Things you post after the f**king vendor wakes you from 1AM to 3AM

Subject: The Penis

I, the Penis, hereby request a raise in salary for the following reasons:



* I do physical labor.
* I work at great depths.
* I plunge headfirst into everything I do.
* I do not get weekends or holidays off.
* I work in a damp environment.
* I work in a dark workplace that has poor ventilation.
* I work in high temperatures.
* My work exposes me to contagious diseases.

Sincerely, The Penis

Dear Penis,

After assessing your request and considering the arguments you have
raised, the administration rejects your request for the following
reasons:
* You do not work eight hours straight.
* You fall asleep after brief work periods.
* You do not always follow the orders of the management team.
* You do not stay in your designated area and are often seen visiting
other locations.
* You do not take initiative.
* You need to be pressured and stimulated in order to
start working.
* You leave the workplace rather messy at the end of
your shift.
* You don't always observe necessary safety regulations, such as wearing
the correct protective clothing.
* You will retire well before you are 65.
* You are unable to work double shifts.
* You sometimes leave your designated work area before you have
completed the assigned task.

And if that were not enough,
* You are constantly seen entering and exiting the
workplace carrying two suspicious looking bags.

Welcome to the world, whats-his-face. :)

I poke fun with the title only because my brother's new bundle of joy is yet to be named after being born yesterday. Follow the link in the title to DW's blog for pics and details.

Congratulations Ottawa Family! Ya done good. :)

Peace.

I love this doctor!

Submitted by KJ of Dominica (that 'lil island down south)
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Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste
them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart
will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life
of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

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Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and
corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an
efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain?
Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy
vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily
allowance of vegetable products.

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Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that
means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the
goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

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Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If
you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

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Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise
program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!

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Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ..... Foods are fried these days in vegetable
oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be
bad for you?

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Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the
middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should
only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

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Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best
feel-good food around!

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Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

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Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about
food and diets.

And remember:
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride"

AND......

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition
and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting
nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and
suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION

Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Wanna Play?

Zuma®
Play Games
at Shockwave

The day is nearly over. THANK GOD!!

I know you all have had one of "those" days yourselves. I have had a few before myself. That said, today was one of those days I wanted to reboot the universe by noon and start over.

It started this morning when I got up an hour later than I usually do. As such, the child was also running behind time. It made DW run behind time because I had to sign some sheets for the clinic she was headed to but needed to speak to her about it first. With all of that going on, I forgot to send the daily morning report that my boss expects every weekday before 8:30AM. I gather up my stuff, head to the door, head back upstairs to grab my bluetooth headset that I forgot upstairs, grab the shoehorn and promptly break the handle on it. TC and I head off to the Roo, jump in and head off. I drop her at summer school a few minutes late and off to work. Oh, did I mention that I dropped the bagel and cream cheese on the way to the driver's door? That is why she puts my breakfast in sandwich bags now because I always end up dropping it.

I continue to work and, while Denison gets busy around Kennedy, I have never had a 15-20 minute delay getting through that intersection. This morning, there was no construction, no accident, no broken down vehicle, but TONS of traffic. I get through that, find a cherry parking spot despite my delay (it's now after 9:30AM) , get out to grab my laptop and then it hits me: my lanyard with security pass and security tokens are sitting on my desk in the office at home. Ok, you win. I am going home. I email my team on the crackberry that I will work from home because the universe is against me this morning and I head back home. The ride is uneventful. I knew it would not last.

I get in the driveway, head inside, take off my shoes, head upstairs, pick up my lanyard and sit down to log into the laptop for work.... which was sitting on the backseat of the truck in the driveway. F**K!! Ok, back downstairs, back into shoes, back outside, back to the truck. Let's try it again, shall we? Ok, so back in the office, just in time for the daily conference call. For the second day in the row, my partner has a case of diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain. I correct him not once, not twice, but THREE times on an unimportant item he seems intent on trying to get his wrong ass right on. I'm on call so it's on to tickets and other wonderful items. nothing special here except for small annoyances. It takes me into lunch time where I catch the news on the PVR machine as I work, chat with some folks on MSN (including Hammy in Singapore, where he is not having a great experience unfortunately) and desperately try to go out for lunch as I have a craving for Chinese. I keep getting updates and calls on tickets so my luck continues. I finally get to break away and head off quickly to get back in time for the conf call.

First stop was the bank to get some money. My workmates and I have a lottery pool and we finally agreed on what to do with our meager wininngs (four consecutive and equal ticket buys) so I needed money out for that. I then went to pick up my combo plate at Mind-Du (if I had time, the adult lunch buffet price is the same as the plate). I got in the truck and headed off to get the ticket. When I got out of the truck, I could nto find my wallet. I was wearing shorts without pockets so it was tucked into my waistband. I know I had it at Ming-Du so after I tossed the truck (and found the cap for my 8GB flash drive after months missing it), I raced back to see if I left it on the counter or, by some miracle, in the parking space I was previously parked in.

I got back into the same spot and saw a woman on the phone standing strangely at the back of her car watching me as I drove in. I ran into Ming-Du and they had not seen it and did not have it. The woman had just gotten into her car but still glanced at me. Now, normally I would chalk it up to the old societal issues (i.e. large black man, frail white woman) but something was different. I walked up to her car window and knocked on it, hoping she did not drive over my foot on her rush to leave. Instead, thankfully, she winds down the window as I ask her if she saw a wallet in the spot I now occupy. She hesitates but says she did find a wallet. I tell her it is mine and that I rushed back hoping to find it. She informs me that she already called Durham Police about it and they told her to drop it off at the station at Brock and Hwy 2 in Pickering. I tell her I can prove it is mine. She says she has to call them and ask. I understand and tell her to make the call. As she is speaking to the police, I tell her I can get proof from the truck, thinking about my insurance slip, and proceed to go to the passenger door I had opened earlier. And the universe intervenes again.

I reach for my keys in my non-existent pockets. No keys. Where did I put them? I know before I look through the windshield that they will be sitting on the seat or in the ignition. My head drops and my heart sinks. The Roo has a sophisticated alarm system that locks itself automatically after a period of time. I was sure I was now super screwed and would have to either call DW or taxi it home and back with the spare set. The universe was just f**king with me this time though as I had left the door partially open so it did not set the alarm and lock the doors. I breathed a sigh of relief and got the keys and the documents out. I showed it to the lady, told her where to find my driver's license, and she compared the two and verified to the police that it all checked out so they gave her the okay to give me back my wallet. I thanked her many times, saving me from an expensive lesson and giving the day a bit of a better path. I explained to her the day thus far and she agreed it did not start very well. She went off to the bank and I stood by the truck trying to figure out "why me?"

I started to drive off but I could not leave and not give her something. Good Samaritans too often are neither properly recognized nor rewarded, regardless if they want it or not. The lady had gone off to the bank. I wrote a thank you note on a napkin (saying it was hard to find good people around), wrapped a ten spot inside it (telling her to please have lunch on me), and placed it under her driver side wiper. I waited in another section of the lot to ensure no one else took it from the car. I finally parked near the convenience store that I had decided earlier was too much trouble to enter to buy tickets and bought my group's ticket there (plus a couple of tech mags). I then headed back home, picked up mail on the way in, and settled in for a tasty lunch, a conference call (during which DW had to call the school to let TC know I was picking her up) and the hope the universe was done with me for the day.

I headed out to pick up TC just after 3PM anxiously hoping that the Good Samaritan had stopped the bulldozer that was my luck streak, and picked her up, returning without incident. I think I can truly say, all is back to normal.

Whatever that is.

Ciao.

Go Hammy Go!

Ok, the cheer sucks and blows but the sentiment is in the right spot. To those of you in the dark, Hammy, our nephew, is currently in hot-as-ass Singapore (there goes my rating again). He went down last week to train and try out with a soccer team there. Hopefully, this is the break he needs and these people are not just dicking him around. He has a series of tests, training and conditioning to run through for the next week or so before he knows for sure. If you have ever seen him play, you know the soccer world has been robbed of a major talent, and I do not say that just as his loving uncle. Any of the countless people he has made look stupid on the field can attest to his skill level. He just needs that chance at the next level to push himself forward.

Anyhow, fate, chance, luck and the right pwople all have to combine for things to happen so I hope this is but one of many points on his journey. Our hearts and minds are with you Hammy. Give them hell!

Ciao.

Movie review - Doom

This is going to be short. I love Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and I think besides doing the action thing, he is a decent actor period. That said, he needs to put this movie in the bargain bin and chalk it up to a learning experience on when to walk away from a bad movie. You would think with a plethora of examples to choose from in terms of game adaptations (i.e. Super Mario Brothers, TRON, Tomb Raider, etc.) that the makers of this film would know what translates well and what does not. While I appreciated the scene where they went into first-person shooter mode to mimic the game, the overall flow and dialog of the movie was one big boring blob. I had it on as I was doing stuff in the office and basically saw the beginning, some deaths in the middle and the really stupid ending.

This is not even a decent time waster of a movie. Save your money, your time and your sanity by watching something else.

Ciao.

For my fellow eBay addicts!

Drowning in progesterone - The continuing saga

Today I spent working from home while the guys from Monarch (the builder of the house we rent) was in to work on the deficiencies that I submitted as part of the one-year inspection. I believe it was seven pages. I did a walk around with the guy and he commented it had been a while since he has seen a house this bad. The problem is, as he explained, the owner did NOT follow the big builder book she was given and as such, many more issues arose than really should have (PG sighting #1). Anyhow, as guys are want to do, we went about our business, each in their own area, and continued working. I only wish the other side of the equation worked as easily, but no.

So, let's start with TC. Even after getting an earful, TWICE, over the last week and a half, the child still did not get it completely. I gave her a reminder once we got home. The changes we set forth were not open for interpretation. They were not optionally. And they sure as hell were to be followed to the letter. Well, Kofi Anon went to sleep and Mephistopheles reared his head in full glory. She got both barrels with a side of glock. Nothing pisses me off than ignorance, especially in simplicity. So, when something simple can be followed by taking a few seconds extra to do something, and one chooses NOT to do it, then what you are saying is either "I don't care what you say" or "F**K You and what you say". Uhm, how about no? How about you walk funny for a while as I adjust my foot in your ass? How about that? I think she will be taking a new pleasure in taking a few extra seconds to do things correctly from now on.

Then the wife enters. As always, she seems oblivious to the fact that it takes a long time for me to build to the crescendo and a longer time to cool down from it. She brings her own brand of ignorance that just pushes my buttons and tends to push them at the most wrong of times. Uhm, like today. I have been telling her for ages to allow the gas in Max to run down so that the light comes on and she gets a much better idea of when the car would actually be running out of gas. This is so she has a good idea of distance and such when she is in an emergency need of a fill situation. Forget for the moment that we pay over a hundred bucks a year for CAA. Forget that it includes a freely delivered free canister of gas (up to five gallons I think). Her answer to that is, "I don't think it is free." Really? After I just told you it is? You know this because, by osmosis, you absorbed all the info in the CAA documents and websites you never read (after I told you to go read them)? PG sighting #2.

Continuing with DW, let's delve deeper into my parting shot/question as she walked away, "Have you checked the oil in the car yet?" "No," she answers. This would be the second time I have asked within a week. It will be the umpteenth time I have told her that she needs to, especially with an older car, check the f**king fluids in the car. I cannot fix what I do not know about. And since we have no warranty on an old ass car, it means to capture the issue BEFORE it becomes a problem. Like the issue with it really pulling to the right and shaking the steering wheel at speed (oh yeah, I meant to tell you about that). Like the issue that the tire was bleeding air (oh yeah, I meant to tell you about that). Like .... PG sighting #3.

Oh yeah, let's go back to that fuel warning light for a moment please. Did I mention that I am not sure that it has a fuel warning light? Did I mention that since she got the car, I have asked, suggested and bugged her to go through the car manual, like I did when I took it from TS? Did I mention she has yet to take the thing out of the holder (which I know because I put it in a certain way so I know)? And women continue to bitch about equality? Give me a bloody break. You may not be able to do a damn thing with it but RTFM!!! PG sighting #4.

Famine's wife is here for the weekend. I love the woman. What was I thinking of adding more to the pot? PG sighting #5. Welcome, as always Devoide. I will try not to paint you with the same brush. That is until you too start showing signs of the madness.

Pray for me.

Peace.

Vista revisted

For the love of monkeys!!

OK, the bottom line is that I still like a lot of things that Vista brings to the table, despite the issues associated with getting it all to work. That said, what the hell was Microsoft thinking when they thought it was a good idea to release the OS at this time? Trust me when I say that I am a huge supporter of moving forward and leaving the legacy behind. I applauded Apple when they drew a sand in the line and said from THIS point forward, OS9.x and previous will no longer be supported, either in hardware or software. What this did was make the customers of Apple make a hard choice: live with the existing hardware and software and features as is or upgrade to take advantage of new hardware, software and features the customer deems important enough to make the investment.

Microsoft, AMD and Intel are beholden to the big businesses that have huge investments in legacay equipment and software. With all due respect to these people...T S!!!! Look, when cars come out with specific tire requirements, we simply adhere to what the manufacturers suggest. When DVDs with component video came out, we upgraded out TVs to take advantage of the features and resolution the better connection offered. When they changed the formula for Coke... ooops, okay, bad example. You get the drift though. Only in IT do the customers really dictate the flow of things. And yes, this is how it should be to some extent. However, it severely stifles progress and ends up costing us all.

I totally agree if there is no reason for so-called progress (i.e. a USB keyboard operates no quicker than a PS2 keyboard) then I can understand a certain reluctance. Though, my chosen example is more for the convenience of connecting all the similar cables to a common point and to clean up the back panel of the motherboard. In the case of a modem, the inherent technology will never need a faster interface (i.e. PCIe) on the motherboard so manufacturers are not going to upgrade the connector on the device. As such, new motherboards requiring a modem connected will typically still have a PCI slot. It took a very long time for ISA slots to disappear completely; it will take a long time for PCI to disappear completely. I need at least two slots for my two Hauppauge MCE500 dual tuners as they have yet to make PCIe versions of the cards.

OK, back to Vista specifically. Vista tries to be all things to all people when it really should have drawn a line in the sand and ensured everything on the forward side of the line worked as advertised. Hardware manufacturers should have had proper drivers in place for the hardware they deemed necessary to work with Vista. Software vendors should have had updates and patches necessary to work the versions of software they deemed necessary to work with Vista. And standards should have been in place both in the OS and with the hardware to ensure compatibility.

Now on that last point is where I want to concentrate today. USB 2.0 and the various APCI power management standards have been in place for years. So, why is it that people are having trouble installing or even rebooting Vista when certain USB devices are plugged in? And why are droves of us, myself included, plagued by a ridiculous bug in the OS that does not allow a machine to resume after going to sleep or hibernating? I was ready to rip out my motherboard (a very nice Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 unit that includes built in Intel GMA3000 video) and take it back to Canada Computers because it was constantly freezing and not coming out of sleep and then on reboot, not posting. This is some fo the same behaviour that the previous motherboard I had in (an Asus P4C800E Deluxe with a P4 3.0GHz CPU) was exhibiting which, incidentally, prompted the change in the first place. I thought to myself, the Antec P160 case that these motherboards sat in could not possible be at issue. Nor could the power supply be suspect as I was sure to buy one that had lots of headroom (an OCZ 700W GameXstream) to power the many drives the PVR held. So, if the hardware is cherry, then the OS must not be.

I did some digging around in Google and read a LOT of forums and websites in order to arrive at my conclusion; they all basically pointed to the same issue. I went into the power settings and modified it to the Performance setting so that it shut off the monitor but it does NOT put the whole system into sleep. This works well for my system as it is rarely not doing something so not going to sleep wasn't a big deal. Since that change, the PVR has not hung once, has not missed taping a program (what it was built for) and sings along merrily. I stress tested the setup the other day and was simply amazed at what a dual core CPU offers. I was able to watch a TV show live, stream video across the network to the Xbox360, run video from YouTube with several other tabs open on Firefox, have a few other windows open AND run an encoding operation from a DVD to the hard drive. ALL at the same time and without a single blip, stutter or issue in anything running. Simply amazing.

But that is due to the hardware, not the operating system. I simply hate recommending this buggy OS because when you cough up your hard cash for either a system with it pre-installed or you upgrade your own setup by dishing out for an upgrade, you expect more than the issues you have to contend with. There have been a number of hotfixes and other updates but nothing has been released to contend with the sleep issue. For you laptop owners, that simply means Vista is not the OS for you. If the machine going to sleep to conserve energy (battery or AC) is not a big loss, then I still recommend VIsta.

Just VERY cautiously. I think one needs to do more diligence on this OS than any previous and look for issues concerning any and all of your installed hardware. It will make your transition that much less frustrating. I will continue for now with Vista Ultimate and will continue to report any yeas or nays as they show up. My next exercise is to try to get the DVRMS toolbox installed in order to automatically convert the stupid proprietary format of Microsoft's into normal MPEG2 files while also removing the commercials at the same time. This exercise absolutely choked the poor P4 as it tried to convert files while taping new ones and just could not keep up. Core 2 Duo sweetness should make this a simple exercise.

Ciao.

Not every thing is painted with the same brush

For good reason, the Jane and Finch corridor has been painted with a negative light. The numerous shootings, the death of a student IN the high school, the apparent cover up of similar incidents at the same school... there is a lot to perpetuate the stereotype of those who choose, or ar forced, to live there. My geography teacher, a Mr. Lennox Farrell, lives in the corridor and was a great mentor to me in my formative teenage years. So to should the young man in the linked story be to those at a crossroad of what to do next as they grow in this area. You are not destined to be bad; the road just looks easier down that way. Choose to be different.

Peace.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070622.wspt-grange-col-22/BNStory/GlobeSportsBasketball/#

Apparently I have a potty mouth.

As you can see from my posted rating, this website is neither for kids nor for the faint of heart. Ah well, I guess telling it like it is (and cussing off those who deserve it) gets one such a rating. hmmm, works for me. :)

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

- ass (3x) - sex (2x) - whore (1x)

Movie review: Live Free or Die Hard

Anyone familiar with the Die Hard series (Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Die Hard 3: Die with a Vengeance) and Detective John McClain will appreciate what I am about to say about this movie.

Yipee-Ki-Yay-Mutha-F*cka!!!

OK, the trailers show a fair bit of the shite that gets blown up BUT there is probably twice that left to be seen. The premise of the movie (a twist on cyber-terrorism) is actually believeable. I mean, there will be naysayers that poo-poo the possibility of anything in this movie actually happening. Hmm. Oh really? Let's do a quick examination of that thought.

• Almost all of Ontario, some bordering states and a good chunk of New York and the eastern seaboard were enveloped in a power blackout that originated as a backlash loop out of the US in a system that should never have allowed it to happen.
• The World Trade Center Towers we taken down and out.
• An airplane crashed into the White House.
• Don't get me started on how many times the various agencies, especially the Pentagon, has been broken into.
• NASA was compromised.
• Paris Hilton's sidekick was cracked.

Ok, I concede the last one was purely put in to get your attention and some more web hits but you get my point. So many things that have been impossible in theory before have been proven possible in action later. So, can a genius making a concerted effort with enough firepower and financial backing and will do what this psychopath does in the movie? You bet your ass he could. Now, that would depend on if the various systems are as stupidly set up in real life as it is in the movie. Uhm, do I have to bring up the blackout again? Californians are all too familiar with the failure of connected systems to argue this point.

Anyhow, back to the movie. It is worth the money to see on a big screen. Bruce Willis is still the guy you want guarding your back when it hits the fan hard. If he wanted to do one last Die Hard movie, I would drop the coin to see it too. Is this the best of the series? I'd say no because the first one was sheer genius, the second one was wicked thrills (and the origin of his catchphrase), and the third one had the supercool gent in Samuel L. Jackson and the across city puzzles to work out. Unlike the Lethal Weapon series, I pretty like all four equally.

The added bonus in this one is the comic stylings of the guy we all know and love/hate as Mac in the Apple commercials. Oh yeah, and a cameo/small part by none other than Kevin Smith himself. So, go out, enjoy, and try to stay out of harm's way. You never know when Big Brother is watching you and waiting to take you down.

Peace.

Happy Belated Canada Day! Happy Fourth of July! R.I.P. Gina.

Today is a bittersweet day in our household for many reasons. The ongoing saga that we are currently working through with TC. The news that Canada lost another six young people in the ongoing war in Afghanistan (all of whom where to return at month end, now will return earlier - dead). The feeling of emptiness as we remember our friend on what would have been her 47th birthday. The waiting for the next step in our journey. The realization of how lucky we are to live where we live.

In the US, our friends and family to the south, are celebrating their independence and as usual it will be done with grand flair and style. We wish everyone in America a safe and happy holiday. Be ever mindful that the peace and freedom we all enjoy in this part of the world came at great costs, often in other parts of the world. We should think of them during these blessed times and do our best to do something or give something to help in the goal that they too will be able to enjoy things as we do and far too often take for granted.

And for us at home, our own celebrations past on Sunday, let us never forget those, like the recent six, who died defending our ability to do what we want when we want how we want. We may not support the war but we sure as hell must always support our oft-maligned troops. My older brother had a 20+ year career in the Armed Forces Air Force and as much as I cracked wise on him all the time (he still spouts things like "repeat that please, over"), I am mighty proud of him.

OK, not to put a damper on things. Enjoy the holiday those of you that have it. The rest of you, get back to work, or sleep or family or whatever. Tomorrow is a new day. What are you going to do with it?

Ciao.

The aftermath

A lot of folks have been waiting to hear about T2. I'll give you the general gist of things but, naturally, certain details need to remain unsaid for obvious reasons.

T2 was all about a shift in the status quo of TC. In the last year, a lot of turmoil has been swirling around her like a hurricane wind with the same speed and destructive force of one of nature's most devastating weapons. For TC, that hurricane has been her life and those in it. Parents, family, friends, school, growing up, hormones, everything. It has been a walking maelstrom and it needed to stop BUT as in the natural physics of our life, it is dangerous to stop something moving so quickly so suddenly. Sometimes we have no choice, sometimes we have to make the right choices. I am not sure that DW and I made all the right choices but they were all done with the mindset to protect the child whilst attaining the ultimate goal of changing her path and pulling her out of the storm.

This all started last November when she left those awful, selfish people called her maternal grandparents. People I would not waste drawing up saliva to spit upon as they are so beneath my contempt for them that the effort would be wasted. The problem is that physical location is only part of the equation. While removing her from that situation is a first good step, removing them from being rooted in her mind is a whole other step. Add to that the gift that keeps on giving known as my ex-wife and you have a wonderful mix of nasty concrete that has to be chipped away without cracking the foundation.

So, in a nutshell, after discovering that TC was venturing off to places on the Net she should not have, and seeing wording not befitting a fine young lady, we decided to gift her a long length of rope to see, at first, just what she was up to but to ultimately try to get an understanding of what she was feeling and her mindset; we got a lot more than what we bargained for. Without divulging anything that could embarrass her more than what she foolishly posted online in her various posts and web pages, suffice it to say that she has a VERY healthy imagination that she keeps amazingly separate from her real life. How she keeps track of it all is beyond me because I have trouble following it all and I read comics!! This is neither comic, nor funny though, and borders on tragic and worrisome.

Once we gathered enough information, but after she finished her exams at school and passed all her courses (yea!), we decided to drop the hatchet. This has been in planning since March and the date kept getting pushed for various reasons. On Friday, we brought the house of cards down and she was in a bit of shock and then a touch of spindoctoring but we had gathered so much information, she really was got in a round room without a corner to hide in. She knew we knew everything and we explained that she had an addiction to the Net as much as someone does to crack or Meth or alcohol. The fact that it has taken her over so much (i.e. she cannot see an online terminal and NOT go online to chat or update web pages be it at friends and families' homes or at the local computer store), was proof to her addiction. The fact that even while I am yelling at her to hurry up to go to school, she has to get those last typed lines in.

So, immediately one thinks we would remove the computer from her room, right? Wrong. We are not looking for a stop for now. We intend on making a change forever. So, we left her with the computer to see what she would do. As expected, she did not so much as flinch at getting slapped down WWE style and STILL hangs out online but this time trying to avoid chatting directly in MSN as she thinks that is the main source of our information (she is wrong). She also changes the information for her blog site thinking we would not be able to follow (she is wrong). We let her do all of this to full prove to her that she has a major problem that she is currently powerless to stop. We intend to stop it for her. So, as she studies hard at summer school today (Math 10), she is onblivous to the fact that everything will be changing today. There is still some more Trini to be dished out and she should never be complacent in this household again.

Now, change is never in a bubble, so DW and I know it will be hard for us too because we have to keep up our end and do some things differently and to be diligent where she is concerned. We are fully committed to this so no matter what it takes, we will succeed in our goal. As we move forward in our goal of expanding our little family, we still have to take care of the existing one. It won't be an easy road but there are no other ones to take. One day, we hope, she can look back on this and smile knowing we did what was best for her.

In the meantime, bring da noise, bring da pain. :)

Ciao.