Maybe it's because my kid is sick and I haven't been sleeping. But little things are just annoying the piss out of me today.

This morning, on the way in to work, I was stuck behind one. And then I noticed another one outside my office.

Vanity Plates.

I'm not grouping all vanity plates into the same category here. Some of them are clever and some funny (see the bottom of this blog). And there are some that are just indecipherable (is that even a word?).

No, the ones that annoy me for no particular reason are the "I'm too cool" plates. This morning, it was a Mustang with the plate "STYLIN". Outside my office it's a Corvette with "CHEKROUT". Then there's this guy, found on a Google image search:

Are ya? Are ya really? How 'bout "TINYCOK" or "NEVRLAID"?

It's inexplicable why this annoys me so much. Maybe because somebody had to spend $35 to tell the world how cool they are. Or maybe because they just felt the need to say it in the first place. Or, quite possibly, because it's somewhere on the originality scale of a minivan with the plate "4R-KIDS". Yech.

But to redeem the negative tone of this post, here's one that I really got a chuckle out of:

Sweet.  now  can quit my day job and become a professional gamer..

From: EURO MILLION PROMOTIONS / PRIZE AWARD DEPT" [mailto:jamesfrancis@libero.it]
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008 3:46 PM
Subject: Winner €610,000

you have been approved for prize claim €610,000 euros in euro million lottery program in madrid,contact mr chris at,
mrchrisbaileyes@aol.es,for processing and release of your money,
1)Coupon No:TY894652
2)Ticket No:9512EU21
Mr James Francis
 

My boys and I like to go to the races on Friday night. I have a couple friends that race in the Pure Stock class, so we go and watch most weeks. Early on this season, there was a raffle for a chance to win a motorcycle. A Kawasaki 110 cc dirt bike. My kids begged and begged for a ticket, and my oldest son has wanted a dirt bike since before he could even say dirt bike. So, I gave in and bought a $5 ticket. That was almost 4 months ago.

Saturday night I'm sitting on the couch watching TV and my phone rings, it's my friend Nick who is out at the races for the final race of the season:

Nick: "Ted did you enter a raffle at the race track?

Me: "Yeah, why?"

Nick: "Well, they're calling your name as the winner."

Me: "I'll be there in 20 minutes!"

So, I tell my wife I won a motorcycle and rush out the door. I get to the races to claim my prize, and i realize that I don't have the ticket stub anymore. My allet got ruined at the lake one day and I threw it away...(See my previous blog about the tornado, my wallet got wet in the mayhem.) I convince them that I am the droid they're looking for. Anyway, here are some pics...

From Ars Technica

"Both Guitar Hero and the Rock Band series continue to be big sellers and impressive draws in getting casual players to buy expensive peripheral-laden games. With the news that peripherals between both games should be completely compatible, a new market has popped up for more expensive instruments." Read more

Posted by supergg2k (0 Comments )

I finally got to ride in a Blackhawk this weekend.  It was pretty cool.  Our pilot made the smoothest take off and landing I think I have ever felt.  The day was perfect: no wind, cool temperatures, and just a little haze.  Totally worth the wait.  I took that shot over Lake Norman.

I have been reading Rolling Stone magazine on and off for over a decade. Roughly 10 years ago, it was great and I really enjoyed reading it. Since then I lost some interest in the magazine. I canceled my subscription but I'd pick up a copy every now and then.

Several months back, I started receiving copies in the mail again. I never paid for a subscription and never got the "Happy Birthday, here's a subscription" card from anybody. Nonetheless, I'm still getting the magazine every two weeks. The quality certainly has deteriorated but there's this other thing that's really starting to annoy me.

In March, Barack Obama dominated the front page. At the time he was ahead in the primaries and everybody was talking about him. I disregarded Rolling Stone's liberal stance chalking it up to the fact that the rag is about current events, and Obama certainly was a current event.

Then I noticed a similar trend on the cover of nearly every issue in my mailbox. "Sarah Palin's history of lies"; "McCain's track record of failure"; "Why John McCain will sink this country". Those headlines aren't exact but you get the idea.

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with Rolling Stone's political agenda. Personally, I'm registered independent and haven't made my decision yet. But I'd rather make the decision on my own terms without having Rolling Stone try to make it for me. I really don't need Pro-Obama/Anti-McCain propoganda shoved down my throat.

I don't remember Rolling Stone always having been like this. Even just 10 years ago, I don't remember politics being anywhere near the cover (except when the Clinton/Lewinsky thing happened but then what magazine wasn't talking about that?).

Fuck it, I'll just buy Penthouse and Hustler.

OK, OK, she was not always a bitch but she's gone of my life anyway.

We broke up last December but were still staying in the same house until we could sell it and it's finally done.  I put the sign "Sold" last week and moved out of the house last Saturday.  She'll stay in the house until the buyers moves in at December 1st.

Being out of the house is a relief, she's with her 4th boyfriend since we broke up and even if he's nice, I don,t give a fuck of him and was tired of beng in my room for all evening because she was in the house with him.  I made a final tour of the house saturday night and it was wierd.  I was seeing the house I lived in for more than a year and it was not my home anymore, like a stranger that sees a place that seems familiar but doesn't belong there.

Anyway, it's finally behind me and I can start all over again.

Saturday I went and took my ccw class or gun carry permit class. It was from 8 in the morning until 6:15. Class was infomative even for somebody who has shot all their life. the only part of the day I didn't like was actually shooting. I got stuck between two women who had never touched a gun before. Sorry but this isn't the place to learn. You should know how to shoot before you get a permit. The lady to my left unpacked her gun for the first time since buying it at the range. The first distance we shot from was two yards. The intructor was trying to calm everybody down and had this lady pick up a rock and hit the target with it. She hit it dead center. Her first shot with a gun barely nicked the targets shoulder. These were full size human silhouetes. She did better with a fricken rock. At least she was safe. She kept her muzzle pointed downrange. Not the idiot on the other side of me. We weren't suppose to shoot until the instructor said fire. She got FI out and bam. You weren't even suppose to have your finger on the trigger yet. During one part of the shooting, we were suppose to shoot one shot when the intructor said fire and wait until they said fire again before we shot. This crazy lady beside me has shot off three shots before the instructor got finished saying fire. At one point she is loading her magazine and sticking the bullets in backwards. I kid you not. She couldn't figure out why the magazine wouldn't go into the gun. The crappy part for me is to actually get the permit, I have to have a birth certificate. Some how I have lost mine. I have dismantled the house looking for it. Gone. I was born in another state and was adopted at 12 days old. This just adds to the problem. Sure hope they can find it in a timely manner.