- I saw Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein on a motorcycle and met some great people along the way.
- I flew to Jamaica to witness Bling and Mrs. Bling tie the knot.
- All in all I racked up approximately 92,000 flight miles. That's a lot of time in an airplane, airport bars, and wondering where the hell I am at the moment.
- I read more books than I can remember.
- I spent another year in Montana.
- I learned how to fly fish and snowboard.
- I had some very difficult times with work and being on the road all the time.
- We've seen Saddam tried and executed for his atrocities.
- The war in Iraq continues.
- The house and senate have changed hands to the democrats.
- Donald Rumsfeld resigned.
- The Dallas Cowboys have fooked the entire city of Arlington.
- I've met some great friends up in Mt.
- We all saw Britney Spears hoochie - and it was free.
- We are still dealing with the fallout of Katrina.
- People seem to have forgotten about 9/11 - which is a damned shame.
- James Brown, Gerald Ford, and Coretta Scott King all passed away.
- Vice President Cheney accidentally shot one of his friends.
- USA kicked ass in snowboarding at the winter Olympics.
- Pluto was officially denounced as a planet.
- I got to move back home to TX - and Rufus was happy to see me.
Just my rants and raves, or whatever else comes to mind for the moment. Fair warning - I speak my mind. That may include harsh language, or things you don't want to see or read. You are welcome to comment, but you have been warned....
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
But then I also saw a really cool coffee table. And since it was unique I had to get the end-table as well. That was more of an impulse buy, with the exception that I've wanted a new one for about four or five years now (maybe more). So I bought those as well.
Already whacked my knee into both the new coffee table (it's substantialy larger than the old one and much harder to see in the dark), and the old one since I moved it and forgot that I moved it.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
I caught wind of this through another forum I was reading. I live "close" to this hospital. Do you still not thinking we are paying for illegals? This pisses me off.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/parkland.asp
Friday, December 22, 2006
Ok, let's get something straight. This all goes back to the whole political correct bullshit that so many people are fond of supporting.
On Miss Carnivorous' blog site I am trying to have an intelligent disagreement with a guy called Zontar The Good. He called me a racist because I made a disparaging remark about inner city black and Hispanics and their behavior.
I'd like to point out a few definitions of "racism"
- or racialism is a form of discrimination based on race, especially the belief that one race is superior to another. Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that promote inequality between races.www.kids.net.au/encyclopedia-wiki/ra/Racism
- The doctrine that race is the basic determinant of human abilities and that, therefore, the various racial groups constitute a hierarchy in which one group is properly regarded as superior to others. Racism has also been defined using the following formula: Power+Prejudice=Racism. Racism has also been defined as a "system of advantage based on race."www.unk.edu/offices/aaeo/index.php
Now there are other definitions which all closely match these two, but I think you get the point. It is NOT racist to point out a fact about any group or ethnic group of people. Get over it.
If anything the freaking liberal left are the most racist people I know. Look at all the special treatment ethnic groups receive because of the color of their skin, their sexual preference, or their religion. If you haven't gotten it, re-read the above definitions. "....through institutions that promote inequality between races." That pretty clearly defines it for me. If you don't treat everyone on an equal basis that makes you a racist. I don't give a rats ass what color your skin is, what your religion is, or if you like riding the high hard one and you are a guy. I give everyone the same amount of respect until they give me a reason to either revoke it, or give them more.
That is not being racist.....and I am sick of the libs taking away our freedom of speech by suing, firing, or subjugating anyone that speaks out negatively about a group of people. It's fine if you offend a white-Anglo-straight-christian, but you should lose your job and be chastised if you point out something negative about another group.
Blow me.....(that's for you uneducated folks)
Woe to those that have to endure the mall this time of year. I had to. Not only did I have to shop, but my niece really wanted to go ice skating. Her dad and I took her and she did pretty good.
But get this, as I was walking into the mall....not even there two minutes (and I am not exaggerating) a girl walks past wearing a shirt that reads "Life is much better with my rich boyfriend."
If you aren't following this, try the two previous posts:
Part 1
and
Part 2
This was forwarded to me by a friend of mine that still lives in the land of snow and ice (no, not Montana). For those not aware of what is going on in the world, the Muslims are trying to take over. Not just in the U.S., but everywhere. For some odd reason, the Europeans seem to be allowing this to happen. What am I saying? For some odd reason, indeed. The liberals here in the U.S. want to allow it to happen as well. I digress.....
*The Rape of Europe*
*By Paul Belien*
The German author Henryk M. Broder recently told the Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant" (12 October) that young Europeans who love freedom, better emigrate. Europe as we know it will no longer exist 20 years from now. Whilst sitting on a terrace in Berlin, Broder pointed to the other customers and the passersby and said melancholically: "We are watching the world of yesterday."
Europe is turning Muslim. As Broder is sixty years old he is not going to emigrate himself. "I am too old," he said. However, he urged young people to get out and "move to Australia or New Zealand. That is the only option they have if they want to avoid the plagues that will turn the old continent uninhabitable."
Many Germans and Dutch, apparently, did not wait for Broder's advice. The number of emigrants leaving the Netherlands and Germany has already surpassed the number of immigrants moving in. One does not have to be prophetic to predict, like Henryk Broder, that Europe is becoming Islamic. Just consider the demographics. The number of Muslims in contemporary Europe is estimated to be 50 million. It is expected to double in twenty years. By 2025, one-third of all European children will be born to Muslim families. Today Mohammed is already the most popular name for newborn boys in Brussels, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and other major European cities.
Broder is convinced that the Europeans are not willing to oppose Islamization. "The dominant ethos," he told De Volkskrant, "is perfectly voiced by the stupid blonde woman author with whom I recently debated. She said that it is sometimes better to let yourself be raped than to risk serious injuries while resisting. She said it is sometimes better to avoid fighting than run the risk of death."
In a recent op-ed piece in the Brussels newspaper De Standaard (23 October) the Dutch (gay and self-declared "humanist") author Oscar Van den Boogaard refers to Broder's interview. Van den Boogaard says that to him coping with the Islamization of Europe is like "a process of mourning." He is overwhelmed by a "feeling of sadness." "I am not a warrior," he says, "but who is? I have never learned to fight for my freedom. I was only good at enjoying it."
As Tom Bethell wrote in this month's American Spectator: "Just at the most basic level of demography the secular-humanist option is not working." But there is more to it than the fact that non-religious people tend not to have as many children as religious people, because many of them prefer to "enjoy" freedom rather than renounce it for the sake of children. Secularists, it seems to me, are also less keen on fighting. Since they do not believe in an afterlife, this life is the only thing they have to lose. Hence they will rather accept submission than fight. Like the German feminist Broder referred to, they prefer to be raped than to resist.
"If faith collapses, civilization goes with it," says Bethell. That is the real cause of the closing of civilization in Europe. Islamization is simply the consequence. The very word Islam means "submission" and the secularists have submitted already. Many Europeans have already become Muslims, though they do not realize it or do not want to admit it.
Some of the people I meet in the U.S. are particularly worried about the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. They are correct when they fear that anti-Semitism is also on the rise among nonimmigrant Europeans. The latter hate people with a fighting spirit. Contemporary anti-Semitism in Europe (at least when coming from native Europeans) is related to anti-Americanism. People who are not prepared to resist and are eager to submit, hate others who do not want to submit and are prepared to fight. They hate them because they are afraid that the latter will endanger their lives as well. In their view everyone must submit.
This is why they have come to hate Israel and America so much, and the small band of European "islamophobes" who dare to talk about what they see happening around them. West Europeans have to choose between submission (Islam) or death. I fear, like Broder, that they have chosen submission - just like in former days when they preferred to be red rather than dead.
Europeans apparently never read John Stuart Mill:
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
- John Stuart Mill
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
This is TOO good!
5 million of our older Americans have not signed up yet for their Medicare Part D drug plan ------ they are old and confused. We are NOT going to grant them an extension. However, 12 million illegal aliens are in our country and we are going to allow them to stay, protest, procreate, receive support monies, attend schools, avoid paying income taxes, have our teachers take 300 hours of ESL (English as a Second Language) training at our expense, etc.
WE MUST REALLY DISLIKE OUR OLD PEOPLE...... OR WE MUST REALLY LOVE LAWBREAKERS!!
If it ticks you off, pass it on!! Don't forget to pay your taxes. 12 million illegal aliens are depending on you!
I tried to verify this through Snopes and was unable to find enough information on it. But I did Google some of the medicare plan d stuff. Obviously I was not up on all the medicare stuff. My father probably is and could comment on it. However, this plan had a deadline of May 15th, 2006. That was FIVE months ago!! So why is this just now being circulated?
From what I can tell it became a huge and heated political debate with the typical he said / she said crap between the dems and the reps.
What does irk me is that for the most part the gist of the email is spot-on. I got into a bit of a discussion with one of my friends up here. I was arguing that there was, indeed, some socialized medicine in the U.S. - we just don't call it that. You don't believe me? Do you have any idea of how many destitute people are treated for all kinds of illnesses every year? Who pays for it? Joe Taxpayer, and those of us fortunate to have jobs and insurance. Is that not the very definition of a socialized system?
And what about the 12+ million illegal immigrants? The email focuses on Mexicans, but there are a lot of illegal aliens here. Personally I say we should spend the money and deport ALL of them. Cost more to do that than to allow them to suck the system dry? Perhaps initially, but not in the long run.
I'm not against immigration to the U.S. I AM against people breaking the law to do it. And yet, we are still considering granting them amnesty and giving them rights. What a load of crap.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
OK, I know I don't normally post this stuff but it totally cracked me up. It's a time elapsed video of a guy that is passed out and his friends have some fun. What sent me over the edge is the very end of the video...
SFW (Safe For Work)
http://media.skoopy.com/vids/vid_01306.wmv
I'll even forgive Dusty for wearing a Colorado Avalanche "sweater" to the party.....
Friday, December 15, 2006
Every since the dems took over everything I haven't paid much attention to exactly what has been happening. I figure part of it is the "transitional phase" and more to the point is that I haven't really watched any TV (news), or read any newspapers.
For the most part, people keep asking me what I think about this or that (even if it is not related to politics) and i just don't have a clue. I'm not sure if it's complete apathy or because of everything else I have been doing. Maybe a bit of both.
About the only thing I have heard on the radio is that we are getting real serious about pulling out of Iraq. I have mixed feelings about it. I don't think a complete withdrawal is going to do anything except incite the Muslim's to try harder.
We now have some serious socialists in major positions of political power. It's amazing to me that anyone who cherishes living in the USA would ever vote these people into any office. My father thinks that some of the younger dems that are not socialists will help keep them at bay. I guess time will tell.
I think we are on the verge of a civil war and another global war. Things are really heating up on all levels. The United States cannot stand to be internally at war and divided for much longer before something will happen. If you don't think there is an internal struggle in the U.S. you should really open your eyes. There is an entire group of people that hate the U.S. and they are living right here and working their political agendas.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Parody of "Wear Sunscreen"
Enjoy!
If I could offer you only one tip for improving your life, wearing leather would be it.
The long term benefits of leather have been proved by serious bikers over many highways and many years, whereas wearing something unreliable like shorts and flip-flops means you will experience a trip to the emergency room.There, uncaring nurses will scrub gravel out of your wounds, and doctor swill dispense ineffective painkillers and meaningless advice ... like telling you to trade that "murdercycle" in for a Camry.
Bull(shoot). I will dispense some real advice right now:
Enjoy the power and beauty of your ride; If you don't already; you can Fully enjoy it by doing block-long smokey burnouts in the parking lot at the Local drive-in. Pass slower bikers on the right inside of the uphill curve when they will not let you pass to the left.
Trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at the photos of you and your pals on your bikes and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much fun you had and how fabulous you really looked hauling (donkey hole) down the highway dressed in leather.
Leather is as sexy as you imagine.
Don't worry about what your Mom thinks; or worry about what others think.Know that worrying about what other people think is as effective as Trying to scratch your nose in a blinding hailstorm at 80 m.p.h. with a full-Face helmet and winter gloves on. The real troubles in your life are apt to be Volvo station wagons, driven by some dipstick talking into his cellphone or doing her makeup; the kind that blindside you at 4 PM on some urban roadway and then claim you crashed into THEM.
Do one thing everyday that scares other drivers... Lanesplit.
Ladies, learn to ride and then ride often. Nothing is more of an Equalizer than a woman, dressed in leather, astride her own machine. Gentlemen, respect the ladies who ride, for they could very well have been the Rider that waxed your fanny in the mountain curves you just came through.
Sing into your helmet. Use mouthwash first. Keep mints handy.
Don't be reckless with other people's bikes, especially if you don't Have insurance. Don't put up with people who mess with yours.... in fact,Beat them with a chain.
Ride Fast.
Don't waste your money on chrome, or fancy paint jobs; spend it on racing or partying. Sometimes you're fast, sometimes you're slow. Sometimes you're hungover. The ride is long, and in the end, a cold beer tastes pretty damn good.
Remember the good rides you've had, forget the cuts and bruises.
Watch cage drivers to not signal before pulling into your lane. Be alert for brainless cage drivers to pull an opposing left turn in front of you.May the fool on four wheels in front of you have working brake lights.
Try to wear out the sides of your tires before the middle.... if you Succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your oil changed, throw away old traffic citations.
Enjoy your bike, use it every way you can...don't be afraid of it, or What other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument of pleasure you'll ever own, not counting porn sites and a fast modem.
Take chances.
Don't feel guilty if you ride faster than the posted limit ...the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 how to ride conservatively,all the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of saddle time.
Be kind to your passengers, you'll miss them if they fall off.
Maybe you'll crash, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have surgery, maybe You won't, maybe you'll ride a cruiser off a cliff doing 40, maybe you'll get a new motocrosser for your 75th birthday ...whatever you ride, don't congratulate yourself too much - your choices are 90% foreign, 10%domestic; so are everyone else's.
Wrench... even if you have nowhere to do it but in your hotel room.
Do not read American motorcycle magazines, they will only make you wish you'd bought a British one instead. Read British motorcycle magazine stand laugh at how the brits laugh at Americans. Stay away from German motorcycle magazines, they are too serious and difficult to read.
Read the owner's manual, even though you won't remember any of it.
Get to know your brake pads, you never know when they'll be gone for good. Remember, brake pads let you stop. Be nice to your tires; they are your link to the pavement and the things most likely to save your butt from a nasty high side.
Understand that mechanics comes and mechanics go, but for a precious talented few you should pay them well and buy them six packs. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older your bike gets, the more you'll need the mechanic who worked on it when it was young and still not paid off.
Ride in New York City once, but leave before you get killed; ride in Northern California whenever possible, but leave a plausible excuse When calling in sick for work. Ride in the Ozarks and learn the trick of the curve. Ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and learn to be smooth. Ride through Deals Gap and live to tell others about it. Stop and watch others ride through Deals Gap and applaud when others do it well.
Do lurid wheelies.
Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, traffic will get worse, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young, gasoline was cheap, the highway patrol couldn't catch you, and Harley owners weren't all yuppies.
Respect your rev-limiter.
Don't expect anyone else to see your bike unless it has really loud pipes.
Maybe your bike has a big gas tank, maybe a smaller one; but remember,either way you'll have to make bathroom stops.
Stop and offer help to the stranded motorcyclist along the open road,For the next you come along could very well be yourself.Don't mess too much with your carburetors, or by the time your done,you'll be walking home and your pipes will be blue.
Be careful whose advice you buy, and save your receipts. Don't take Advice from those who supply it for free, especially if they own a Brit bike.
Motorcycle restoration is a form of self-torture. Doing it is a way of pulling the past from the dustbin, degreasing it, painting over the rusty parts and dumping way more money into it than it's worth. Indian restoration is a truly refined ailment that is only cured by death or an unlimited bank account.
But trust me on the leather...
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Bling! has provided us with the female equation. He actualy posted this in a comment from a previous entry, but I felt it was good enough to give it its own entry. Thanks Bling!
Fem Number: a fictional value at which a woman will assign herself to any given male. Fem equation (emperically derived):
Vfem = (Mg + Lg + 20Pg)/Afem
Where Mg is the monetary worth of the guy, ie how much money can he can spend on a girl or things to accessorize a girl, like cars and jewelry
And Lg is the physical attractiveness of the male. The exact value is dependent upon the female, but this is an interpolated value between stunning handsome and 3 coyote ugly.
And Pg is the charm and personality of the guy. This is a negligable value and normally ignored.
Finally, Afem is the attractiveness of the female based her own perception of attractiveness. NOTE: this does not nomally correspond to reality.
Using this value, the average female will evaluate each male she meets until she arrives at an assement of his value, ie "what kind of car do you drive, what do you do for a living?". Any male with a Vfem above the current female requirement will be pursued. if a female is already occupied, then the required Fem number is simply increased until to a level high enough to initiate movement to a new male.
Bling!
Sorry Girls, it's the truth. Really I am.
I don't know what I did in a past life, but obviously I have wronged someone, somewhere, at some point. I mean, I'm a fairly nice guy. Sure I am assertive enough that I can be a real jerk at times, but over-all I definitely fall into the "nice-guy" category. Don't get me started.
So why won't it snow? We've had snow in the forecast for days and nothing. If it doesn't snow there isn't any good snow boarding. If there isn't any good snowboarding then bRad's are wasting their vacation. If bRads are wasting their vacation then they are unhappy. People around here are saying it's one of the worst winters they remember in years.....not because it's cold and snowy, but because it's NOT cold and snowy.
I even asked Ben if he'd take me up on a flight so I could at least shoot some aerial photos of the valley and mountains. He said no problem and offered to do it for a ridiculously low price. I was really looking forward to getting some good shots, but there are too many clouds to do it!!! Yes, you read that right it's too cloudy to go up in a plane and shoot photos but it will not freaking snow!!
It's so totally not fair....not fair....not fair...
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
However, they aren't for everyone. They don't fit radio format due to their sometimes operetta length songs (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence clocks in at 42:02!!!) and because their music is complicated and constantly progressing which generally requires much more attention than the average sheeple like to invest in their music.
Weatherchicks suck, too....there has been snow in the forecast for days and we aren't getting any. Big Sky got 2 inches and that was it. Clear skies, sunny, warm-ish.... it sucks. I want a freaking blizzard to descend upon us and dump snow up in the mountains.
Right now, there is no way Moonlight will open during the week and it's looking bleak for the weekend. Bridge Bowl is also closed. Big Sky has 20% of the mountain open and I hear that the employees are shaking snow off the trees to cover the rocks.
So let's look further away.....Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee are both open with NO new snow since last weekend.
Banff Canada has had a whopping 1 inch in the last 48 hours and would cost me about $500 just to drive up there and back. No thanks.
This is soooooo not fair.
Monday, December 11, 2006
I was going to head down to Red Lodge over the weekend and get some snowboarding in, but they just aren’t getting any snow. It does, however, look like Big Sky is getting some and they have now opened up about 20% of the mountain. BTW – Big Sky really is BIG, so 20% is not bad.
I’m keeping my eye on the weather, but if you feel like it please pray to the snow gods for me!!
This weekend some friends of mine rented a cabin. The cabin was in Yellowstone up in the sticks a bit. It was in the snow, and in the cold. No heater, no electricity, no running water and no bathroom. A fairly nice outhouse was situated outside the cabin about 100 feet away. As you can probably guess there wasn’t any light or heat in there either. Brrrr…..
We also had to break into the cabin because we didn’t bring the combination for the padlock on the back door. No problem though, the cabin was built in 1929 and you can probably imagine that security of the cabin wasn’t that serious.
The cabin had a wood burning stove in one room. It was actually colder in the cabin than it was outside. Amy got that sucker fired up and some of the guys proceeded to take turns chopping and splitting wood. The national forestry was kind enough to stack up sections of trees they had cut down for us to chop. I say sections because they were approximately 1.5 ~ 2 feet in diameter and 1.5 ~ 2 feet thick. I hadn’t chopped wood in a long time so I was a bit rusty, but we got quite a bit cut before the light finally ran out.
There were 13 people there and everyone brought something to share. I brought jambalaya, another guy made some tasty fried chicken right on the front porch. Others brought salads of varying types or booze (way more booze than we could all drink!). We even did a white-elephant Xmas and I scored some sweet picture cards of Yellowstone wildlife which I plan to frame later on.
After dinner the liquor started to flow and we played some games including “I never” and “Taboo.” We had a few folks get hosed. One doesn’t remember playing Taboo. It was quite an interesting evening and if I ever get a hold of some of the pics I will post them up to share. My camera had a dead battery and since there wasn’t any electricity I couldn’t charge it up.
We crashed out and I was lucky enough to score a top bunk, but it wasn’t in the main room so it was a tad chilly. Early in the morning my bladder reminded me that I needed to go take a leak, but I wasn’t about to climb out of bed and get dressed to go into a freezing outhouse.
After a nice breakfast we all chipped in to clean the cabin up (it was a wreck at this point) and put everything back in order. We left the cabin and headed into Yellowstone National Park to hit the boiling river. The boiling river is a spot where two rivers come together. One river is ice cold, and the other is fed from natural hot springs and is literally boiling hot. You hang out in the pools where the two currents come together and get a pretty good mixture of cold, cool, warm, or hot water depending on where you are. The really cool thing is that every time someone moved it changed the currents and it would alter your temperature as well. The worse part was getting out in the cold and having to get changed / dressed. I’m sure Bling! would have been cussing up a storm. Scratch that, he’d have never gone in the first place. One look at the water and snow and he’d have gone back to the car to turn the heater on.
From there we all headed back towards Bozeman and stopped off at this tasty Mexican food place where we all proceeded to scarf down on some very good grub. I got back into Bozeman about 6:30 and promptly sacked out until this morning. I didn’t realize how tired I was.
All in all, it was a lot of fun!!!
Friday, December 08, 2006
Well, today starts my vacation. I could have gone home.... but I didn't. I thought the ski areas would be kicking by now, but they all suck. Some of them aren't even open. Not enough snow. We got a huge dump in October, best on record apparently, then it warmed up and melted it all off and pretty much hasn't dumped since.
Now I am going to be stuck in MT without anything to freaking do! I could online shop for gifts but my family won't tell me what they want, or what anyone else wants or anything.
What to do?
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
All in all it was a great trip. Nobody got hurt and we didn't end up stuck in a ditch. The only bad thing is that now we get to compare the rest of the season to what we just experienced. Somehow, I don't think it will stack up.
I read a post by Miss Carnivorous on her blog about helping out needy families during the holiday season. I started to reply to it, and then I got really worked up thinking about it. So I decided to write about it on my own site (Sorry Miss C). Click here to read the original post.
I do not give people cash handouts. I will buy you a gallon of gas. I'll buy you a sandwich. I'll give you a ride, but don't ask for money because I am not going to give it to you.
I'm in a 28% federal tax bracket. That doesn't account for any other local taxes which I pay. Effectively a fairly significant amount of my money goes to taxes. A large portion of that goes towards some type of welfare program. It pays for the soup-kitchen, the homeless shelters, and the illegal alien to reap the benefits of our civil services and medical benefits. I could go on, but I think you get my point.
I don't feel a need to give even more of my money away to people that have chosen to only be a part of the system in that they are a leach sucking the financial life out of people....and amazingly the democrats seem to support this, but I digress.
I do, however, participate in several programs for kids. I always take part in the toys-for-tots programs. I also go to the "angel tree" every year and buy about four or five things for kids that would otherwise not get presents. I also try to buy scout cookies, or participate in other charitable events that go towards children.
But do NOT ask me for money. You already get it.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
At night, drop by for a cocktail at the legendary Sip 'N Dip Lounge, located in the O'Haire Motor Inn (17 7th St. S.). There is probably nothing in the world quite like the Sip 'N Dip Lounge. First, it's decorated in a Polynesian tiki style (in and of itself pretty surreal for Great Falls), but adding to the weirdness is the glass wall behind the bar, providing a view of the hotel's indoor swimming pool. Bar patrons have a great view of whoever is in the pool, including assorted mermaids and mermen (who are hired by the bar during busy hours); in the past, even Daryl Hannah (she of Splash fame) has shown up there in a mermaid suit. On most nights you can find Piano Pat Sponheim tickling the ivories and singing standards like "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Fly Me To the Moon."
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Just loading a file onto a router across a VPN connection. I am bored. Not much to do until that file is loaded and it has a ways to go.
If anyone is reading this, and is in Montana, and understands what that means give me a shout. We could always use another engineer.
I also booked my flights home today. They were going like hotcakes!! Yesterday I looked up flights and there were plenty of them. I did the nice thing and requested permission to buy the ticket and by the time I got on this morning almost all of them were gone. They were literally selling out as I was trying to find one.
Lucky for me I was able to get on an 8:00am flight. I needed to get on one this early because I have to traipse all across the continent to get home, now. I first have to fly from Bozeman to Salt Lake City, Utah. No big deal...done it a million times. But then I have the privilege of flying to Atlanta, GA just for kicks. From there they fly my BACK the other way to drop me off in Texas. yes, that's 10 hours of flying and airports (provided there aren't any delays) and a grand total of 2,667 miles.
But it's all good. I'm going home....and if I am lucky first class won't be sold out on those flights and they will automatically bump me into first class like usual. My plan is to make them pay for having me fly at 8:00am and then having to PASS my home, hang out in an airport, and then go back the way I just came before arriving in DFW. You might ask how I would do this.... it's quite simple. Free alcohol. I figure if I can suck down enough of those little bottles full of the good stuff then at least I won't feel so bad about being stuck on a plane all day.....except for the hangover the next morning.
Monday, November 27, 2006
OK for those of you that keep asking and asking and asking.....and you know who you are!!....here is my rough schedule for December.
- November 29th ~ Dec 1st - I'll be up near Great Falls, MT doing some presentations and trying to drive some sales.
- Dec 7th ~ 8th - I have to do an on-site installation somewhere (not sure where, yet).
- Dec 9th - Driving down to meet up with friends at Big Creek Cabin and my vacation begins!
- Dec 10th - drive to Red Lodge and board for a day.
- Dec 12th - drive to Jackson Hole and board for a day.
- Dec 14th - drive to Grand Targhee and board for a day.
- Dec 16th - drive back to Bozeman and finish packing while squeezing in even more boarding up at Moonlight.
- Dec 19th or 20th - fly back HOME to TEXAS!!!
- Dec 20th ~ 23rd - shop my butt off for all the presents I haven't bought, yet.
If anyone would like to join me, by all means, come along. I'd love to have the company.
Saturday evening several of us were supposed to go out. I had called a few folks to confirm or find out what was going on only to hear that they weren't going out after all. No big deal, but I was looking forward to it.
So here I am, chillin' on a plane. I'm thinking about lyrics to songs, reading a book, wondering why America has turned into a bunch of pussies.
But I get off the plane and I need to go home and clean up a bit before I get out. Low and behold, there is a group of my friends waiting for me as I walk through the security exit! They have a "welcome home" poster made complete with pictures of midgets, ferrets, and Aprilia lion logo on it. They had also brought me my sippy cup filled with a beverage, and my blow-up sheep. (don't ask if you don't want to know!)
It was really thoughtful of everyone and it was nice to be surprised in such a manner. They then took me out to dinner (no McDonalds, either!) and wouldn't let me pay for anything!! I think they were going to go out and party all night but the roads were pretty crappy and drinking and driving is never a good idea - especially on glazed roads of ice.
Effectively they pulled a Weasel and Grasshopper - keeping me out until the following day. I crashed on a friend's couch and didn't make it "home" until about 10:30am the following morning. Their dog curled up at my feet, and their cat slept on my chest. I guess I can't complain too much....not everyone gets a little pussy all night.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Just When I think I am out…
….they pull me back in. The following is a real story based on actual events. Any coincident between people, real or imagined, is intended and may have actually happened.
My history with Skyline (my current employer) is fairly sorted. I got hired in 2000 and since that time have had my ups and downs with the company pretty much as you would in any company. This also included two layoffs and some severe pay cuts during our post dot-com bust days. We had to run pretty lean.
Then I was asked if I wanted to take a gig up in Montana for six months to see if we could build the region and put a new business model together. That was a year and a half ago. For those who have been reading my blog and keeping up with the emails you know that some of this has been great and some of it has been not so great.
But for two years, I’ve effectively been living in MT while keeping my residence in the state of Texas. I just came home this week for Thanksgiving. Prior to this I wasn’t home for two months. During this time I realized just how burned out I am. It was very hard on me. I have become very depressed, but I know how to deal with it. So I planned to start my own business and quit Skyline. I had to get out and get back home or move to Montana, and I just don’t ever see myself moving to Montana while working at Skyline. We just couldn’t make that work.
I ended up casually talking to another company and finding out they had a position open and that they wanted me. This is Right Now Technologies. They are based in Bozeman, MT. As with most of Montana’s screwed up economy they couldn’t afford to even get close to matching my salary, but they wanted me back in Texas!!! We negotiated over the period of several weeks and ultimately I signed up to take the job. I was coming home to Texas!!!! The pay was a quarter-salary difference but the benefits were very good, and I liked all the people there. I already knew them. They are a client for Skyline.
Now, I couldn’t post ANY of this on the blog as I don’t know for sure who reads it and who doesn’t read it. So I quit Skyline. Finished. Done. See-ya later, alligator! It was not an easy decision. But I sat down with Brent and told him I was leaving. I thought he’d be mad or upset, but he wasn’t. He was very understanding, but he asked for me to give him eight hours to see if we could work it out. Fair enough. I’ve worked for the company this long and been out of town for two years, what was another eight hours. For those doing the math, I’ve been on the road roughly 85+ weeks out of a possible 104. This is not even counting the year prior when I was in California and Chicago all the time.
So, to make a long story short Skyline wanted to keep me. And they made a nice counter with the key words being “back in Texas.” They were also offering a financial incentive as well. But I felt I needed to put it all in writing as to why I was leaving and let them see if they could work with where I needed to be.
So here is an actual simulation of the email I sent to them (parts omitted to protect the identities of the individuals involved):
When it comes down to reasons why I would leave Skyline it comes down to a few basic reasons:
Not living in my own home. I will have been on the road approximately 85+ weeks out of a possible 104.- Not doing the things that I want to do – I didn’t ride my bike hardly at all this year, my boat never saw the water, I don’t get to enjoy my house with the big-screen and nice theater system.
- My health – I wouldn’t say I am unhealthy, but I haven’t been able to work out with any type of regularity or schedule in over 2 years. I have put on weight, lost muscle mass, have a decreased cardio system and bags under my eyes. This was not the case 2 years ago.
- The B.S. – no company is free of this, I don’t care where you work but the two things that rub me the wrong way are the unwritten company policy that we have to travel on personal time (I’ve written about this to Frank and Roger at length) and it always seems that everything is a P1 and trying to settle into a rhythm is just about impossible.
Most of it all comes down to the travel and work schedule I have endured over the last 2 years. I’m sorry, but I just can’t do it anymore. I am so burned out that I am depressed, I can’t stay focused, and I simply no longer motivated. I feel this is impacting my work, but you would have to be judge of that. Note that money is not the motivating factor here. With the exception of our lean years after the dot-com bust I have always felt that Skyline has paid me very well and that is one thing I do not complain about.
So getting to heart of the matter, I understand that Skyline is interested in me staying on board. I am interested in staying on board if we can make it work. The primary issue, for me, is going to be living at home with significantly reduced travel. That doesn’t mean I am not willing to travel, but it does mean that I want to be home more than I am gone. I am not sure how to put that into quantifiable terms, but I don’t think saying X-percent on the road is the way to do it. Right now, I am so burned out that I don’t want to travel at all, but I realize that is unrealistic whether I was with Skyline or someone else.
My thought on travel would be something like this: - I think that one week out of the month would not be a problem – whether that be in MT, teaching a class or whatever.
- For special projects or extenuating circumstances we can extend that as needed – but every month can’t be a new “special project.”
- If the travel is a day trip or something in TX, I’m not counting that – i.e. don’t sweat it.
Mandatory travel on personal time has got to go. This doesn’t mean that I’m not willing to travel on a Sat / Sun (whatever) when necessary (i.e. have to be somewhere on Monday morning to teach a class, there is no other way to do it), but I can’t tell you how many weekend golf trips, motorcycle trips, camping trips, parties, etc. that I have missed out on because of this. If the project, class, whatever necessitates it then I’ll do it but I will not continue to eat up all my personal time traveling for general work.
And they thought about it and agreed with it. The kicker was that they are giving me a “partnership” in the consulting arm of the company so that I will get a bonus based on the profit share. It’s not an out-right raise, but I could make some good money at it. Other times, I might not make anything but the incentive is there to do good.
I had to tell Right Now I wasn’t coming on board. I sent the two guys an email, but I haven’t heard back. I hope they aren’t too upset. It’s not uncommon in this industry for this to happen, but it doesn’t make it easier.
So I am coming home….soon. I have to go back to Montana on Saturday and work another two weeks there. Then I am taking vacation and getting in some snowboard action. I’ll start my vacation on December 9th and probably fly back to Texas somewhere around 20th ~ 22nd.
With the new agreement I’ll still come up to MT every now and then. That means I’ll still get to see my friends up there and enjoy what MT has to offer, but I’ll also get to live in my own home.
I left out some details since I am in a hurry to get this done before I race out the door to get attacked by my niece at Thanksgiving dinner. But that’s not such a bad thing, is it?
No animals were harmed in the making of this story.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Today I went to the doc about a persistent pain I've had in my side for over a week, now. For those wondering, he thinks it's either an ulcer or gallbladder problems. I need to get an ultrasound, but it's going to be hard to do that since nobody has any openings until next week and I have to be on a plane Saturday. I will have to figure that one out.
In any case, I stepped up on the scale and clocked in at 166-lbs. Now, sure you could say "but you were fully dressed and wearing your five-pound boots with the steel toe and shanks!"
I'd say, even dressed like that I should not even weigh 160-lbs. I attribute it to eating fairly poorly lately (I have to eat out all the freaking time) and more importantly not working out as much. But since I am going home soon, I can get back in the gym and get back in shape.
Ick...