Wanted

My quest began a couple of days ago for a new 19" CRT monitor to replace an old Samsung SyncMaster 700. It is having serious problems displaying anything now - images are enlarged and screen is darker than what it should be. It then goes through a stage where the image will start to go to "normal" size and then slowly fade to black. So its time to replace it.

I chose a CRT instead of LCD flat panel for life, clarity, and of course price. I know LCDs have a tendency to have individual pixels go out leaving annoying dots on the screen after some use (they are probably trying to remedy this problem quickly). While they are improving, I can not afford a high quality one (about $700 - $800 currently).

After some searches, a few were found to be "top notch".
PC World recommended the NEC MultiSync FP912SB and Samsung SyncMaster 957mb.
Toms Hardware recommended the Samsung SyncMaster 957mb also, along with the ViewSonic P95f+.

Bestbuy has a ViewSonic A90f+ and Samsung SyncMaster 997df. I have read positive and negative things about each one on ePinions.com ~ and it seems if you look hard enough you can find negative comments on just about everything. I have also read some people had serious problems with the NEC monitor breaking after a couple of months and receiving refurbished monitors as replacements (so in my opinion that all but eliminates the NEC from contention despite its review on PCWorld).

The problem is finding one of these in a local store, and one can only hope that they are displaying more than some repeating animation or commercials. I know I know, having a screen of text displayed on a screen will not draw people over, but alas this is what will be displayed most often, be it a document, webpage, code, or just about anything else that isn't a game.

Once, Twice & Thrice?

So it was revealed earlier that Ricky Williams, the star running back of the Miami Dolphins failed his third drug test in a row. That would mean a mandatory four game suspension according to the NFL if I remember right. This would typically be served by anyone else in the league with as much talent as this guy, but he retired.

This is where the plot thickens, because now it seems that he retired with the explicit reason - "To be able to smoke out when ever he wants". Isn't this every burnouts dream? To quit your job to be able to smoke anytime you wanted, and possibly get away with it for treating social anxiety disorder? He had already been prescribed medication for that, but he claims smoking blunts, ripping bong hits, or what ever helped him more.

I was okay with the idea of him retiring for legitimate reasons; wanting to travel, tired of the constant training / pounding, leaving before he becomes a cripple, etc. However quitting to smoke out everyday, assuming he can dodge the law that long (it is still illegal) is not a good reason for leaving a game that paid millions of dollars a year.

So He Walks

Ricky Williams said Sunday that he is not returning to the Miami Dolphins, or the NFL again. While on the surface it seems strange that the former Heisman winner to walk away from the game that allowed him to amass a fortune, but something was always different about Ricky. This was obvious in his first years in the NFL while in New Orleans, giving interviews with his helmet on, and wanting to spend his off seasons back in Austin where he went to school (UT). What’s really strange is that Williams just seemed to get comfortable in the NFL the past two seasons, both of which were his best to date. So while it is a shame that he is leaving the game now, he shouldn’t have done it so close to the start of the season though. Do it at the end of the season, or early summer time. Five days before the start of training camp is tough for any team losing a key player, but he was the focal point of the offense in Miami.

At the Democratic Convention today, John Edwards gave his speech one day prior to John Kerry accepting the demo's nomination. During his speech he said something, which I really liked. He said that when he is elected, they would not give tax breaks to companies outsourcing jobs to other countries, and instead mentioned a plan to give tax breaks to companies that elect not to outsource jobs. I am personally fond of this idea seeing that I want to continue to work in the IT field for a little while, and the rapid outsourcing of jobs to India is (was) making it very difficult for people to find jobs when people from India get educated here, and then go back to India agreeing to work for about 1/3 of wages here.

John Kerry makes his speech tomorrow in Boston.

Potpourri

Thats right a variety of items are going to show in this post:

The Democrats have gathered in Beantown (thats Boston) for the Democratic National Convention. My only complaint about it is that it is there that they announce who is getting the parties nomination. It seems like Kerry got that months ago after the second or third primary was held. So there has been no real anticipation as to which the Democrats will officially endorse, that was decided months ago.

Moving on

There is some discussion as to when digital Tv will be a standard, and what that means exactly. Here you can find out some of the details as to what it all means. I have been trying to push off getting a new TV until I get one that will accept the new digital signals without the set top box. Time will tell, I may buckle before that happens.

Oh that was the other thing, a girl from my old high school is now Playboy's Playmate of the Month (August). Pilar Lastra looks fantastic ~ whew!

A new Hey Rube was posted today. Of course HST is talking politics & football, right on schedule.

The Song Remains the Same

Yes, and that is a Led Zeppelin song too.  I am referring to an email that I received a couple of days ago regarding a position that I had applied for back at a career fair at school.

     "Your Resume was very competitive, however you were not selected."

I would like to think that the pair of words very competitive actually mean what they mean in the dictionary, and not just I'll call them feel good words.  "Thanks for trying, you really weren't close; so maybe telling you that you were very competitive; even though you weren't - will make you feel better."  It took just shy of four months to finally hear back from them.

Yea, I am being a little cynical.  Maybe I really was being considered for a position with this organization - it did take four months.  Its still not the same as being offered a position though, and in this game there really are NO points for second place.

Dir Sirs, Please Turn in Your Report Now

Yup, that day has come when the September 11th commission released its report. Although some of the more controversial stuff was specifically left out because they don’t want it interfering with the election in November.

The report is available here

The report is just shy of 600 pages, I skimmed through it while I was at work today. I was listening to The Randi Rhodes Show, and she was reading a passage from it - to find the passage she was reading search for the word "Herndon" as in the city in Virginia.

Moving on, looks like the Dallas Cowboys are interested in newly released running back Eddie George. Personally I think this would be a fantastic pickup for Dallas, and you know Parcells would like a back that could take the pressure off of his quarterback, who ever that may be.

Blast From the Past

So I was at the gym again today (surprised right?), and I am getting ready to do some leg presses. That’s when I see this chica with blonde hair sit down at the calf machine. So I do my set of 15 and stand up - we lock eyes for a split second. I recognized her, or at least I thought I did. So I walked over to my friend and asked for confirmation on who I thought it was. Yes; it was who I thought it was - she has lost some weight, not that she was fat or anything before.

So yea, I may say hello next time I see her there. Of course out of all the time I have been going to this location, this is the first time I have seen her. I don't know how dedicated she is to it, or what she is doing.

Oh, I also bumped into an alleged hookup for a possible job. He gave me some story about how the emails I sent him went to a guy on the east coast. So he eventually did read them, and told me to send another email to another account - we'll see if this is legit or all just false hopes. I would like the former over the latter...

Front Tags

So it seems that I am stuck mounting my front license plate again. I hate the way it messes up the look of the car, and I still say that the purpose of it is limited. It will cause more damage in a low speed crash (5 mph or less) because when the vehicles were tested, they did not display a nice metal plate at the front.

With a little luck it will be taken off again in about 2 - 3 weeks time. The only reason I am doing it is so I don’t get any trouble when trying to get to my current job.

BAN the front plate!

What?

I work in an area in which ID must be provided to get onto the premises.  So today on my way back from getting some lunch I pull up to the guard station with my ID ready as usual.  I'll preface this a little bit - this is not the usual gate I enter through, but since they have closed one due to installation of a blockade device I have the choice of 2 from the main road.  I simply tried to use the one with fewer cars.  The other thing that I feel compelled to mention that that they now have hired geeks to check ids at the gate.
 
So I pull up with my window down, cd paused, and id at the ready.  I see the geek look at the front of my car (presumably to look at my sticker which is also required to gain entry.)  So as I hand him my id, he asks how I am doing, and then follows it up with "where is your front tag?"  "Tag - what the hell is a front tag?" I ask myself, and then it dawns on me - my license plate.  "Its at home sir."  I replied - then he has the audacity to ask "Where's home?".  Now if this was anyone other than security personnel I would have said it was none of their business.  I lamented "The northwest side of town" which is across town from where I was currently sitting.  "Well you need to get it on before I let you on.  You can make a u-turn and get your ID back on the way out."  WTF?!  There is no point in trying to argue my point here, so I make my u-turn and see the MP with my id and he has a strange look on his face, like he knew the other guy was high to pull a stunt like this.
 
I'll explain why, the base employees many people from many states.  There are certain states which don't require a "front tag" as this geek referred to it; Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi to name a few.  Never has a San Antonio police officer given me shit about not having it, a minor offence which is kind of silly if you ask me.  How often do they look at the front plate for anything?    Even if it was there, mounted clearly on my front bumper what good would it do him?  If I tore ass through the gate, maneuvering through strategically placed barricades would this overweight hired pig have the wits about him to try and look at the front plate?  Yea - he would probably be reaching for his gun, remembering the details of the car, and maybe trying to get the information from the rear plate as I zoom by him.
 
So now that I have vented about that, I went down to the more crowded gate and got in with out being hassled.  Of course this was an MP that let me pass - not a hired geek.  Even still most of them don't care.
 

This Can't be Good

I saw this today, and now that I think about it - it really bothers me. You see Saudi Arabia has this little deal set up; the Saudi amnesty promising to spare the lives of militants who turn themselves in. Now I think this only applies to Saudis, otherwise this program would be utilized much more than what it actually is right now. So the reason it bothers me so much, and it should you too: Osama bin Laden is a Saudi; so what if he turned himself in for some reason? Would the Saudi Royal Family protect this terrorist who claimed responsibility for the attacks on America both here and abroad? Would the Bush families ties to the Royal Family be enough for them to detain Osama rather than offer him security? Just a thought though.

Another Hey Rube posting. There was a dry spell for a while, but as football season gets closer and closer there will be more. Its also an election year and of course HST wants to give his input to that.

"I'll ride the wave
where it takes me
I'll hold the pain
release me" -Pearl Jam's Release

Fahrenheit 9/11

Go see this movie, plain and simple. It raises some interesting points about what has taken place over the last few years, and even some history behind that. There are some interesting things raised about the relations the Bush family has with the Saudi Royal Family, and of course their collected business endeavors. I wont elaborate anymore on this movie, go see it - I would like to chat about it with anyone really. It is a bit graphic in places; war footage and even a beheading (it is not up close and personal though).
One of the things I did have a problem with was the footage that Moore used of "ordinary life in Iraq" before the war started. It showed children playing happily, people going about their business, getting hair cuts and eating lunch in a cafe. Saddam was a ruthless leader, who treated his people terribly, and it is probably a good thing that he is out of power now. However, was the treatment of the Iraqi people enough to justify a full out invasion and occupation? Was it worth more than a thousand American lives? There was no immediate threat, there were no weapons of mass destruction, and there were no Iraqi ties to the attacks that were carried out on us on September 11 (a majority of them were Saudis though). The country was crumbling around him, he posed no threat to us, or even his neighboring countries.

One more bit of politics. I sent a few people a link to a
speech given by Al Gore, and of these people forwarded it on to her mother. Her mother took great offence to this little speech, and attempted to discredit was presented in the speech. Once I heard about this little reply, I in turn whipped up about a three paged reply to the mother, with links to legitimate news sources to all the arguments I presented. I was told that I would be receiving a reply to this little document, but it has been about a month now with no reply what so ever. You can't really argue with facts, can you?

Moving on

I was pinched again for jury duty. I managed to get out of it the first time because I was a full time student, and I have since graduated from school. Their six month ploy worked, and now I have no choice but to show. One of the items I find offensive is that they ask for my race, and it is required by law. I never answer this on anything I fill out (job applications, surveys, etc), but for some reason they require it. Is there a punishment for lying about it?

Oh, I saw that hottie at the gym again, whew! So what is an effective approach in the gym, what can be used to where paths intersect? Do women that look this good even want to be talked to? Do they just want to do their work and get outta there with out having to subject themselves to conversation? On the other hand, would she walk around in a sports bra and short shorts if she didn't want attention? Leave a comment if you have any ideas, and not necessarily for approaching this one chica.

Random Gibberish

So it officially comes out Friday that the "pre-war" intelligence was wrong. What else can be said about that other than, "uhh yea". This war couldn't have possibly been about money and oil could it?

Another bit of political stuff, looks like some guy is cashing in on the Dick Cheney's blast to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy. If you didn't hear about this Mr. Cheney told Senator Leahy to "go f*** yourself".
T-shirt available here

Moving on from that, the Spurs managed to sign not only Manu to a six year deal, but they also managed to get Brent Barry (4 years) and resigned Bruce Bowen (3-4 years 4th being the teams option). So the Spurs have a handful of guards now: Tony, Manu, Bruce, Devin, Brent, and Beno. They have now shifted gears and are looking for a backup power forward / center. They don't have much money left after all the signings, but maybe a trade can be looming. I don't know, and so much of the rumors end up being garbage anyhow.

The newest rumor is Shaq going to Miami for Lamar Odom, Brain Grant, and Caron Butler. That is just the latest rumor, I know Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks will be looking to make some other kind of offer to get him, so until its official I wouldn't rush out and buy that #32 or #34 Miami jersey (Shaq wore 32 while in Orlando, and changed to 34 when he went to LA because Magic Johnson wore 32 which had been retired).

Sick

I played a bit more Turismo today, and purchased the Nissan Skyline GT-R Vspec II. I saved the game before doing any mods, so I bought the stage 4 turbo, racing suspension, fly wheel, and a few other goodies. Bottom line the car is sick, probably one of the better cars you can purchase in the game.

I also saw this chica in the parking lot of the gym I go to, and DAMN she was hot. She had on these red shorts, with a white sports bra type contraption that exposed her stomach. Mmmm mmm I want one of those (the girl not the shirt); maybe I will see her there again - bad news is she has the BF (how could she not? Seriously?).

Wrap Up

I saw this and couldn't resist posting it; it seems the NY Post made a small error when attempting to get the scoop on John Kerry's running mate.

"The New York Post today reported that John Kerry had selected
Richard Gephardt as his Democratic running mate."

I guess the Post didn't realize that it would be John Edwards.
The Smoking Gun was there
Too bad it wasn't my pick from the primary, which seems oh so long ago; Dr. Dean - insert Dean-scream joke here.

So I am also playing Gran Tourismo 3 A-Spec finally. It has been sitting in my room for over a year, but I finally started on it. I am starting to make some real progress - that initial miata was killin' me.

Oh, and I just caught this, HST finally made a post.

Pulled Plug

So I met up with that Adriana chica again this time armed with a barrage of questions I knew those representatives didn't want to answer. This was probably more for my enjoyment - to see her squirm a bit when pressed with questions about the alleged business.

She moseyed in about ten minutes late this time; the line to get anything was quite long at this point. I just beat the rush, but only purchased a drink - no need to get any food this time around. So I started in with the questions, and just like I had read she started dodging my questions, and turning them around to "potential" again.

I after a bit of a facade, I got down to brass tax and asked her how successful she had been, to which she didn't want to say. She did mention that she made more than $500, but I asked "Less than $700?" to which I heard yes. I believe she had managed to, we'll say "con" about six other people in to joining under her umbrella. She will now get "points" for these items these people under her sold, and based on those points will earn money back. That's how this program works, partially the sale of items to "non-members" in which you get a percentage of the sale, but also recruiting other people gullible enough to join it. Oh did I mention that I started an argument that the products she is peddling are not "better than the name brands found in stores" which she swore to.

For some reason she wanted to know how much I made, so I gave her the answer - I make less than $250,000 a year; which is true. She of course didn't like the vague kind of answers in reply to her questions, but I also reminded her that what I get paid is not relevant to anything concerning her.

Things quickly went sour after that, after I said I was not interested in this thing, she gathered up her things in a huff. I couldn't help but smile, and chuckle to myself at the bitch she had revealed herself to be - a vicious beast who targeted young men relying on her sex appeal to land her other clients. What do I care though, she wasted my time with this garbage, so the least I could do today was to get some entertainment value out of it, which I succeeded in doing if I do say so myself.

Now Boarding Group A

So yea, Southwest Airlines has now moved away from the old plastic numbered boarding system they had to lettered groups (can you tell it has been a while since I last flew on SWA?). So while I was waiting for my return flight to start boarding these rather large women decided they HAD to be FIRST getting their fat asses on the plane. So there they stood for a solid thirty minutes at the mouth of the boarding area, with the rest of the cattle behind them. This type of thing is one reason I have not flown SWA for sometime, the free for all chaos that exists while jockeying for position to get a desirable seat on the plane.

Oh, but I feel the need to mention that the flight was only about 2/3 full, so everyone either got a isle or window seat.

So on my trip I went to a little 4th of July celebration that was attended by a VW racing club. I don't think I have ever seen a road filled to capacity with VWs and Audis on both sides of the street - most had no visible mods done, but all had engine work done. GTIs were the favorite, jettas, one passat, and a couple of S4s (how can they afford S4s!?) Good time though - some of the fireworks got a little outta hand though.

Oh, this is for the ZigCapt who didn't believe that this was me - here's to you slick!

Spiderman 2

Spiderman 2 was a good movie. With the basic story line laid in the first one, it allowed the sequel to develop and show the inner tension that being Spiderman can create inside of Peter Parker. Being a college student at Columbia, part-time jobs (photographer and pizza delivery boy), his love for Mary-Jane, and of course being Spiderman. All the inner tension eventually forces Peter to say "enough" and throws away the Spiderman costume.

The movie was well done, and probably even better than the original. That in itself is rare. Also room for the next Spiderman sequel is set up nicely at the end of this one too, so expect more Spidy movies - 2007 is rumored.