The person who writes the blog “Hostility” is now using voice recognition software. The system he is using is a part of Windows XP, although there may be some portion that needs to be downloaded from the Microsoft site. As a result his spelling is much improved, but the blog remains difficult to read. Mostly do to a lack of punctuation, and a series of incomplete sentences.
The punctuation needs to be spoken as you dictate. For a period you need to say the word period and so forth.

I give him kudos for continuing to blog in spite of a certain amount of ridicule.
—————————————

Overheard at a mall earlier in the week. “But, I told my son he could have a Wii.” To which the salesman replied. “We are sold out, but we have some games.”
Not only is this one of the most difficult game systems to find in stock at any time, much less a few days before Christmas. But, this exchange is typical of the season. “I want the impossible” followed by “sorry you can’t have that, but we’ll sell you some games that only work on the device you can’t buy.”

Shoppers are irritable and pushy while they are in the stores, but when they get into their vehicles they become even more aggressive. the number of blowing horns, near misses and fender benders in the store parking lots always grow exponentially this time of year.

“Tis the season to be jolly” and all that hooey.
—————————————

How does a person who doesn’t speak spanish manage to order a hamburger, hold the onions?

How can you complain about the food in a chinese restaurant, when it’s being prepared by someone who just came here from a part of the world where they don’t cook chinese food, and they don’t speak, in this case, english?

This is not a complaint about the number of hispanics in this country. It’s a commentary on business practices.

If you are going to do business with a population that primarily speaks english, german, spanish, chinese or any other language, shouldn’t you make certain that there is at least one person one staff at all times who speaks that language?

It seems to me that being able to communicate with your customers should be your first priority if you plan on staying in business.

Just some minor observations on the human condition.

At Pioneer Loan, office politics forced the removal of two blogs.
The first was Hostility.
This is a site some of us made fun of. Yet he is still blogging with some regularity.

Thus far he remains incapable of writing a coherent sentence, much less a complete paragraph.
The person he made angry is still refusing to talk to him, even when it concerns the software the company uses, and that he authored.

The other site is Richard’s Blog.
Rich has been blogging for some time, and a minor inconvenience like relocating is not going to stop him.
His blog is mostly observations of the people in place he works, with sarcasm aimed at everyone…. including himself and his employers.

The situation as I see it is simple.
The first author feels that he was unjustly attacked and will continue to post just to irritate his perceived enemies.

The second author is one of those people that reacts badly to threats, even veiled threats.

The person who started this entire mess behaves like a spoiled brat and is allowed to interfere with the day to day running of an office by refusing to communicate with the person that offended her.

It’s quite obvious that I have nothing to do with the running of the company. Or there would be fewer princesses on the payroll.
The first two persons may be childish, but the last is destructive.

I believe that for Christmas. I will send to Pioneer Loan, a sign that reads; “Please drive carefully. Children at play.”

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Thais arrest paedophile suspect
Police tracked down 32-year-old teacher Christopher Paul Neil in north-east Thailand. They suspect him of appearing in 200 online images of child abuse.

I saw one of the original pictures in which he had swirled his face to disguise himself. And I read something about how Interpol reversed it.
With the underground network these people seem to have developed, you would think that somebody would have told him how to properly disguise himself.

Locally, the police have a pedophile, Chester “Chet” Arthur Stiles, in custody. He video taped himself having sex with a three year old, about four years ago.

After giving it some thought I have come to the conclusion, that while I may vaguely understand the physical urges to commit what I consider to be completely repugnant acts.
I will never truly understand why a person would post pictures for the world to see.

I imagine it’s a way to belong, or to convince yourself that other people are doing it, so it must be ok.
But, it would seem to me that self preservation would keep you in the shadows, and not leave you shouting from the rooftops about what flavor of perv you are.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Jury penalises music file-sharer

This woman was found guilty and is subject to a $200k penalty.
They even found a user name she used in other online transactions, on Kazaa.
This was proof positive that she was guilty… There couldn’t possibly be anyone else in the entire universe using the same name.

In proving liability, the industry did not have to demonstrate that the defendant’s computer had a file-sharing program installed at the time that they inspected her hard drive. And the RIAA did not have to show that the defendant was at the keyboard when RIAA investigators accessed Thomas’ share folder.

Also, the judge in the case ruled that jurors may find copyright infringement liability against somebody solely for sharing files on the internet. The RIAA did not have to prove that others downloaded the files. That was a big bone of contention that U.S. District Judge Michael Davis settled in favor of the industry.

The bad guys, I mean plaintiffs, had a great deal of circumstantial evidence but no hard evidence.

This is the first case that has gone to court, and whether or not she was guilty, the settlement was absurdly out of line.

In light of the fact that there are now several copyright attorneys willing to take this case pro-bono. It is a good bet that the RIAA is going to lose in the next round.

A discussion with a person who is being treated for depression led to my being told that part of her therapy included writing about why you are depressed.
What followed was a detailed list of what and why I should write… Preferably on this blog.
When I suggested that we should post her writings, her response was predictably…. Those are too personal!

The problem as I see it, is that such things are exactly as she says… Far too personal.
Besides which, it’s incredibly difficult to get motivated to do anything, when you want to do nothing more than hide.

Still, it could be much worse.
…This is the truth, and in no way is meant to be a joke:
Martin, an old friend, was being treated for depression, brought on, by among other things, abandonment.
His psychiatrist forgot that they had an appointment and left early to take care of some personal business.

I was told yesterday, in front of other people, by a man who is both my friend and my employer, that my place in the company is solely as a backup, in case the other IT guy quits, or has the good graces to die.
It was not intended as a slap in the face, but from where I stand this is nothing more than a reaffirmation of just how useless I am around here. From the look on the face of one of the owner’s oldest friends, I’m not the only one that took it that way.

To be told that you are kept on for no reason other than to act as the company equivalent of a spare tire, is hard on a person’s self esteem.
I’m not allowed to do the work I’m trained for. The jealous little boy that serves as the network admin sees to this.

The “network administrator” is an arrogant incompetent, that I have known for 15 years.
In spite of his grandiose claims to the contrary, he has no formal training. However, by trial and error, he has managed to keep the network running.
The only problem with this is that every time he breaks something he finds someone else to blame, preferably me, and then calls me to help him fix it.
At this point he immediately takes credit for anything that goes right and passes the blame for everything that goes wrong.

We all know people like this.
Every company has it’s brown nosing, back-biting, weasel that is favored by the boss.
Unfortunately, he allows the bosses to have him on call 24/7 for personal jobs, in addition to company responsibilities.(with no additional pay)
The end result is that they have relied on him to the point that he is now considered family.
They make excuses for his failures, and defend him (even while admitting he’s an idiot), to the point that complaining becomes a waste of breath.

When it becomes so bad that they don’t consider you anything more than someone they tolerate, until you might be needed, and make certain that their friends are aware of this, it’s time to look around for a job where you can at least feel useful.

I tolerate this situation because of benefits and a steady paycheck.
I mailed my final house payment a few days ago, now I can concentrate on my other debt. When that is gone I will require very little income to get by, and things will change.
Until then, there’s nothing for it, but to suck it up, and deal with it.

Mercer For President 2008
This is a candidate who must be noticed. …Just click on the “Reasons for Candidacy” button.

I’m not 100% certain of what he thinks his inane ramblings mean. However, I am certain that he is mad as a hatter.
On the other hand, if this is a joke it is brilliantly written…. I think I’ll stick with mad as a hatter.

I read an article on CNN about median incomes. The current highest state is Maryland, with $65k.
My current base pay is about half that… I voluntarily traded income for the security of a steady paycheck plus benefits.
Now I find myself struggling to pay off debt accumulated during the period when I had the extra income.

I watch our government take our rights, destroy our economy and collect data on individuals without benefit of court orders, and then hide behind “state secrets.”
This makes me angry almost beyond reason, not because the people in office are power hungry, and seem to be there solely to benefit the major corporations. This I expect from politicians….. but because I find myself impotent in this matter.
We elected Democrats in a pathetic attempt to change things…… They lied
Any changes have been, at best, minuscule. No politician will ever give up power.

I find I have fewer and fewer friends. Some moved, some died, and some I simply don’t see anymore.
I leave the house only under protest, not because of the sheer number of idiots on the road, but because I find it to be an imposition. It disrupts my sitting in the dark, in front of my computer, essentially doing nothing.

At work, they no longer invite me to go to a place like the Rio for their parties, they know I won’t show.
Why they think I would enjoy going out with a bunch of married women who are half my age, I cannot fathom.
Still, for some completely illogical reason, I miss being invited.

My problem is me.
I’m getting old and no drug on the market will change that.
I’m fat, but food is one of the few things I enjoy.
I’m single by choice, and now that I sometimes think I would like someone to talk to besides the cats, I find I have become set in my ways, and have trouble envisioning my changing.
I have little to offer a potential mate, and yet I remain selective about the company I keep.
I’m in a rut, but, that rut, is more comfortable than the physical effort or emotional risks required to make a change… This is also depressing.