Sunday Already?

I can not believe that it is already Sunday. Where the hell did the
weekend go?

So I feel like I got nothing done this weekend and it should bug me
but it doesn't...

Weird.

Hillarious

I can't stop laughing at this photo:

Lame Night

Home at 8:30 and just now finishing dinner. It's 9:50.

I really understand why certain things in my life are the way that
they are... I'm addicted to winning, I am overly competitive, and I
will push myself until I drop.

Today my boss set an unachievable goal. And we met it. In the last
minutes of the day we made it. Through a huge play by me and a
teammate, we did it. We achieved the impossible and I don't know how
we did it, but we did.

The Perfect Gift For Mom...

So in looking around I have found the perfect Christmas Gift for my mom.

The Apple iPad...

For me, a total tech nerd and ridiculous gadget whore, the iPad is a waste of money. I have had a Fujitsu Lifebook Tablet for a couple of years now and I wouldn't get rid of it as my mobile computer for the iPad right now for a key reason: NO Multi tasking. I could forgive every "missing feature" if the thing had multitasking... I get it on the iPhone. Bogging the processor with multitasking wouldn't make sense, it's a phone. But iPad isn't a phone and the A4 processor should be able to handle it (even if that reduces battery life, no big deal, my tablet is at about 4 hours). If multitasking shows up in OS4.0 I will buy an iPad.

I don't care that it has no camera, only works on AT&T (why would I not want it to work on AT&T, I know people there and get an amazing discount), and isn't widescreen...

I want multitasking.

But this isn't about me. This is about Mom. This thing is perfect for Mom...

Last year my dad bought my mom a laptop. She owns an accounting business, a real estate business, and keeps pretty busy. The woman is only somewhat computer literate, and she uses two desktop computers. One for the accounting office, and another for the real estate office. We bought her the laptop in order to have one computer for everything. She hates it and rarely uses it... It's to heavy, the programs run slower than on her desktop machines, and the thing only works on the WiFi networks at home and in her office. She is reluctant to buy wireless service for the thing because she would only use it when working on real estate. During the months when her accounting business is busy she does nothing with Real Estate and would not want to be locked into a two year contract when she only legitimately needs seven months of service a year.

-"Pay as you go"-esque service. The iPad data service is month to month and bought RIGHT FROM THE DEVICE. I'll admit, that feature alone is super sweet. Renew month to month with a tap-tap-tap on the screen.

-Light weight. Nuff said.

-Simple, beautiful interface. Simple is key for my mom. Hell the unitasking is probably better for her than a multitasking device.

-Calender and Email. The two features that she uses more than all others combined. They look like they will be fantastic on the iPad.

-Apps. Tap on what you want to do. Flick back and forth to go to the page where the stuff you want is.

And so on and so forth. This thing is prefect for mom, and downright affordable next to my Fuji. And it sure is pretty...

Blog Of The Union

So of course I have this whole speech DVR'd and will be blogging as I watch it. I have a feeling that I am going to get furious during this one so bear with me.

-He's talking about the wars, the debt, the finance industry, and the economy when he took office. Then he has the audacity to say that the worst is behind us? How's that Mr. President?

We have more debt than ever before. The war in Afghanistan has gotten worse and worse. Every major component of the finance industry is trying to figure out what Obama's administration is going to do to punish them (US, remember I am a part of that "evil" industry) for not failing last year. And last but certainly not least, in case everyone missed it, the economy and the job market blows right now.

Wow... "Tiny" Tim Geithner looks like shit. That is all...

-"The letters I read each night..."

BULLSHIT...

And there we have it. 15 minutes in and the banks are the bad guys that have made all the bad stuff happen. The union workers (auto, health, teachers all mentioned) seem to be going to work and rebuilding this nation. And everyone hated the bank bail out that he's now claiming he did. Bush got that one running, not Obama. WTF, he's claiming responsibility for a program that he didn't start. And now we (the banks) need to pay money even when we PAID THE MONEY BACK WITH INTEREST ALREADY.

-"As a result, millions of Americans had more to spend, and we haven't raised income taxes a dime..."

No douchewaffle, you have burdened America with a debt that we may never be able to repay. You're so busy "saving or creating jobs" that you aren't realizing that your stimulus is like an unemployed person just putting it all on credit.

-Small business. Small business. Small business.

Here's a thought. How about letting the banks (any bank) lend to the small businesses and offer better rates? Maybe a tax incentive so that the interest on those loans can be written off similar to how we treat housing right now? Benefit the business without cutting the funds to anyone (oh yeah, except the government due to decreased tax levels)...

This is already all but unbearable. This guy seriously has no fucking clue about how the system works. The problem with most of what he is saying is that the government has no clue about how the private sector operates. Business has to be PROFITABLE or whats the fucking point. Has the government been able to turn a profit at anything (and no, The Fed doesn't count)?\\

-"I'm not interested in punishing banks... We can't allow financial institutions to take risks that threaten the economy. We can not let them win this fight."

Seriously? Seriously? Does Obama really think that we are in this to take unmeasured risk and screw people? He wants to allow government to be able to limit the size of a private sector company. Not through the prevention of a monopoly, but in giving them FULL DISCRETION about when to break apart a private company with no anti-trust lawsuit or legal action necessary. This is the most dangerous thing that is in the Senate right now.

-"I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change..."

Nothing. I got nothing. Lemme delete some temperature data that doesn't support this "debate over" climate debacle. Oh wait, the scientists doing the research took care of that for me. Kind of them.

Education reform is a terrifying thing to listen to this misguided fool talk about. He wants to change the way we teach kids? He can't figure out basic spending principles (money in - money out must be above ZERO or you're fucked), and he wants to improve math education? He wants to forgive student loan debt, and oh yeah, forgive it sooner if you take a government job... What a crock...

-Healthcare

What a bunch of political pandering this is... He took on healthcare to socialize one of the largest and most necessary sectors of the nation. To make people dependent on the government for yet another thing. Screw him and his healthcare plan. If they pass it, I will cancel my coverage and refuse to pay the IRS fine. And then when the come after me, I will sue. The government does not have the right to MAKE ME buy anything to be a citizen.

Furthermore, insurance premiums are a RISK POOL that these fools don't understand. I will go into more depth on the risk pool and how insurance works in a later post. Perhaps tomorrow.

And if you want to bring down the deficit, open up interstate competition. Reform the laws to protect doctors from frivolous lawsuits. Allow doctors to make things cheaper. These people took an oath to do no harm...

Wow... Bush, Bush, Bush... Clinton/Bush made the debt 8 trillion dollars in 10 years. Mr. President your administration has added 4 trillion dollars to that number in ONE YEAR! ONE MOTHERFUCKING YEAR!!!! George Bush made numerous mistakes, as did Bill Clinton. But neither of them managed to rack up four trillion bucks in a year. Bravo members of Congress and Mr. President, you should all be ashamed of yourself.

-"We in the government face a 'Deficit of TRUST.'"

No shit Sherlock.

-"Earmark Reform"

Yeah... I'm not holding my breath. Publishing all earmark requests online. Perhaps that will happen right after C-Span makes it into the Healthcare Reconciliation.

I love the fact that he had the balls to give a shoutout to the Democrat majority and their need to act decisively. And to call out the Republicans in attempting to use one vote (Brown's) to slow the change that the current rulers in DC plan on shoving down our throats.

Oh my God. I was unaware that you can't hug with nuclear arms...

Seriously... I can't blog about this speech anymore. The only part of the speech I agree with: "I never said it was going to be easy." Dead right, and it sure as hell hasn't been Mr. President. But why is it that you seem determined to make it harder, but not any better?

Open Note To Pandora

Pandora;

What the fuck dude... I don't like death metal. Ever.

I have never clicked "Like" on a song that comes even remotely close to being death metal. I click dislike every time that you play something that's even close to death metal. Stop playing that shit..

Thanks

-Stormin

What does that say?

So this morning I was woken by some weird ass dream involving snakes, a movie theater, and cowboy boots. I know that sounds weird, but ya know how you always forget dreams? Happened to me... All I got left is snakes, theater, boots. It's weird.

Anyways, the dream was unremarkable, and I don't recall being afraid or anything, but I woke up and was both wide awake and very alert. I roll over to look at the time, and I was PISSED! My immediate reaction was; "What does that say? What the fuck is going on?!?!"

3:58AM

I get waking up a little early, but before 4AM is a solid two hours early, and while I don't get a lot of sleep I do like the sleep that I manage to get. As I mentioned in yesterdays post, we have important people coming into the office today and the last thing I want is to be groggy and not running my best when the higher ups are visiting.

So I have been perusing the internet and trying to catch up on all of the stuff that I missed. I'd love to go back to sleep, but there's all this stuff that I missed. In fact, there's a whole lot of it. Apparently something big about "Pant's On The Ground." That seems to be what everyone is ranting about. I'll have to check out YouTube. Given how busy the job has kept me, I may be the last person on Earth seeing the video.

Anyways, I'd say expect a full update later about all of the fun that we are going to have in the office today... I can't wait to see how this one goes.

Oh Happy Day

So we have a new guy in our Division Office. New guy is coming by the office tomorrow to spend the day.

I can not tell you how thrilled we all are that the new guy from division plans on spending the day in our office. Just beyond happy that he is taking the time to spend an entire day with us.

:-D

Happy!

Unproductive

It seriously feels like I did nothing at work. I was there all day and yet for some reason it seriously feels as though I had done not one damn thing to be productive. Just kinda coasting through the day. Which is unexpected and downright odd when I think about it. I got all of the work done that I needed to, and my calender is clear for tomorrow morning.

My house is still torn to shit... The floors are being replaced, and currently the second floor is a fucking mess. I have no stove to use, no pantry really (had to move everything to the garage), and I am growing really tired of restaurant food. But I have done no work on the house. I have people to do that...

So seriously, while watching 24 (Jack Bauer like a mother fucka!!!) I realized that this may have been the most unproductive day of 2010.

-Stormin

GO COLTS!!!

Colt vs. Saints in the Superbowl.

I have screamed at the TV until I was hoarse...

I have drank a dozen beers, and had some seriously delicious food.

I can't wait for the Superbowl! GO COLTS!!!

New Car?

Not for me. For a friend...

I think it's awesome. Spent 45 minutes driving it earlier. The only
difference is that hers is ordered in black.

La Vita E Bella

Best Italian restaurant I have ever been to...

http://www.lavitaebella.us/

Dinner there tonight on a whim, and I couldn't be happier with the choice. So delicious. Belltown's finest.

Go when they have the Osso Bucco, and go early because they will run out.

The Lexus LF-A

So among some of the guys I know, luxury sports cars are bought and sold like kids trading baseball cards. Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and everything of the sort are not an uncommon sight when we get together for coffee and pastry on Saturdays.

You would not believe the amount of scorn that the Lexus LF-A has generated among the crowd of guys that could buy one with the couch change...

It has nothing to do with the vehicles $350,000 price tag, or the performance that really doesn't justify that price. The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is just as rare, just as overpriced for it's performance, and the guys love it. I love it too. In fact, it's one of my favorite cars of all time.

It has nothing to do with the Lexus brand either. HALF of these guys have a Lexus as their daily driver. On days when a Murcielago or a 430 Scuderia makes no sense, the Lexus LS 460L seems to be their drive of choice. And these guys have nothing bad to say about those cars. In fact, they all love them.

The LF-A pisses them off because of the perceived arrogance of Lexus management. If you want an LF-A, you are interviewed to buy one, and Lexus decides if you're "worthy." To a group of guys who have worked hard and earned more money than most, the thought of being told that they aren't "worthy" of Lexus' car really is quite crap... And it's not them being told no, but the thought that anyone who wants to / can spend $350,000 on a car should be more than welcomed by the company charging more than a third of a million dollar for a sports car. The crazy thing is that 500 isn't even that low of a production number, so the rarity isn't really that big of a deal...

Honestly, Lexus (and honestly, Toyota) screwed the pooch on this one something fierce... They would have done much better releasing a car that cost a third as much, calling it the new Supra, and limiting production to 5000 a year worldwide. They would have sold every one of them, and they would have leveraged the heritage and history of a beloved sports car that commands $55,000 for a model that's a decade and a half old.

Thanks China

Thanks a lot. Maybe easing into the restriction/cutting back?

It was a shock to see EVERYTHING down. All Indexes and Precious Metals
at once... Whew...

The Next iPhone Killer

What is it with everyone trying to declare the "iPhone Killer," as if
they are talking about the slaying of the anti-Christ? I just sat
through six minutes of some tech nerd on TV talking about the Android
operating system and it's superiority to Apple's iPhone. Some yuppie
with a suit and a pony tail talking about how useless most of the Apps
on the iPhone are, and how Android has "all the good stuff." Cut your
fucking hair rockstar, then MAYBE I'll listen to you babble about
Google being the Apple of this decade. Weren't the pony tail wearing
douchebags the ones that kept Apple alive in the first place?

First off, I am the last guy on Earth that should be singing the
praises of the iPhone.

For the longest time I refused to get any Apple product. I hated their
interface (One Mouse Button, WTF?!?!?), their design, and their
marketing. I wouldn't buy anything they made, and I was pretty
confident that would never change.

Then a while back something happened. A lot of friends who work for
Microsoft all went to the iPhone. Not just a few of them, but pretty
much everyone went out and bought an Apple product. Microsoft
employees... Apple product...

So I played with the phone for a bit and realized that this thing was
seriously good. The interface is simple enough that my computer-
illiterate mom finds the phone to be "fun," and yet complex enough to
be rewarding to the user who likes to change around features and
functions. After that I had to buy one myself.

And of course, this makes everyone think that I have just jumped on
the Apple bandwagon. That statement couldn't be further from the
truth...

I still hate their computers and the associated commercials with a
passion. I actually told my best friend that she was an idiot for
spending $2000 on a MacBook Pro that does LESS that my $1500 Toshiba
Tablet PC. Which is a BA computer, and the tablet functions still
impress two years after it came out...

Even iTunes pisses me off. My music is all bought on disc and saved to
my PC. I just transfer a copy to my iPhone AND a copy to my Microsoft
Zune. As a portable music player, I still think of the Zune as a
superior product, and it accompanies me to the gym and in the car.

The point of the above ranting being that as an "all in one", Apples
iPhone is superior to everything else I have ever used. It may not be
the best computer (got a different one), or music player (got a
different one), but when I need to leave the house with one thing in
my pocket, it's iPhone. Not my iPhone, or an iPhone, just "iPhone."
The thing is good enough that I will refer to it in the third person
like it's a pro athlete.

Let's take a look at the previous contenders for iPhone killer:

The G1... Already on the G2 (called something else in America), and
that isn't hugely popular.

The Palm Pre... Hahahaha... Seriously, when the "next generation" of
the phone is called the Pixie, you should know it's a dog.

The Droid... To big, to bulky, and has totally failed to get the jump
on the market even with Moto and Verizion shoveling money into
marketing the thing during it's holiday season launch.

The Nexus 1... Time will tell. I'm thinking that it's going to be a dog.

The big thing being Android... Here's where that falls apart.

My buddy Mike's Cliq uses Android. His roommates HTC Touch Pro uses
Android. And yet for some reason an App written for and running on the
Cliq crashed the HTC. Differing versions of the same OS... Apples
product works so well because there is ONE product. Different pieces
of the same pie (2G, 3G, 3GS, and even the regluar iPod/iPod Touch),
vs different pieces of similar pies. At the end of the day if it isn't
identical it isn't going to work 100% of time.

As always, the above is an opinion. And educated one, from someone who
has used multiple devices in the past year, but an opinion
nonetheless. :-)

Burns

I burned my damn hand while making dinner.

Had a pan in the oven, transferred it to the stove, and turned to grab
a spatula.

Turned back, and stirred the pan. When the pan moved I grabed the
handle with my free hand. The 450 degree handle...

Fucking hurt, but I got dinner done.

Broiled Sea Bass, saffron orzo, sautéd mushrooms and leeks. The Sea
Bass is plated on top of Avocado slices, and has a white wine and herb
sauce spooned on top. Fantastic enough to make me forget about my
hand. At least for a minute.

Floor Mischief

As the floor is being ripped out Sunday (today), we decided to decorate it last night. After a few beers..

We spent the entire time laughing so hard we couldn't breathe.

Colts WIN!!!

OK, they are going to have to play a heck of a lot better against whomever wins tomorrow, but the Colts have won.

I might be a bit tipsy. Photos of mischief sometime over the next couple of days.

The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday...

So I guess I would call today a tough day at work.

A bunch of people had to cancel/reschedule appointments. It pretty
much made for a dead day. And then the kicker comes in. One of the
people who canceled wanted to meet with me tomorrow.

Of course I value my clients, and so I am going to be in tomorrow
morning for one appointment. It's going to be a rough day when that
alarm goes off tomorrow morning.

On Being Late...

To me being late is like having a black eye. It doesn't matter what reason you give, or how good it is, everyone is still looking at you funny.

I can not stand being late, and nothing drives me crazier than knowing that I am going to be late when I left on time or even early. I am that guy that will call from the car to let people know that I am going to be 5-10 minutes late. I just hate waiting myself, so I don't want to make anyone else wait either.

Today someone was an hour and a half late, and then had the audacity to say; "Sorry I didn't call, I had no idea I was going to be so late..."

WHEN in the HOUR AND A HALF that passed between when you should have been here, and NOW, did you not feel that you should notify me that you were still on the way asshole? Was there something so grand and important that it made it impossible to arrive here on time, and precluded you using the phone to notify someone? And if so, perhaps saying that might do more to calm me than telling me that you had no idea that you were going to be so late. A simple; "Sorry I am so late, a lot of stuff happened at home/work/whatever that got me behind schedule," would have been fucking fantastic. Something to let me know that shit was going down, and that you were in the middle of it.

LIE TO ME. Tell me about the gunfire that you just saved the school children and puppies from. Tell me about dragging those nuns out of the burning bus on the side of the road. Hell, if the story is good enough I might like you more for the creativity and the ability to make me laugh.

He actually said; "thanks for meeting with me, I know that you're pretty busy, and it was a long wait."

UGH!!! Fuck you asshole.

I love some of my clients to death. Just the nicest and most honest people around. This guy can kiss my ass.

Scares The Hell Out Of Me...

There are few things in life that scare me. Very few things, but some of them scare the hell out of me.

Part of the overall lack of fear is a size factor. Since early in high school I have been over six feet tall, and always very strong. Hockey and football throughout school also made me very unafraid of physical contact/confrontation. On top of my physique, I live in a "Right To Carry" state and I have exercised my right since I got my permit done at 21. So for the most part a "dark alley" scenario isn't scary to me. I'm bigger than most people, and I know their only weakness, bullets... I am only terrified of something large, and something small.

Something small: Spiders

Fuck spiders. I can't stand spiders. I do not like spiders at all. Not any spider. Even right now just typing about spiders makes feel unwell. And I know why I hate spiders so much.

Arachnophobia came out when I was seven. For some reason when it made it to VHS the next year someone thought that showing it to the eight year old was a great plan. Thanks a lot ass hole. That movie scared the shit out of me, even though I understand now that the effects are, by todays standards, laughable. Ugh... Seriously, even typing about it sucks.

Something large: Sharks

Let me get one thing straight. I love sharks. Sharks are bad ass creatures. I just don't want to be in the water anywhere near them. They seem like the ninjas of the sea, and just like ninjas, I know that they can just flip out and begin killing at any time.

A while back I was on vacation. I had spent the morning surfing, and like so many time before, I came off my board. In the water I struck a SMALL hammerhead shark. Probably no more than four feet long.

I have not been surfing since. At the end of the day I know that it was more afraid of me than I was of it. I had to be twice it's size and appeared out of nowhere... But that doesn't matter. It kind of put me off of surfing. Kind of like God giving me a smack to the back of the head. Maybe that sport isn't for me.

Since then I haven't been in the ocean, and I am pretty sure that will be the case for a while. :-) Something about hitting a damn shark and having nothing happen that makes me think I have used up all of my ocean related luck. Living in the Pacific Northwest we have incredibly cold ocean water anyways, so I have no need to go anywhere near that for now. Lake Washington is enough for me.

The Goose That Laid The Platinum Egg

In providing horrible customer service, a competitor of ours lost an account. That account holder stopped by to see me, and we spent some time working on what we could do at my bank to meet his needs. Honestly I don't feel like it was really "above and beyond" what I do for any client. Yet the client assured me that he felt better to be with my bank than any he'd been with before.

The new client has been so much fun to work with. Really a knowledgeable person who understands the business and it's complexities. Someone with patience, intuition, and a great sense of humor to boot. Clients like that are better than gold. We joke around the office about how easily banks/credit companies throw around the term "platinum"... This guy is someone that I would think is actually deserving of the title. He makes the job fun, and that to me means so much more than a lot of other factors.

In making a client feel the exact opposite of how good service would have made him feel, the other banker really turned out to be the goose that laid the platinum egg. I guess I owe him a thank you. In not doing his job, he has made someone truly appreciate my bank and the job that we do.

Just ONE Drink...

So why is it that my friends do not know how to meet up for one drink. Not "one drink," or one drink (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), but a single beer/cocktail at the bar after leaving the office.

Seriously, I can't understand these guys and the fact that every time we get together it somehow ends up being all of us miraculously making it home sometime near midnight.

But at the same time, they're my friends and I love them to death...

Up tomorrow (a bit of foreshadowing) The Goose That Laid The Platinum Egg.

Stay tuned boys and girls.

So Crazy

So I got a summons in the mail. I've never gotten a summons.

Now I have to go to a freaking courthouse on Wednesday, and miss out
on the office.

LAME!

Food Inc

So I guess that I am a heartless bastard.

A friend told me about the documentary "Food Inc" and recommended that I watch it. What a crock of shit that was. Seriously I can't think of a single motive behind the production of the damn thing beyond promoting a return to an archaic system of production and business. I really wonder how much the SEIU contributed to the production budget. The film talks about the need for more unions and seriously glamorizes, of all things, the auto unions. What the hell do you think has driven the American auto industry to near bankruptcy? And now we want to do that with the food supply? They talk about subsidizing organic and natural foods. Fuck that.

The current methods of farming and production have kept Americans well fed, and provided Americans with one of the lowest cost to income ratios for food in the world.

And it's not just Americans. Much of the world has benefited from the current methods of food production, and the world's population could not be sustained by "going back to the old ways." Is anyone complaining about going to a store and paying $3.00 a pound for meat? I am pretty sure that everyone would complain about paying $13... If you have a problem with the system, but "organic." Buy "free range." But don't try to vilify the system that keeps food on the table for a couple hundred million Americans and billions of people worldwide.

Farming is not "pretty," farming is not "glamorous," and farming is not something that most people want to see. As the grandson of a corn, wheat, and cattle farmer, I have seen the system in action and I know that it works. It may not be pretty, but it works.

And the "organic farmer" in the film was a joke. Some old hayseed hippie ranting about the way that things should be, and how he feels about the animals. Screw his cattle, I want a steak, NOW. Screw his pigs, I want some bacon, NOW. And last but not least, screw him. The thought that just because he wants to live in harmony with nature, I should overpay for beef, pork, and eggs?

Laughable.

His desire to not be "the biggest," and to care about his animals and the land...

The world isn't a damn Disney movie, and the "old ways" were left behind for a reason.

The film's attacks on the Bush administration were truly LOL funny. Give me a fucking break. There hasn't been a president in my lifetime who has argued heavily for increased regulation of food production...

My heart aches for lady in the film who lost her son to E-Coli. No parent should lose a child like that. I lost a brother when I was 13. He was 12. It hurt like hell... But, I heard nothing about PROPERLY COOKING FOOD mentioned in her arguments. Preparing a hamburger "well done" kills E-Coli. Plain and simple. 73,000 people have infections from E-Coli every year, and only 61 people die. The young are more susceptible, as are the elderly, but at the end of the day cooking food properly would have saved him.

As for fast food. Another instance of "give me a fucking break." The film states that fast food companies are "engineering food" and that Americans have very little choice.

FUCK THAT

Americans have massive amounts of choice.

Type-2 Diabetes : Put Down The Soda. The family makes the comment "the soda is so cheap." Yeah, water runs from my tap for a very low price. I bet that it comes from their tap at a similar low rate.

Monsanto... The company patented a genetically engineered strain of bean that produced a higher yield. They spent MILLIONS developing a specific strain of the bean that was resistant to pesticides and disease, and it is their property. I love the comparison to Microsoft, as if somehow that is a bad thing. Microsoft is a company that has developed a product that a majority of users willingly choose as the best on the market. They have made billions as a result of that production. If Monsanto is "monopoly" then they can be sued by the government. And yet somehow they have not. Perhaps it's because people can choose to not use Monsanto's product. They can buy and plant whatever seed they please.

The hippie who owned the organic food company made a point that I think fits best. "We had to prove that we were profitable." This ass sold out to Dannon, and he is somehow going to bash people who sold out to Coke, Colgate, Johnson & Johnson, etc... What a freaking hypocrite. He's sitting there talking about how bad large producers are, and in the same shot he is going to talk about a multi billion dollar deal with WalMart? And that's where this whole "natural" movement will fail.

People want to profit. Enough people want to profit that they are going to chose to work towards the most profitable end result. And at the end of the day, the "old way" is not profitable.

Oddly enough, I buy my food from a locally owned market. One of those things that I do to support a local business that I feel best represents my interests, and the interests of my community. And I buy locally grown produce when possible.

I do not "look for" organic, and for the most part I do not make any effort to buy organic. If you want to, good for you.

But to make a film indoctrinating people with the idea that somehow large farming operations are evil, and to not provide a single counterpoint is just ridiculous.

A Giant Production

So I really am one of those people who hates it when something becomes a bigger deal than it needs to be. Today's big production was someone thinking that they were more important than they are...

I spent almost an hour on the phone with them today talking about policy changes that they were made aware of months ago. There are rules, I do not write the rules, but we will all live by them because we have no choice...

Except this person. They were convinced that they were above the rules, until I told them that they were not.

Then they tried to get me to OK a change in the rules just for them. They kept on it for a while but I didn't budge. The rules are the rules. I did not write them, so I don't try to change them.

So after a bit of back and forth they seemed to get it. Until they called me back no more than ten minutes later to talk about the possibilities of an exception if I had time to touch base with the people above me who did write the rules.

Do some people just not understand "No," or is it just me that thinks of that as a pretty concrete term? The craziest thing is, if it had been someone trying to sell me something I would get it. I understand sales people, and I "get it" when they are persistent. This person was just a self absorbed jackass.

Screw them... Rules are rules... (Unless I actually liked them, then I might have worked to make an exception, but I didn't.)

To Connected?

So in reading some articles from the WSJ that I had sent to myself, I came across one that I really thought was nuts. People complaining about being "to connected" to the world. The article wasn't talking about people in an age bracket that wouldn't be considered tech savvy, but young people in their late twenties/early thirties. People my age...

This got me thinking about it, and for the life of me, I can't fathom being "to connected."

The fact that I email myself news so that I remember to read it aside (yeah, I know that's weird, but I won't remember to read the stories if I don't), I think that I am no more "connected" to the internet than the average person my age. I have the web at home and at work, I have iPhone, and I have PSP (built in web browser). As a whole, I have access to the internet every hour that I am awake, but I don't see that as being a bad thing at all. It's not as if I spend every hour on the net, and I think that the convenience of having the world at my finger tips is something that I wouldn't ever want to give up.

The more I read into the article, the more these people seemed like me. Ordinary professionals that updated a Facebook and a Twitter, but for the most part they suffered from no "internet addiction" or anything the looked remotely like a bad habit. And trust me, I know what an addicted internet user looks like, so I get that a problem can exist. An old roommate of mine spent every hour that he wasn't working/sleeping on Facebook/Myspace/Poker/whatever... The last I saw of him he was getting into something called Mafia Wars. Looks dumb as hell to me, and as such I haven't bothered to play it at all. For the most part, thats what every "internet problem" I have ever known about seems to be. People playing games online rather than dealing with the real world.

But the people in the article weren't gamers, they weren't addicts, and they didn't seem to have a problem. Maybe a bit of a stupidity issue. They were willing to pay a company to delete their Facebook/Twitter/MySpace accounts.

So now I have this idea rattling around in my head like a penny in a clothes dryer... WTF is "to connected"?!?!?!?!

Blogger Block

So I took the day off today, and for some reason I have been just brain dead. I can't think of anything to write about now that I have all the time in the world to do so.

There are so many little things that I need to get done around the house, and I haven't worked on any of them.

I have played around on the internet and uploaded some music to iPhone. I also read two articles in todays WSJ, which is sitting right next to me and still somehow not getting read.

I know that at sometime I will need to have something to eat, and I know that I should do some laundry.

Beyond that, I am totally lost right now. Perhaps perusing the internet a bit more to track down music that I want to buy. The one thing making it so easy to sit here and waste time is how good Pandora has been today. I think I have skipped all of three songs since I put it on hours and hours ago.

Behind Closed Doors

What ever happened to "open public debate," and "no more closed door
meetings?"

I know that it's a short post, but I am so far beyond mad. An
Administration and a party that promised me (I guess all of us)
openness and transparency in Government is now reconciling the bill
which will be the largest change to America in my life time behind
closed doors. WTF!!!

Not that I should be shocked. Most of the people in DC seem to be
crooks, and it seems like no matter how hard we try to change that,
they all just get more and more crooked.

My favorite comments of the day:

"The Louisianna Purchase" - Referring to Mary Landrieu's $300MM vote.

"Nebraskans need not worry. If unemployment forces them all onto
Medicare, at least it costs their state nothing."

"Nobody read the bill before passing it the first time, do you really
believe that they're going to bother reading it this time? The debate
behind closed doors could be a week or two of playing Wii. Hopefully
at least they're playing Wii Fit..."

... And May Lose Value

I have always had a passion for investing and the stock market. Long
before I became a part of the finance industry, the stock market
fascinated me. Being a "stock broker" was one of those jobs that
seemed so much cooler than pro-athlete or famous movie star... As I
grew older I learned more about the field and learned that the job I
really wanted was being a fund manager for a mutual fund.

Years later, I'm on my way to that goal, and yet somehow my goals have
changed again. More on that change later...

For now, me and my buddies have a "fantasy stock market game." Much
like our Fantasy Football Games, our stock game is a heated
competition and the season never ends. We all kicked off with a
million dollars and numerous investment restrictions that are to
monotonous to list here. As of today I am showing a return of 116%
this year, and leading the game. Granted, that is with tremendous
investment risk, and is by no means any way that ordinary people
should invest.

But DAMN it is fun to have shown that kind of return!

2010 kicks off a new year, and new numbers. The market did some great
things today, and kicked off the year right for me. I'm sure that you
will hear more from me about the game on The2KXproject, good and bad.
Please never take any of it as investment advice. Just remember that
investments are not FDIC insured, are not bank products, and may lose
value...

:-)

Stormin And Sports

There isn't enough time left in the NFL season. The regular season ends this week and while I love the playoffs I can't stand the thought of missing watching the Colts on Sundays.

I know what you're thinking; "Bandwagoner!" You would be dead wrong.

I have been a Colts fan for ages, and even though I NOW live in Seattle, I have lived everywhere and been exposed to everything.

As the child of an Air Force parent moving was always the norm. It was never a surprise to hear that we would be moving, and it really is something that I just "got used to." So when I tell people that I have moved to a different state ten times in the first 16 years of my life, the number doesn't shock me at all. It has made me a very adaptable person, and given me an immense amount of confidence in talking to others and making friends out of strangers. The only true "negative" of that upbringing is being a sports fan.

My first love was hockey, and the Minnesota North Stars. We were stationed in Minnesota and the Stars were a constant talking point in school. A team that never was the greatest when I was a kid, but always the best part of winter. While I watched their games on our TV in the suburbs of Minneapolis, I resolved to learn to skate and play that amazing game. My brother and I each got our first pair of skates one winter, and we went to a frozen pond near our house to see if we could skate. Two pair of thick socks, several minutes tying and retying my skates to make sure they were tight, and I stepped onto the ice for the first time. I'll never forget that feeling. The cold on my face, the hesitation in my mind, the though of watching those NHL guys glide onto the ice... I knew I could do it, I'd seen it done a thousand times.

I put one foot onto the ice, pushed off the snow with the other, and I skated across the pond. I cut back and forth to get a feel for the ice beneath the blades, and I was hooked. With no lessons or help, I skated for hours. In one of the most amazing moments of my life, I found that I could naturally skate. Hockey has been a passion since that cold evening on a pond in White Bear Lake, MN. When the Stars announced their move to Texas I was devastated, and I had no idea what I would do.

The next month I got the greatest news of my young life. We were being transferred... To Dallas...

I can not believe that it was anything short of fate that put me in that city, back with my team. I will always be a Stars fan, even now that I am thousands of miles away. When they won the Stanley Cup in '99, I was screaming at the TV at the top of my lungs. 2000's SCF were a devastating shock... To this day I think that the Buffalo Sabers are a bunch of whiners, and I HATE the New Jersey Devils. (And Martin Brodeur, screw that guy...)

Once we were in Dallas I had to pick a football team. Did I keep watching the Vikings, did I adopt the Cowboys, or did I pick someone entirely different? Different was where I ended up.

My father lived in Baltimore and was a Colts fan. The team left the city the year I was born (while my parents were stationed in California). I had heard stories of the team growing up and kinda somehow fell into rooting for them on Sundays. It was easy to be a fan of another city's team, and one that I already had a little family support in loving. It was also easy because the teams middle of the road performance made anyone think twice about calling me a bandwagoner. :-) I might not have loved the Cowboys like everyone else in Dallas, but at least I wasn't simply rooting for an out of market team that was doing well.

Years later, after numerous ups and downs, we're in an "up" again. Peyton Manning looks to be one of the greatest people to ever play QB, the Colts receivers are looking good, Dallas Clark is the most underrated tight end in football, and we now have the defense we needed for so many years.

I guess that it's easy to see why the people in a city who's team went from a Superbowl appearance several years ago, to being (game ain't over yet, so I assume) 5-11 this year, might want to call me a bandwagoner. But if anyone needs to confirm it, I have a collection of hats (of all things) to prove my devotion. An "on-field" hat from every season for the past decade. My simply tribute to the team every year since 2000 (when I had a job for the first time so I could buy things like that), and the one thing that I will wear around town. I don't feel the need to have T-Shirts, Sweaters, Jerseys, and the like. A simple hat from the field, and I am fine.

Kicking Off

So on my drive into work today I got pulled over. Happy New Years
Renton PD! They're starting 2010 with a little revenue generation.
First time in two years, and the reason that the cop gave was total
BS. I am in a suprizingly good mood for my streak having ended, and
owning the car that I do (Audi S4, the thing is my baby) I am shocked
that I made it this long without a collection of tickets, so I guess
it was inevitable. I will be calling my lawyer, and I'll pay him
whatever fee he requires to pay them less money. Millions in defense,
before a penny in tribute.

Happy 2KX

So New Years was CRAZY. Partying in downtown Seattle always is.

There was me, my best friend Jess, Melissa, Chet, Kelly, and some dude
who's name I don't remember. Supposedly I had met him before, but for
the life of me I can't rememer this guy so it's less than relevant
that he looked familiar.

Kelly is an old aquaintance and for some reason he knows the worlds
collection of douchebags all to well. And I say this next part in the
nicest way possible: probably because he's one of them. We all know
the "My New Haircut" guy... Kelly went as that guy for Halloween the
year that video hit the net. He didn't need to dig to deep in the
closet to find the costume. Kelly was that guy before even that guy
was that guy... So Kelly is defined.

Kelly's friend made Kelly look like a gentleman. Mouthing off to
everyone, acting the fool, and really making an ass of himself.
Literally, 30 minutes in, a tipping point had been reached. Then a
comment got made to Mel, and I chucked my drink in his face. Zero to
fighting in mere moments. Douche got in a single punch to my head, but
I fight smarter. One punch from me square to his groin and the fight
was over. Nancy boy had been bragging about his gym routine all night.
He learned a very important lesson about strength. It doesn't matter
how strong you are if someone else smarter... It was funny as hell to
have him laying on the floor and me fiddling with my contact lens.

So Kelly and the man with the wounded groin peaced out, and I left
Kelly a voicemail about not bothering to bring his people by any more.
He's welcome, but his friends ain't.

After that the night took off. It was a ridiculous blend of drinking
in public, party crashing, and pictures with my peeps or random peeps
throughout the city.

We began drinking at a much quicker pace after the last brawl of '09.
There was Tequilla (hate it but drank it to get Chet drinking),
Jaegerbombs, Blue Moon, Coors Light, and bottle after bottle of
Champagne. So much Champagne...

The group headed over to the Space Needle for the midnight fireworks
about 11:30. Ten years living here and I have never been there for the
fireworks on NYE. Check that off the list now. Very cool to finally
see the fireworks and the massive crowds of people. Everyone was
social, everyone was having fun, and everyone was drinking or already
drunk. Jess, Chet, Mel and I each had our own personal bottle of
Champagne and were drinking in public during the entire fireworks
display. Standing next to a cop... Or three. Maybe six. Could have
been more. I do believe that they were just out to keep the peace and
Seattle's Finest did a damn fine job of it. There was a crazy big
crowd of people and the whole fireworks display was so very cool. I
don't think anyone there even realized that it was raining the whole
time.

So we headed back to Mel's place, and on the walk we passed by our
favorite restaurant in Seattle, Shallots. It's one of those small city
restaurants with a dozen tables that I would be willing to have to
wait for, but fortunately never have had to. Easily the best Chinese
place that I have ever been to, and it's run by good people. Peering
inside we saw our regular waiter Tony. A guy we see often enough that
he buys us drinks when we're in. We stopped in, Champagne in hand, and
got a picture with Tony. Reviewing these photos, we were not the only
drunk people in the restaurant. (Thank God)

After that we stumbled back to Mel's place and ended up heading to her
buildings seventh floor (25 stories total) to show Jess and Chet the
view of the space needle. It's an absolutely beautiful view and one of
the best things about her building. Somehow, we ended up in someone's
NYE party.

We were there for all of a dozen minutes, ended up in a few pictures,
used the bathroom, and had a decent little tour around the place.

After the random party crash, we went back to Mel's place and everyone
just called it a night sometime after 2AM.

Time is hazy. Honestly I have no clue as to how long everything "took"
after midnight. There are photos time stamped at about 2AM of us all
in the elevator, but none of us have any clue as to how long the night
went on.

Today we went to breakfast for chicken fried steak, and biscuits &
gravy. At noon... Everyone but me looked massively hung over, but
that's nothing new. I've never been hung over in my life. Just the
genetic lottery winner of a magical liver and a need for very little
sleep.

So 2010 kicked off with a bang. And here we go with The 2KX Project.