Wally Rules. End of story.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Monday, September 15, 2008
From the Hitting the Nail On The Head Dept.
Scott Adams, often described as the man with his finger on the pulse of corporate America, once again hits it out of the park. Last Friday's Dilbert strip hit a little too close to home...
Saturday, May 31, 2008
What does it take?
If you've read this blog, then you realize that I have a daughter, Sara. Sara is the apple of my eye, she really makes life worth it, and if I had it to do all over again, I'd pick her every time. Not having a son, however leaves me with some pearls of wisdom that may not be directly applicable to my heiress.
Thank God for the internet.
Here is a list of things that I believe necessary for one to claim membership into the kingdom of manhood. The list is (for now) in no certain order. I may get around to sorting and editing it later as time permits, but in the interest of providing information in a timely manner, I am publishing it as a work in progress.
1) Know how to change a flat tire.
If you drive (or try to drive) a car, you should know how to put a spare tire onto your car. Just because you carry a cellphone and have AAA on speedial (RAC for those of you in the UK) doesn't let you off the hook. If you get a flat while driving your girl somewhere, you better get out, and make it look like you know what the hell you're doing. Nothing says wussie like being stuck at the side of the road, waiting for some guy named Sam in a tow-truck to show you his butt-crack, smile at your girl and overcharge you for something you should know how to do. It's only 5 friggin nuts fer Christ sake!
2) Know how to drive a car.
That's right. DRIVE. I'm not talking about managing to get your Mom's mini-van from point A to point B. I'm talking about Driving. Use your turn signals, don't tailgate people, and if someone behind you is going faster than you are, get the hell out of the left lane. While you're at it, learn how to drive a damn stick-shift. If you can't, you may as well tuck your nut-sack up between your ass cheeks and pretend you're a girl. And for the love of God, pay attention when you're driving. I saw some asswipe doing a crossword puzzle on Rt 46 the other day, newspaper propped on the steering wheel as he was travelling at 50mph. What an Asshat. Don't be that guy.
3) Don't dress like an idiot.
I really don't have much sense of style. I do know, however that the top of the pants, you know, the part with the belt loops, are made to be worn ABOVE THE FRIGGIN ASS. Nothing makes you look like more of a moron, than shuffling around town with your pants halfway down.
4) Get a Job.
If you're independently wealthy, this still applies. And not some cakewalk job at Daddies company either. Go out into the world, and earn your own living. Learn how to deal with an asshole boss, and if you are a boss, learn how not to be an asshole. Don't expect something for nothing, earn your money. And know your worth.
5) Be able to fix things.
Nothing says "Turn in your 'Y' chromosome" more than being stymied by a blocked drain, unlit pilot light or malfunctioning small appliance. If you're family is freezing and can't make toast because of your inadequacies, you may as well hang it up. And don't give me that bullshit excuse that it's not worth your time to fix the toaster, that you make more per hour than it costs to fix it. If you were really working right now, what the hell are you doing trying to make toast? Get back to work!
6) Know your limitations
the converse of #5. Don't go taking on jobs that are too big for you. Electrocuting yourself trying to change a light switch because you're too damn stupid to turn off the power is just plain stupid. And if that cute nurse knew how you really hurt yourself, you wouldn't stand a chance with her.
7) Learn how to handle a gun.
Yes, I said it. Firearms are just like any tool. Learn how to use and care for one, even if you never plan on owning one. I'm sure that my left-leaning friends will disagree, but someday you may have a family, or something else worth protecting, and you should know how to protect it. Fortune favors the prepared.
8) Learn stuff.
Don't be ignorant. It's not attractive. If you are interested in something, learn all you can about that subject. You like photography? Learn what an F-Stop is. Do you enjoy woodworking? Learn about the tools and techniques involved. In short, make yourself useful. If you're not into sports, that's fine but you should still learn enough to be able to converse with people about them. Sometimes it's good enough to not look like an idiot. It's always better to not *be* an idiot.
More to come...
Thank God for the internet.
Here is a list of things that I believe necessary for one to claim membership into the kingdom of manhood. The list is (for now) in no certain order. I may get around to sorting and editing it later as time permits, but in the interest of providing information in a timely manner, I am publishing it as a work in progress.
1) Know how to change a flat tire.
If you drive (or try to drive) a car, you should know how to put a spare tire onto your car. Just because you carry a cellphone and have AAA on speedial (RAC for those of you in the UK) doesn't let you off the hook. If you get a flat while driving your girl somewhere, you better get out, and make it look like you know what the hell you're doing. Nothing says wussie like being stuck at the side of the road, waiting for some guy named Sam in a tow-truck to show you his butt-crack, smile at your girl and overcharge you for something you should know how to do. It's only 5 friggin nuts fer Christ sake!
2) Know how to drive a car.
That's right. DRIVE. I'm not talking about managing to get your Mom's mini-van from point A to point B. I'm talking about Driving. Use your turn signals, don't tailgate people, and if someone behind you is going faster than you are, get the hell out of the left lane. While you're at it, learn how to drive a damn stick-shift. If you can't, you may as well tuck your nut-sack up between your ass cheeks and pretend you're a girl. And for the love of God, pay attention when you're driving. I saw some asswipe doing a crossword puzzle on Rt 46 the other day, newspaper propped on the steering wheel as he was travelling at 50mph. What an Asshat. Don't be that guy.
3) Don't dress like an idiot.
I really don't have much sense of style. I do know, however that the top of the pants, you know, the part with the belt loops, are made to be worn ABOVE THE FRIGGIN ASS. Nothing makes you look like more of a moron, than shuffling around town with your pants halfway down.
4) Get a Job.
If you're independently wealthy, this still applies. And not some cakewalk job at Daddies company either. Go out into the world, and earn your own living. Learn how to deal with an asshole boss, and if you are a boss, learn how not to be an asshole. Don't expect something for nothing, earn your money. And know your worth.
5) Be able to fix things.
Nothing says "Turn in your 'Y' chromosome" more than being stymied by a blocked drain, unlit pilot light or malfunctioning small appliance. If you're family is freezing and can't make toast because of your inadequacies, you may as well hang it up. And don't give me that bullshit excuse that it's not worth your time to fix the toaster, that you make more per hour than it costs to fix it. If you were really working right now, what the hell are you doing trying to make toast? Get back to work!
6) Know your limitations
the converse of #5. Don't go taking on jobs that are too big for you. Electrocuting yourself trying to change a light switch because you're too damn stupid to turn off the power is just plain stupid. And if that cute nurse knew how you really hurt yourself, you wouldn't stand a chance with her.
7) Learn how to handle a gun.
Yes, I said it. Firearms are just like any tool. Learn how to use and care for one, even if you never plan on owning one. I'm sure that my left-leaning friends will disagree, but someday you may have a family, or something else worth protecting, and you should know how to protect it. Fortune favors the prepared.
8) Learn stuff.
Don't be ignorant. It's not attractive. If you are interested in something, learn all you can about that subject. You like photography? Learn what an F-Stop is. Do you enjoy woodworking? Learn about the tools and techniques involved. In short, make yourself useful. If you're not into sports, that's fine but you should still learn enough to be able to converse with people about them. Sometimes it's good enough to not look like an idiot. It's always better to not *be* an idiot.
More to come...
Saturday, August 04, 2007
HP - Phone Home
A few months ago, we were in Costco and saw a HP PhotoSmart C6150 all in one Printer, scanner, copier, fax with wifi, media reader and all kinds of bells and whistles . Whoohoo, color us impressed, so we snapped it up to take the place of our aging Canon i560.
The printer has been great. At first I was kinda worried about the small ink cartridges, but so far so good. I like the scanner, and it's got good linux support - important for me, not so much for Laura who only uses windows. Anyway, as I said, we were happy with the printer. Then I installed an Endian Firewall on our network. It's a nice, easy to use firewall based on Smoothwall. I downloaded the CD image, and pressed an old PIII 600 into service checking packets and denying access to the baddies. Anyway, I am getting to the point, I promise.
Tonight, I was perusing the firewall logs, and I noticed that the IP address I had assigned to the printer was making http connections to 15.200.14.12.
Hold the phone, that's a routable IP address. Why is my printer making outside connections? So I did a whois on that IP address, and it belongs to HP.
So I go look into the Squid logfile on my firewall and see that the printer keeps connecting to http://service.eshare.hpphoto.com/discovery/discovery.aspx
Hmm, ain't that intrusive. Well, thankfully, I can ban my printers IP address in the new firewall and stop that nonsense.
The printer has been great. At first I was kinda worried about the small ink cartridges, but so far so good. I like the scanner, and it's got good linux support - important for me, not so much for Laura who only uses windows. Anyway, as I said, we were happy with the printer. Then I installed an Endian Firewall on our network. It's a nice, easy to use firewall based on Smoothwall. I downloaded the CD image, and pressed an old PIII 600 into service checking packets and denying access to the baddies. Anyway, I am getting to the point, I promise.
Tonight, I was perusing the firewall logs, and I noticed that the IP address I had assigned to the printer was making http connections to 15.200.14.12.
From 192.168.15.9 - 38 packets
To 15.200.14.12 - 38 packets
Service: http (tcp/80) (ulogd[1177]: SQUID) - 38 packets
Hold the phone, that's a routable IP address. Why is my printer making outside connections? So I did a whois on that IP address, and it belongs to HP.
chris% whois 15.200.14.12
OrgName: Hewlett-Packard Company
OrgID: HP
Address: 3000 Hanover Street
City: Palo Alto
StateProv: CA
PostalCode: 94304
Country: US
<snip>
So I go look into the Squid logfile on my firewall and see that the printer keeps connecting to http://service.eshare.hpphoto.com/discovery/discovery.aspx
Hmm, ain't that intrusive. Well, thankfully, I can ban my printers IP address in the new firewall and stop that nonsense.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Friday, July 14, 2006
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Your Place
Every year, for the 4th of July holiday, we take Sara to Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This year was no exception. We go with the Remeys, Rich, Colleen, Brianne and Courtney. Brianne's birthday falls on July 3rd, and this year she was turning 9.
Today was July 2nd, and we had arrived in Hershey, and spent some time at chocolate world. It was about 5:30 and everyone was getting hungry. Rather then stuff ourselves with chocolate, or what other limited fare they offered in the park, we decided we'd go find a restaurant nearby and hopefully have some better food. We drove about 10 minutes out of the park, and found the Hershey Grill. We pulled into the parking lot, and the smell of char-broiled steaks was wafting out into the hot night air. Damn, I was hungry. Once inside the establishment, we found that there was an hour wait. That was way too long, especially with 3 hungry kids. (Did I tell you Courney was sick? Fever, aches wouldn't eat.) Anyway, an hour was too long to wait, so we left. Right next door was another restaurant - "Your Place Restaurant" was the name, and we were all hungry, so we went in.
Seating was plentiful. The place was less than 1/2 full, so we all sat down at a table and looked through the menu. Within 10 minutes, a waitress came and took our drink order, we all knew what we wanted so we gave her our dinner order too. And an order for a dozen buffalo wings, just to get us started.
It didn't take long for the drinks to come, and the wings arrived Apparently, a dozen in Pennsylvania only equals 11, either that, or the server was so hungry she had to take one for herself. They were on the cold side, so maybe they'd been lying around and someone just helped themselves. Anyway, we all had a wing or two, and the kids continued to play hangman with crayons and paper placemats.
Courtney wasn't feeling well at all, and her mom took her to the bathroom. Upon her return , she announced that she was going to take Courtney back to the hotel, and we should bring their food home with us. We all felt bad for Courtney, but understood.
45 Minutes later, our food still hadn't arrived. A waitress (not ours) was serving the table next to us, and Laura asked her if she knew where our food was. She replied that she was sure it would be out soon, and I asked her to get the manager. We got up to leave, totally disgusted that we had to wait for an hour, while people around us that had arrived later had already finished their food and left. The Manager assured us that our food would be out momentarily, and also promised a steep discount. I didn't care so much about the discount, but I knew that if we left now, we'd have to find another restaurant, get seated, order etc. Knowing that would take time, we sat down again.
15 minutes later, and not even an offer to refresh our drinks, I got up to leave again. I was pretty disgusted with the place, so I went to the seating lectern (or whatever the hell you'd call it) and asked for the Manager again. 5 minutes later, the manager came out of the kitchen with our food. So we sat back down again.
The manager came back in a few minutes, and told us that we only had to pay for our drinks and the dozen, er, 11 buffalo wings. The rest of the food was free. -- just about what it was worth too.
apparently, we weren't alone in our opinion of this place. I found This Review online today.
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