with a blankie.
I'm back out in the field tomorrow in Dutton, Alabama. You've never heard of it because it literally is the size of a postage stamp. The population hovers around 300, but I'm pretty sure that's counting the cows and dogs. The entire town has an area of 0.9 square miles. It doesn't even have a stop-light, just a blinking thingy.
*sigh* What is about Al Sharpton that makes me want to hit him with a bat? Seriously, I have a dream...and that dream is to whack him in the head. I really, honestly despise him.
Woo hoo! They just found me something to do! Work for meeeeeee!
Not a big suprise
Friday, July 23, 2004 ~ 02:43 p.m.
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So, here's something interesting. A study conducted back in 2003 found that people who watched Fox News were more likely to believe one of three major misconceptions about the war in Iraq:
1) that there is evidence of al-Qaeda/Iraq links
2) that the US found WMD in Iraq
3) that the world public opinion of the US invading was favorable
So basically, the study proves that if you put shit in, you get shit out.
"Fox was the news source whose viewers had the most misperceptions. NPR/PBS are notable because their viewers and listeners consistently held fewer misperceptions than respondents who obtained their information from other news sources."
Have I mentioned that watching Fox News makes me want to shake people until their heads fall off?
Also, it's not because Fox viewers are lazy. It's just because their news source is retarded:
"While it would seem that misperceptions are derived from a failure to pay attention to the news, overall, those who pay greater attention to the news are no less likely to have misperceptions. Among those who primarily watch Fox, those who pay more attention are more likely to have misperceptions. Only those who mostly get their news from print media, and to some extent those who primarily watch CNN, have fewer misperceptions as they pay more attention."
Emphasis added by me.
So there you have it: Fox News makes you dumb. Now go listen to NPR and salvage what remains of your brain.
Fun with site designs
Thursday, July 22, 2004 ~ 02:28 p.m.
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You know, I hesitate to think what sort of damage I could do if I owned a copy of, say, Dreamweaver. Flash sites irritate the crap out of me when people put in stupid intros, but I have to admit they look good.
My actual coding might be jury-rigged (and painful to those who actually know what they're doing), but I can come up with some good site designs from time to time. Last night, since I had some free time, I sat down and worked out a very pretty design. *pats self on back* I won't use it for this site even though I'm desperately sick of crappy purple, but it's nice.
That said, the next thing on my list is to redo this page. I've had purple since December of last year. MAKE SOMETHING NEW, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!
And I finally started my thank you notes for graduation .
...I am the worst thank-you-note procrastinator in the world. *hangs head in shame*
This too can be yours, for only $1,000,000. More pictures can be seen here.
Tony Alleyne is one of the biggest geeks on the planet. Not that that's a bad thing - I mean, you have to admit that the apartment is pretty neat. And like Kat said, you have to admire his attention to detail.
The Wrong Tree
Thursday, July 15, 2004 ~ 11:16 a.m.
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Senator Jeff Sessions yesterday made the claim that by allowing gay marriage, we would destroy traditional marriage. Jeff, I have news for you: We don't need any help from gay marriage - we're doing just fine at destroying it ourselves. Between Nevada, Brittany Spears, and the current divorce rate, gay marriage is the LEAST of my worries for traditional marriage.
If you really want to defend marriage, institue a mandatory waiting period and an age restriction. Make divorce harder and create harsh penalties for adultery. Enforce the idea of permanent commitment and forget this "ban gay marriage" bullshit.
...I think it's time to write our dear senator a little note.
Happy to be here
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 ~ 01:16 p.m.
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I have never been so glad to be back in the office as I am today.
It's just too damn hot to be outside, in direct sun, working for 6 hours straight. I spent all day yesterday in an open field in Culleoka, Tennessee with cows and a drill rig. I don't handle heat well anyway, but when the drillers started getting heat sick too, I knew it was way too hot for us to be working. I ended up postponing our second job until this morning. It was still hot, but at least we weren't about to puke.
The office may be boring, but at least it has air conditioning.
You are an SEDF--Sober Emotional Destructive Follower. This makes you an evil genius. You are extremely focused and difficult to distract from your tasks. With luck, you have learned to channel your energies into improving your intellect, rather than destroying the weak and unsuspecting.
Your friends may find you remote and a hard nut to crack. Few of your peers know you very well--even those you have known a long time--because you have expert control of the face you put forth to the world. You prefer to observe, calculate, discern and decide. Your decisions are final, and your desire to be right is impenetrable.
I just can't make this shit up
Friday, July 9, 2004 ~ 12:48 p.m.
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And I thought Freedom Fries were stupid.
I had hoped that "W Ketchup" was just a joke. I had hoped that perhaps, just perhaps, the product in question includes a chemical that will sterilize its consumers. Think about it - if I wanted to eliminate a specific group of numbskulls from the gene pool, what better way to do it than to offer a food with a message that panders to their idiocy?
But the most irritating part I've seen so far can be illustrated with two simple quotes copied word-for-word from their website:
Exhibit A) "You don’t support Democrats. Why should your ketchup?"
Exhibit B) "[We are] merely businessmen eager to fill the demand for an alternative, apolitical ketchup that reflects an America we can all agree on."
Emphasis added by me.
And just for the record:
apo·lit·i·cal
1 : having no interest or involvement in political affairs;
2 : having no political significance
...idiots.
I can understand wanting to buy American products, but to consume a food specifically because of its political message is retarded beyond words. Especially since Heinz contributes more to the GOP than to the Democratic party anyway.
And if you think I'm being too judgemental, go read their comments section. Anyone who can say, with a straight face, "Ann Coulter is right about (insert topic of choice here)," shouldn't be allowed to breed. Trust me, it's a noble cause.
Update: I was going to save this for another day, but it's just too funny to mention only in comments. If you think W Ketchup is retarded, check out Star Spangled Ice Cream. You know, politics and food just shouldn't mix.
Standard Operating Procedure
Wednesday, July 7, 2004 ~ 08:32 a.m.
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"So when do you start back to school?"
"Actually, I just graduated. I'm done."
"Congratulations! So when do you start college?"
"No, I just graduated from college."
"....Two years?"
"Four and a half."
"You...you're a lot older than you look."
"I'm 22."
"You don't look 22."
"I know. Can we get back to work now?"
"Right."
------
This past weekend was a lot of fun. We spent most of it camping down at Smith Lake on Jackie's lot. Pretty much all I did was eat and swim.
This weekend was also one for firsts. Among them:
- We went out and watched the Cullman 4th of July fireworks show from Jackie's boat. It was pretty spectacular - one of the best I've seen in a while.
- I had my first experience with being a human lightning indicator. I'd never before had my hair stand up as the precursor to a bolt of lighnting. I hope I never do again.
- I got to help repair a busted water line to Todd's house. The repair wouldn't have taken very long, but we decided to go ahead and install a new hose spigot (20 feet away) while we had the line exposed.
The conversation went something like this:
"Hmm. I think I hit a rock."
"Oops."
"Hmm. Another rock."
"Oops."
"Uh....there's water coming up."
"Water? There shouldn't be a water line there!"
"...Oops."
Why the hell would anyone run a water line through a back yard??? And then, why the hell would the people that lived there before put their damn garden over the top of it??? We'll never know.
I didn't know you could say that...
Friday, July 2, 2004 ~ 09:17 a.m.
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Common sense has a new hero. For the second time Bill Cosby went off at a NAACP gathering in a truly epic rant against the drop-out rates for blacks in inner city schools.
"I can't even talk the way these people talk, 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... and I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth."
"I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol?"
"Well, Brown versus Board of Education: Where are we today? They paved the way, but what did we do with it?"
"These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids - $500 sneakers for what? And they won’t spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.'"
Of course, trying to explain the concept of personal responsibility to an organization whose entire policy is built around placing blame elsewhere is a bit like explaining a lunar eclipse to my cat, but at least it was said.
I wish I could find a full transcript of the last few speeches he's made.
