Check Yoself Before You Wreck Yoself

Dear Dan,

Shut up. Quit complaining about short lead time. Just run the damn parts the way they are scheduled.

That is all.

Thank you.

13 INCHES OF FUN

So the title may be a bit misleading but whats creative license for anyway? Well, with some left over tax return money I decided to buy a HDTV. I settled on a 23 inch Samsung LCD. Not huge I know, but it did pass the WAF (wife acceptance factor) and it was within my allowance.. er budget. I wanted something bigger, but it was not to be. At least not yet. Its been about 2 months and Im really happy with the TV so far. I dont have any high def channels in my area, so I cant really appreciate the extra resoultion. DVDs look great on my progressive scan player. The old XBOX looks ok, but I suspect that a 360 will look a ton better. Ill be getting one shortly. But my main gripe concerns cable tv. For the most part it looks pretty good. The digital channels look better than the others but, of course, most of the shows I watch are on CBS. And we dont get that in HD.  All the standard def channels are in the 4:3 ratio to fit the old square tvs so this means that those of us with 16:9 get black bars on both sides of the picture. That effectively reduces my 23 inches of screen to a 19 inch square picture. Pretty big step down from ym 27 inch CRT.  And when commercials are broadcast in a "fake" widescreen (so it will look widescreen on a square tv) I have black bars on all four sides. Now Im watching basically a 13 inch widescreen tv. Cool huh? I dont really watch commercials but it is hilarious to see black bars on all 4 sides of the picture. I know that you can zoom and stretch the picture to make it fit the screen for movies and such, but all the stretch modes look like crap, peoples faces all fat and squished.  The zoom modes usually cut too much off so peoples heads are truncated or they are talking to people who are off screen. Hopefully all of this will become a non-issue on a few years when they are making more shows in widescreen, and when people who live out in te boonies,like me, can actually get HDTV programming. My cable company said maybe in a year or so. I could switch to DISH or Direct TV, but even they only have a few channels in HD right now, so it isnt worth the extra expense in my opinion.

Good thing I have Net Flix. I think Ill upgrade so I can have  more than 3 movies at a time!

Lumberjack Angel

So, I wake up in the middle of the night last night to go to the bathroom. I realize that I drank one to many cups of coffee at the banquet we attended last night for my wifes work. I lay back down in in bed and try to go to sleep. Toss... Turn... Roll... Its not happening. Im really starting to regret that coffee. I turn and look at my beautiful, lovely wife. The one who Ive given my life, my love my devotion. I look at the beautiful curves of her face and study the way her hair gently cascades down her cheek. I marvel at how beautiful she is in the lying in the moonlight streaming through the window. One thought comes to mind.How can this beautiful angel, my lovely wife, 

SNORE SO FREAKING LOUD!!!!!!!!!!

Im never going to get any sleep.   

Sir, Please Step Away From The Ice Cream!

O.k. What is it with Cops? Dont get me wrong, I dont have anything against them as a whole. My brother is a police officer for cryin out loud, but every once in a while you meet up with one who really likes his job (if you know what Im saying). Let me set the scene for you...

Its Sunday afternoon. Its a nice beautiful sunny day. I decide to treat the kids to Dairy Queen, not something we do very often but what the heck, Im in a good mood. So, we load up and go through the drive through so we can enjoy our ice cream at home on the porch. Its a whole 7 blocks from DQ to our house, and as Im pulling up to park infront of my house, I look in my mirror and see a cop pull up and park right behind me. The kids start to get out of the car and then the cop turns on his flashy lights. I tell my wife to sit tight and keep the kids in the car. The officer comes up to my window and says the usual, "Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?"

Now, this is where I probably made a poor decision. Remember, I am sitting in front of my own house in my usual parking space, and he didnt even turn on his lights until after I had already parked. So I reply, "Oh, you pulled me over?" ;; ;;To which he responds, "Sir please step out of the vehicle." ;; At this point my wife is getting concerned, the kids are upset because their ice cream is melting and my 5 year old is saying things like, "Oh cool, did you ;;see his gun Dad? If he hit you ;;with his stick, it could break your face." I ;;make a mental note to teach my son ;;that sometimes its a good idea to just stop talking. I ask the officer if its alright for my family to get out of the car, and he says no, they need to remain in the vehicle. I say, "But this is our house, we live here." He looks around skeptically like Im lying or something, and finally agrees ;;release my family from captivity.

He takes my license and registration. I lean up against the fender of my car (on the curb side of the street) ;;and proceed to eat my chocolate dipped ;;cone that has since past its prime. ;; He comes back ;; and says, "Can you step over here sir?" Over here is 6 feet away and practically in the middle of the street. I dont know what was wrong with my side of the car... He proceeds to tell me that my ;;registration is expired and I dont have current tags on my vehicle. I tell him that I thought I just put tags on the car. He says, "Sir, please come with me." We go to the front of the car. "Sir, please tell me what date is on that sticker." I tell him that it says March 2006 (obviously expired). He says, "Dont tell me that you put tags on this vehicle. Lying to an officer isnt a good idea." ;; He writes me a citation and tells me that I have ten days to get current tags. Then I can go to the courthouse and show them the ;;current registration and they will waive the fine. I ask him if the ;;County sends reminders notices when youre due for new tags. He replies, "That is not an excuse for not licensing your vehicle ;;in the alloted time. This citation is not a free pass to drive this vehicle without ;;current tags." ;;

And he gets in his car and drives away. ;; ;; ;;

Please Be Gentle With Me!