tdh|blog

Okay. The Apple iPhone is being released today at 6 pm. YESTERDAY I saw people waiting in line to get there chance to purchase an iPhone, more then 24 hours earlier then the release date. The iPhone is a 500 to 600 dollar phone, plus a minimum 2 year contract of 60 dollars a month. How the hell can people afford to skip work, and wait in line for this phone? On top of it, Apple/AT&T has not announced how many iPhones are available at each store. So who knows if you are waiting in line in vain or not?

I understand people waiting in line for a movie. If you don’t have a job, nothing better today, I can see waiting in line and paying 10 dollars for a movie. I can see waiting in line for a video game console. That brings countless hours of entertainment, and if you want to turn a quick buck, sell it on eBay the day of the release, and get back over two to three times the amount you spent on the gaming system. But it’s a phone! It may be a unique phone, but it is still just a phone. On top of it, the sales goals Apple is putting out for this phone, it doesn’t sound like you would have to wait long to pick one up, even if they did sell out tonight.

What I took away from this iPhone launch is that I should have invested in AT&T and Apple 6 months ago.

Okay, last weekend I had my first backpacking trip. I learned a few things, that I think I should share.

• Carrying 30 Lbs on your back dramatically affects how far you can hike.
• Hills are harder then flat ground
• Setting up a Tent for the first time at night, is not the best idea
• Every Ounce matters
• After 10 miles Legs, Hips, and Shoulders will be sore
• Stairs are not your friend for the next few days

The trip didn’t go exactly as planned. It ended a day early, but learned a lot. The next trip will be a more reasonable distance between camp sites. Overall the trip was great, and learned a ton.

The rapture has happened! The only creature holy enough to get collected were BEE’s! Bee’s have disappeared across planet. Granted some Bee’s were sinfully enough to suffer down here on earth with the rest of the sinners. So we are not totally screwed. Outside of the metaphysical questions (Why only bee’s? What have we done to piss off god? What about birds? etc), how will this affect us? Well the immediate effect is higher honey prices. Longer term, any plants that rely on bees to pollinate are going to be in short supply.

In all seriousness, its not unheard of for a bee colony to just get abandon, but as far as science knows, it’s never happened on this scale before. The Bee disappearance first noticed in North America, but now looks like Europe is see similar colony collapses, and it may also be happening in Brazil. Pretty wild stuff, no one knows why it’s happening, theories are wide ranging, but no reason has been found. Outside of the Bee Rapture of course.

Frankly the title says it all. Let me relate to you all (the three people that read this) my little story of self awareness. There are teenagers alive today who have never heard of the Beetles. Okay, so its not a story. But its the truth. Now I am no classic rock pushing lunatic but come on… the Beetles man… Never even heard of them? I have always figured the Beetles fell into the same category as Shakespeare. You may not have ever read him but you sure as hell know who he is. It nearly as disturbing to me as way back in the nineties when there were 14 year old girls upset that I ruined the ending of titanic for them by telling them the ship sunk.

Not that I am comparing historical ignorance to the knowledge of a rock group but the impact of learning of said ignorance is similar. It may be time for Bowling for Soup to do a follow-up song called 1995. It could be all about me. When DID Nirvana become classic rock? Maybe its the Fatherhood venom rushing through my veins but I have a strange urge to sit Brodie down and tell him about the good old days when Transformers were metal and there was nothing cooler than a talking car with a swooshy light in its grill. There are children out there who think that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a cheap american ripoff of an Anime.

So what’s my point? I guess there is none but damnit I want to be retro! When I tell highschoolers that I saw Nirvana live they ask me where my walker is. I am definately not even close to being old. I think kids have just lost there generational depth. there I’ve said it. Teh inturweb has removed the need for adults to bore their children with tales of days long gone and therefore stopped the flow of wonderful Americana. So here I am protesting this by blogging….. yeah I’m done.

So last week on the 15th, cook county no smoking ordinance went into effect. Now each individual city was allowed to override this ordinance. If the town chooses not to, it bans smoking in all public places, including work environments, restaurants, bars, and bowling alleys. As well as 15 feet of all public entrances.

As a result of this ordinance, the company I work for have installed bus stop size smoking huts. These huts are littered around the outside of the building, and are intended for the smoker to use, so he does not pollute the fresh air with their tobacco smoke. These huts are fully enclosed, and are completely transparent.

It’s a little creeping now, looking outside, seeing the fellow employee’s smoking in confining booths. It’s like they are a separate class of people now. Relegated not even to separate yet equal space. Pretty disturbing.

Of course, they ask society to pay for their lung cancer.

So… ATHF advertisements are threats. HILARIOUS! I figured I would make a comment about this overly publicized POS and beat the dead horse a little more. So I guess simply put it’s now illegal and federal offense of terrorism or terrorism hoax to put up a sign. They aren’t anything more than an electric sign, like a light bright. I understand the need for caution, but some of these have been up for weeks without being noticed. I’d be a little more worried if there was that much panic WEEKS after they were put up. Also, some had already gone missing and now showing up on ebay. Means people saw them, probably laughed and went about their life. Isn’t there any logic being used? Before shutting down the city of Boston and notifying the press, didn’t anyone consider actually taking a look at the “electronic device?” Guess not…

My dad passed away a a few Saturdays ago. We had the funeral last weekend. His passing was expected, and came peacefully at home. The pastors that preformed the ceremony asked us to write a down a few of our fond memories of him. I’ve decided to share them here.
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The new year of 2007 is a new beginning for most. For some, like myself a recent college grad, it’s a new chapter in my life.  I get to look for a job where I will no doubt, spend the better half of my middle age life. What’s next for me? Who knows? Certainly not Fate, God or even Me. But I do know this. The next few weeks I will spend time reflecting on what matters to me. Loved ones like friends and family are not always going to be around forever. Sometimes you forget that wrapped up in your daily so-called life. So before you skip the next family gathering or even just lunch with your friend, think twice about going. Because Life is just a series of moments. Go out and make one for yourself.

So fine, I’ll blog, why not.  Looks like no one has posted for a while so sure, I can use this to post something fun, insane or just rant some.  Where should I start?  Maybe discuss the obvious news items, predict future on things, comment on society, give advice or just banter on about nothing?  What is the purpose of blog, what should I be doing here, maybe pouring my heart and soul into it, discussing life with the little message block like a diary?  Oh maybe, I should regurgitate something that I read, saw or heard about?  Or maybe this is just giving me something to do while I’m bored or procrastiating something?  So where to start…  I guess this is a blog entry, about… what to blog, what a blog should be, maybe what it shouldn’t be.  Why should anyone even be reading this.  Am I just wasting my time typing away at something no one will give a shit about?  Or is there some cult following of people who wander website to website reading random blogs. 

Well with that, I will share random crap that goes through my monitor to my head.  I was bored, looked up the bio for Steve “O” from Jackass.  Interestingly enough, he is named “Steven Gilchrist Glover.”  He actually attended a University of Miami for a little bit before going to clown college.  Now the really interesting part, points to rumors that his father is actually an executive.  “Ed Glover - Director, Enterprise Security & Customer Engineering, Sun Microsystems.  He was a Senior Manager and a Regional Practice Leader for Price Waterhouse in the area of Security and Business Continuity. Prior to that, Ed was the Chief Security Officer for Del Monte Foods, a subsidiary of RJR Nabisco.” 

Not impossible, but just odd. 

But alas, who knows if this information is true, mostly derived from Wikipedia, I can’t imagine it’s 100% verified.  The little bit of additional research just points back to Wikipedia, quotes or outright steals the entry.  Interesting either way.

Now my thoughts on Jackass.  I have watched most of the Jackass crap out there.  I own the DVDs.  I somewhat enjoy it, does this make me a bad person?  Maybe I just like seeing people do things I would never consider doing.  Or the morbid curiousity of what reactions they get out of people or themselves.  Whatever reason, it’s just stupid humor.  How much is scripted?  I think a good majority for the movie, but for the most part, you give a camera, some cash and beer to some people without a care and see what comes out.

This week the world came together and banned the sale of Apple’s iPods to North Korea. I never realized how popular they are as a commodity. I know in the US that you are not cool unless you have the stylish white ear buds going into your ears, but who knew this was a world wide thing. There hope is that this move will force the N. Korea to the bargaining table and force them to give up there nuclear program.

Maybe this will work in Iran too? Or maybe Palatine? Iraq? Afghanistan? Imagine a world of peace, with everyone having the white ear buds. We need Bill Gates, Bono, Oprah or someone to set up and implement this plan!