No pictures please! :)

New Teeth

Internet access

Finally.

I have been trying to sort out the details of this new place. It is a temporary solution to a problem thrust into my lap. Bell South .net have been dickheadz but have finally gotten me online. Had to buy a new modem cause I suppose they didn't like Verizon's modem. At least We have a high speed connection. Have been also struggling with Dish Network for the past couple of weeks and finally got that up and running.

Loads of Bugs in the South and a very different place. Filled with nice people but also some rednecks as well. Not saying that rednecks can't be nice people, but just saying that there are loads of both nice people and rednecks.

The weather is nice and the Cost of living is cut more than 3/4ths, will try and find a job that I enjoy. The best thing is that when we arrived there was NO SNOW on the ground, unlike when we pulled away from Boston. We got shafted by Penske cause the dicks charged us $1544 for a damn rental truck -that got about 3 mpg (although new and way better than Uhaul's offer of $2100)

Purchased packing material and boxes from Uhaul though for about $350 and so we are going to keep those and use them on our next move. (should be soon)

Love the area though. A much slower pace than Boston. I already miss Iced Coffee and good eats.

I am happy to have internet back.

I left my DNA in Massachusetts

The move day yesterday was ok, despite a few problems, first being we went to Medford, got the truck and then we got home and realized that the hand truck thing wasn't in there. The packing went OK - I got a few nicks, scratches, cuts, hence, the title of this post. I am tired and sore. The hotel is nice though. We didn't leave Boston until 730pm last night. We decided to press on and arrived here, at Wilkes-Barre, PA at 2am.

Today we are going to hit Bristol, VA. About 8 hours down the road.

Wish us luck.

Moving day tomorrow

Desktop PC is packed. Modem and router siton the desk , while I type this on Ashley's laptop.

Time is moving too quickly.

File this one under....

STUPID AS HELL

Article

By Daniel Yee
ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:40 p.m. March 14, 2005
ATLANTA – The deputy, a 51-year-old woman just 5 feet tall, was simply no match for the inmate she was escorting to the courtroom, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound former college linebacker on trial for rape.

Authorities say Brian Nichols overpowered deputy Cynthia Hall, took her gun, and easily gained access to the courtroom, where he went on to kill the judge and a court reporter. Security cameras captured images of him overpowering the deputy, but no one, it turned out, was watching the screens.

There were more security gaffes. Earlier in the week, Nichols was found to have had two homemade knives in his shoes while in court. And the vehicle reported to be his getaway car was found more than 13 hours after the shootings – in the same parking garage where it was allegedly carjacked...

Who in the fuck's idea was it to have a 51 year old Grandmother guard a dangerous dude like this guy? If there would have been a proper guard then maybe 4 people would still be alive now. Its not misogynistic, its just the cold hard facts. Mixed in with some common sense.

Nearing move date

19 MAR 05 -Move date.

So far the weather looks like it will cooperate. Good news for us. I am now on hold (have been for about 15 min) with Verizon DSL. (3rd on the list of bills to notify of our move)

Going to be busy this week and next week. I may sign in for a few more posts before Saturday. But after that it may be a few days before I can sign in. Might hit a Panera Bread somewhere using Ashley's wireless laptop.

File this under...

OBVIOUS

Last year and the year before that I remember these guys on the news bitching and moaning that they had to use GPS enabled phones. I can't say I am surprised at this story. ON the way back from work today (cleaning job) I saw no less than 10 trucks parked underneath an underpass (GPS doesn't work under bridges) and right next to this underpass is a Dunkin Donuts.

Plow drivers charged with cheating state
By Associated Press
Friday, March 11, 2005

HINGHAM, Mass. - As snowplow driver Paul V. Gratta made his rounds during a fierce winter storm, the state police troopers tailing him say they saw him stop along the road, put a device tracking his movements in a paper bag and leave it sitting in a pile of snow.
With the global positioning system sending out its signals from the snow bank, it would appear to Massachusetts Highway Department officials keeping tabs on the crews clearing snow that Gratta was idling alongside the highway.
But Gratta was actually doing more lucrative private plowing jobs at the same time he was being paid $105 an hour by the state, Attorney General Tom Reilly said.
"He was pretty crafty and shrewd,'' Reilly said at a news conference near the same stretch of Route 3A where Gratta was making his rounds. "He left that GPS in that bag near where they generally stop for coffee. So that would have been the explanation for that: that he had stopped for coffee or to get a bite to eat.''

For the apparent double-dipping, Gratta, 50, of Cohasset, was charged Friday with fraud and larceny, along with employee and alleged accomplice Frank Eddy, 33, of Hull. Both pleaded innocent at their arraignment in Quincy District Court and were ordered to return to court on April 14.
Gratta, owner of Hull-based Hub Construction, has been a state snow plow contractor for 15 years, said his attorney, Robert L. Jubinville.
"I think it's a kind of sketchy case from what I know of it,'' Jubinville told The Associated Press. "It seems to me to be a big fuss about nothing. It'll work itself out through the court system.''
Messages left at Gratta's home and at Hub Construction on Friday were not immediately returned. A phone listing for Frank Eddy could not be located.
The alleged scam was an end-run around the GPS system that MassHighway put in place last winter. Worried about fraud, the state began requiring its plow drivers to bring along a phone containing GPS technology, so officials would know whether they were doing the assigned work. [continue]

Zonked Out

Still Happy

Happy!

New photo of Daniella

Sad

DefenseLINK News: Scam Targets Families of Servicemembers Killed in Action

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2005 -- Officials with the Department of Homeland Security are warning the public about two new Iraq-related Internet scams, including one directed at the relatives of fallen U.S. soldiers.

"These new Internet fraud schemes are among the worst we have ever encountered," said Michael J. Garcia, assistant secretary of homeland security for immigration and customs enforcement. "Most troubling is the fact that some are targeting the relatives of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. We are also concerned about the fact that these criminals are impersonating (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents and referring to ICE's official Web site in an effort to steal money from Americans who have lost loved ones."

Winter

The endless, unforgiving winter will continue to punish us all.

The 16th winter storm is hitting us with force now. Sustained wind speeds of 35mph. Gusts as high as 50mph. Snow in excess of 8 inches. Wind chill values below -20 F

Today started out rainy and grey, then moved to sleet, and then heavy snow.

Typical

CoolTechZone::New virus found in phone messaging

A new mobile virus seems to have found its way to Nokia Smartphones that use the popular Symbian operating system, but neither security firms nor Nokia is worried about the threat.

The Commwarrior.A sends itself to numerous unsuspecting users by replicating itself as a multimedia file. It also tries to spread via the Bluetooth wireless standard and eventually drains out the battery.

Monster.com

Quite a good site that is. Created Resumé, applied to various positions, and made my resumé searchable.

Just got back from spending $215 on boxes and packing material from Uhaul. (what a rip) But we need boxes.

I will also miss...

• UTZ, Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Wachusett chips.
• Poland Spring Water (although you can get this in CVS stores apparently)
• Finagle a Bagel stores :(
• Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire (and Mass of course)
• The availability of good quality beer close at hand.
• Quality Ice Coffee (I can not stress the significance of this! -Am going to have to start brewing my own once we move.)
• Excellent delis with quality lunch meats and breads (They have Panera down there but nothing to even compare to "Munchies deli"
• The awesome experience that is Jordan's Furniture.

More to come...

What I will miss about New England Part 1

With a move date of 19 MAR, I am going to start making a list of things I am going to miss about this place.

• Market Basket and its cheap yet quality food. In addition to the availability of imported goods from all over. (i.e. jams from Ireland, Crackers from Brasil)
• Dunkin Donuts and its coffee.
• Vinny T's

Will think of more later...

Fossett Makes History with Global Flight

Fossett Makes History with Global Flight

Part-time adventurer and Chicago millionaire Steve Fossett made history on Thursday afternoon becoming the first person to fly solo around-the-world without refueling.
Fossett left on his four-day journey on Monday evening from Salina Municipal Airport in Salina, Kansas aboard his single-engine Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer plane.

The 60-year-old endured a lack of sleep, food and even fuel during his 23,000 mile journey.

The attempt was in jeopardy late Wednesday when his on-ground crew realized the plane was short 2,600 pounds of fuel. Fortunately, the winds remained strong enough to allow Fossett to complete his journey landing the plane at 2:50pm EST back in Salina some 67 hours after takeoff...

Cool

Update

Haven't signed in for a while. I have hit a low point recently. Just lost my job.

But I am trying to pull myself out of this to the best of my ability. We are going to have to move. The COLA index here is way too high. Looking to move to TN where the COLA index is below 1.00 as opposed to 1.98 here. That is going to help a great deal.

Will keep tabs

A Gangsta Bitch...

Link

Lil' Kim, 29, whose real name is Kimberly Jones and is known for her outrageous outfits and lyrics, faces up to 30 years in jail if convicted of perjury and conspiracy...