miscellany

I just watched Blood Diamond. Much of it was very difficult to watch. I have purchased one diamond and six diamond "chips" - the one when I was about 20 (I sold it a few years later) and the chips with Greg about five years ago in two rings.

I will never buy another diamond. Never.

Al Gore more relevant than writer realizes

The conundrum here is that Descartes successfully argued that when faced with a choice of believing in God vs not believing in God, the safe bet was to believe in God. Am I saying that Al Gore is God; certainly NOT.

What I am saying is, there is far more concrete evidence to suggest that global warming exists than does God, and more politicians believe in God than global warming in this country. I don't know about you, but it sounds like these folks need a philosophy class so they can see that the safe bet is on global warming.

BIG MISTAKE... SORRY. WHAT SHITTY SOFTWARE. It's not malicious or dangerous, per se, but I'm removing it from my PC because it's poorly written. It locks up and then slows down my PC. Oh well...

Agloco is a new incarnation of an idea that's already worked. The "All Advantage" toolbar is something I participated in many years ago and I got two checks from it before I tired of it (or it went away - I don't remember) and uninstalled it from my PC. For some reason, $23 stands out in my mind as the approximate value of the first check. Dunno why; may be wrong... Anywho, this ain't about All Advantage; it's about AGloCo, short for "A GLObal COmmunity" and it looks like they've got a good thing in the works.

Here's the gist: Join via my link. Download & install the *viewbar. Surf the web while tiny ads are served to you ONLY in the viewbar. Ask friends to join via your link. I get paid for my surfing, for your surfing and for your friends' surfing. You get paid for your surfing, your friends' surfing and for their friends' surfing.

*The viewbar is small, tiny compared to what All Advantage used. Look at the graphic on the left. It's just above the Start Bar and is about the size of Internet Explorer's main toolbar.

This is not MLM. There is nothing to buy. No credit card numbers to submit. No money comes FROM the members of AGLOCO. The money comes from the advertisers who want you to see their ads and buy their stuff. You don't even have to click on their ads!

How it works: Click on the link above. (I get credit for that.) and check out AGLOCO's site. Really look around and get a feel for them. (Read the "About Us" page and the FAQs.) Then, if you trust my judgement, join them. (If you've explored their site, please click my link again so you're joining via it.) You'll get an email verifying you own the email address you entered (a great practice for any site!) and giving you a temporary password. When you click the link in it, you'll enter the temp password and then change it to one you want. Then you'll get one more email confirming your membership and providing your link to give to your friends. This is a brand new venture and the viewbar is not yet available. AGLOCO is building up their member base (very quickly) so advertisers will flock to us. AGLOCO will take 10% of the revenue for management fees. (See the FAQs on the site.)

Here's the secret to this... This is going to happen; it already is! Getting in early is the key. People who got in early on the All Advantage thing made tons of money. Getting in early on AGLOCO will do the same. Yes, you and I have to take a chance and ASK people to look at it and sign up via your or or my link. I didn't sign up many people at all when I participated in All Advantage and I still got a couple of checks. Think about it this way: Advertisers are paying TONS of money to get their ads in front of you. Someone other than you is receiving that money! Get some of it for yourself! Hey, if some people get rich off of it, just look at that as gravy. The point is YOU are getting money, too. Take a brief moment, close your eyes and think of how much advertising you experience every single day. Now... would you even have to work if you were paid by those companies to look at their ads??? Well, here's a chance to get a taste of what could be.

God bless this man! I have hit that damn button on my remote so many times that I've wanted to just rip it out of the remote! Who woulda thunk it'd be so easy to circumvent?!!! Why do manufacturers still put these damn things in cars? I mean, who even pays attention to a car alarm anymore? They could at least put a flip-cover over the button!

How to disable your car alarm panic button non-destructively

If you're like me you have a janitor's key chain with twenty things on it. At least once a week I set off the panic alarm on my truck by accident because one of the gadgets on my key chain presses the button. In fact the only time I ever intentionally use the panic button is when I'm trying to locate my truck in a parking garage. But I've realized I can get the same honk and light flash by clicking the arm button twice and since I rarely panic anymore I now have zero use for this button. Here is the trick I came up with this evening to eliminate the annoyance of accidentally triggering the alarm:

A Long-Awaited Taste of Outer Space
Stephen Hawking Takes a Buoyant Ride on a Zero-Gravity Flight

This made me laugh out loud and my eyes tear up with joy for Dr. Hawking. What a wonderful bit of news; I'm so happy for him.

snippet:

During the free-floating portions of the flight, Hawking was without his voice synthesizer. He was to communicate yes by raising his eyebrows and no by pulling his mouth to one side.

The fears proved unwarranted.

After one zero-gravity ride, crew members asked if he wanted to go again. Hawking dramatically stretched his eyebrows upward in an apparently emphatic yes.

"He was grinning the entire time," Diamandis said.

I love this poem! Great job, Schecky!

OK. Now I get it.

Oh how I wish this was in hi-def! These guys are simply amazing. I used to do a bit of swing dancing in the late 90's - absolutely loved it, but never could choreograph on the fly...

Last year I learned a bit of ballroom dancing with a wonderful friend. (Hi, Susan!) That was a lot of fun, too. Still, I couldn't quite get that on-the-fly choreography.

Now these guys are obviously doing a very well practiced routine. And what a routine it is! I'd love to see them live. Methinks they probably don't have no steenking problem with improv either!

Click the pic to see the YouTube flick.

Hat tip: Joe. My. God.

This was sent to me by Brad:

Mattel recently announced the release of limited-edition Barbie Dolls for the Greensboro, North Carolina market:

"Lake Jeanette Barbie"
This princess Barbie comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a cookie-cutter house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with the augmented version.



"Sport Time Barbie"
The modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Windstar Minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.



"High Point Road Barbie"
This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife,a Chevy with dark tinted windows, and a Meth Lab Kit. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills) ....unless you are a cop, then we don't know what you are talking about.



"Irving Park Barbie"
This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them.



"McLeansville Barbie"
This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and tweety bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free.



"Spring Garden Street Barbie"
This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her Willow . She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Spring Garden Street Barbies and the optional Subaru wagon, you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free.



"Lee Street Barbie"
This Barbie now comes with a stroller and infant doll. Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass. Gangsta Ken and his 1979 Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant.

More specialized Barbies are here:
Pittsburgh Barbies
Austin Texas Barbie
Indianapolis Barbie
Central Arkansas Barbie
Northern California Barbie
There a many more out there. I found these using this Google search.

This is in the food court of Four Seasons Town Centre in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. The small image here makes the big dot graphic hard to see. Click on the image and see the only graphic used on this wall covering an empty fast food restaurant. Now what might they be advertising here? Who are they advertising to? I should think this extremely gay man wouldn't be the first to notice the boob shot. As a matter of fact, I should think some woman would've already complained about it and demanded its removal. I wonder how long it will stay up. I don't go by often, but I know someone who frequents this mall. I'm sure they will let me know, for the disbelief and exclamations that escaped their lips were hilarious.

Labels: whodathunkit?

Because of Greg's (un?)lucky December trifecta (birthday on the 11th, our anniversary on the 19th and Christmas), I like to give him a big December present and smaller ones on the various days. This year, I got him good!

After telling him to reserve Sunday the 17th solely for us, I dropped one misleading hint ("It's not an alpaca.") that got his head really spinning and also told him it could be life-changing. We left the house around 8:15 on Sunday morning. Greg was driving my car (PT Cruiser Convertible) and we headed to the Interstate. Once on I-85, I commented with a little frustration that I'd forgotten the swimsuits. "Oh well, we'll still be in wetsuits." As we approached the Asheboro exit for the NC Zoological Park, I mentioned something about swimming with polar bears. He didn't believe that one. We passed the Asheboro exit.

Approaching Charlotte, we saw the Concord Mills sign and it just happened to be the exit we needed to take. So, I let him think for a moment that was our destination. But, at the top of the ramp, we turned left instead of right. To the left is Lowe's Motor Speedway. We'd been there earlier this year for a car show. We both really liked the show and being able to walk on the track. As such, T-Boug thought we were in for another car show.

We drove to the other side of the arena and stopped at the security shack. The security officer asked if we were there for the race car ride-along/drive-along. I replied with a simple "Yes." We were a bit early, so we had to park outside the gate for a few minutes. In that time, I had Greg complete the "sign all your rights away" forms. Despite his having to initial about 30 places, he still thought he was going for the ride-along. I didn't bother to correct him.

Once inside and having the forms processed, the moment of truth arrived. He realized he was not doing a ride-along at all. Instead, he was going to drive 8 laps around the track in a real race car! His adrenaline was already pumping when he thought he'd be riding. I thought his heart might explode now that he knew he was driving!

The experience was very cool, much like described on the 1-800-BE-PETTY website. However, we got to have a little bit more... Turn #2 was a little wet and they needed to dry the track before things got started. They invited all of the participants to take their personal cars on the track to help dry it by driving laps. AND, the people that came with them could ride, too! So we dropped the top, got in line and drove a dozen or so laps. Of course, the requisite phone calls were made, video was shot and pictures were taken. It was so cool!

After the track was dry, Greg and the others got to ride and/or drive and everyone seemed to have a blast. Greg was so funny when he exited the car after his laps; he walked to the left after driving 32 left turns at race car speeds! I took pictures (click the above picture for the album) and shot video and a professional photographer was shooting, too. When we saw the shots she took of him standing in full race gear beside the car and then in the driver's seat, I had to get him the plaque with both of them and several insignias. It was the perfect way to top off the event.

Happy 36th Birthday, 8th Anniversary and Merry Christmas, Greg! I LOVE YOU!

Labels: anniversary, gregpretre, sammoore

Great little video encouraging folks to switch to Firefox.