ww_watcher

Look JoJo, I am sorry that my two-cents worth seems to have bothered you so, and I read what Foamy T said but I did no harm and wasted no-one's time. Some may have even found some relevance to their own experience or at least sympathized (without your smug sarcasm). Foamy, I apologize for overdoing it a little and contributing to what seemed like a "computer war"; though I'll admit to whining. JoJo, mind your own business where I am concerned. They don't need you to protect them from me and if I need your advise or want your opinion I am not too proud to ask you directly.

Thank-you Dad. Since when was I subject to your approval or disapproval JoJo? Keep your holier-than-thou scolding to yourself. I am quite capable of deciding the "relevance" of my posts and would ask if I needed advice.

Yannow, My jobs have involved dealing closely with MS OSs since DOS 3.0, the IBM OSs (OMG WTF were they thinking?) , and (but not until later) Apple OSs to develop PC audio and the hardware MPEG codecs. I used UNIX at AMD but that was a different kind of job...anyway! Since I started using various forms of LINUX, prior to the Redhat distribution, I realized that the usual PC OSs stink. Not new news but I only have WinOSs on one machine because my son is a gamer and most of the stuff he does is in Widnose land. He whines and badmouths Linux BUT when he needs to correct a problem in Windows that requires being outside the "protected environment", such as getting rid of the McAfee virus-checker virus, he found it was easier -and healthier- to do things from the LINUX side of the computer. I seem to remember Woody also uses Linux. Since everything you need is free and far more well supported in LINUX (except for Acrobat/flashplayer for some reason and Silverlight because of copyright issues) why don't you geniuses just worry about Windows because us Linux users will adapt; in spite of Adobe's myopic reasons for not supporting Linux. Sorry, I'm just sore because I keep having to support the uselessly ever-changing landscape of Windoze in my work.

This guy once described himself as Frank Zappa's stunt guitarist...and he actually did play with Zappa and kids.

I Can no longer afford to pay but that's OK since most of my quality time is spent in the Old Fart's Rooms. I see enough of the RLC stuff to satisfy my extra-curricular boobie needs.

There is one Win7 machine and three running Ubuntu 14.04+. The multimedia server is the third Linux machine. My crappy LG pad doesn't count

My surfing buddies and I saw this at a drive-in theater in Pasadena, Texas. It had just come out and we wanted to see a titty movie before heading to Galveston. A girl in the car next to us puked during the scene with the frog and it started an avalanching puke fest beginning with her boyfriend. It was gross but I wasn't about to part with any of the beer I had drunk.

Your Dad and I are about the same age I think. The bottom two pictures come to mind. I actually never considered the story of the Lone Ranger to be anything more than fiction same as The Roy Rodgers Show.

Hey KK! I don't condone that policeman's behavior but it wasn't just the young lady who was a problem there. Her fellow guests had already started a heap of trouble and she was trying to tell a policeman to go away and mind his own business. If I have to intervene in the raucous events of a group of kids I sure as hell won't be following the direction of a bossy (or maybe hawty), loud-mouthed kid. She should have either shut the hell up or helped quiet the other guests there; the difference between a leadership role and and a hawty black woman (sorry, but some stereotypes are actually true). Instead of pursuing a more helpful and peaceful path she chose instead to follow the path of disrespect. At the least she should have directed him to a responsible adult. As a matter of fact I haven't seen an adult take any responsibility for what happened at that pool party and I haven't seen any report from the policeman's POV. This was another instance of "So what if we're playing our foul-languaged music too loud for hours and invading other people's property and pool and fighting and shit. Git the fuck outa here and leave us the fuck alone...cracker." Here's how it should have gone down. "Hello Officer. Yes Sir we'll get it under control. Sorry you had to be called." "Hey folks. The neighbors have started complaining about the noise and some of you have been going into our neighbor's pool. If we want to keep the party going we need to respect our neighbors and keep it down." Also, if any of my guests EVER confronted any of my neighbors the way they did I would have kicked them from that party so fast they would have had severe road rash by the time they stopped bouncing and skidding on the pavement...period. Dealing with the neighbors is the job of the host only. I personally would like to see the hosts's parents fined for this fiasco.

That's the readout of my first computer.

KK was correct. MLK© Blvd is 19th street here.

After Monday's rain one of my [2] back yards was 2 inches under water. While this doesn't seem at all bad compared to all the other flooding around here, this is where the dogs go and is considered no-man's land. Now it is smellier than a cesspool in summer and not even the dogs will go there. In the front of the house, the water started coming in under my garage (man-cave) door right where my expensive speakers are stacked. Luckily they are on casters but the drums had to be moved and the guitars taken into the house. What a wet couple of days! At least we didn't have to evacuate.

I use the Patchouli scented one KK.

Good Guess KK. I didn't realize just how international 6th Street was.

Hopefully you have a long list and plenty of time to attend it. My Dad is a 3 time survivor. Good luck and have fun anyway.

Maybe someday you'll show up on 6th Street and we can have a beer or 3. Just pop in here and give me fair warning.

Kitten, racism is a difficult subject because it is used caustically by both sides. You can't hide from it or squash it under the boot-heel of political correctness. So for you to get angry and storm off instead of stick around and re-educate us is - well - the reason this problem is perpetuated. No one wants to face it. They only want to complain about it and turn and walk away instead of dealing with it's root cause; and I guarantee it isn't because our parents were racists. You aren't going to make a change by trying to correct how we feel about them; only by changing how they feel about themselves. Do you really think that any hiring manager is going to hire the man who saunters over with his pants around his knees, uses foul language because they never developed their language skills, or expects special treatment because they are black. What about staying in school because your mamma said too not because the truant officer made you. Do you think most white folks enjoy sitting on the bus (I don't drive as a choice) hearing "that mutha-fucking nigga don' know fucking shit an' he nis mutha fucking nigger bitch don' know shit neither. Know what I'm saying? This nigger ain't goina' put up wid 'is shit no more Ima put a cap in his fuckin' ass then fuck is biaach up the ass till she turn inside out." All while there are small children around and their mothers are a part of this. At least when I tell white kids to watch their language around the kids they are attentive and respectful and don't threaten my "mutha-fuckin' cracker-ass" life. One should never gravitate to nor accept the lowest form of society; rather they need to start climbing up to ours.

Thanks Woody. I also forgot to mention Spics and Rican-ricans. Sorry if I left anyone else out.

Miss Kraft, When we, as a society, behave in such a way that brings shame and distrust we can't expect to have that ignored as individuals. We can earn it back over time but it isn't easy because of community memory; just like a badge doesn't earn you instant respect, it only allows you the benefit of a doubt. The breaking of a trust opens a door that can rarely be closed again. In my 50 years of memory I cannot think of a time when the black folks as a whole didn't ask for handouts or create grief when asked to earn it. Individually is different. I can think of many who don't have time for those kinds of shenanigans. The Romans taught us that no society will ever be accepted into another unless they, as a whole, have something to contribute that benefits everyone. Off hand I can name a few contributors. Daniel Williams - performed the first successful open heart surgery. Vivien Thomas who developed the techniques used to treat Blue-Baby syndrome. He started out as a janitor in the hospital, then a Dr Blalock discovered he was good at making tools for surgery and eventually started teaching cardiac surgical techniques (readers Digest version- he really did a lot more); all this without college. Or George Washington Carver who was experimenting with the uses of peanut oils and wound up saving the south's cotton industry by switching from cotton, which was being decimated by the Boll Weevil and nitrogen depletion of the soil, to peanuts; starting crop rotation as the result. Jimmy Carter can thank him for that. However stupidly, the folks decided to erect a statue of the Boll Weevil instead of Carver. Why doesn't the black society use them as role models instead of Malcolm X and his ilk. Even Rev (NOT) Jackson who preaches "give to the blacks" and "resist whitey" not "dig in and work for a living", or "rebuild a stand-up family structure". It doesn't take money to throw away trash instead of trash your neighborhood. It doesn't take money to take care of the things you have. Or listening to the nearly unintelligible conversation coming from supposedly English speaking folks; and I actually heard one say that english isn't their real language; that they are African descent and English doesn't come easy to their tongues. THAT's Horseshit! Their generational history in America is longer than mine by nearly 100 years. I could learn any of the African languages in a few months and within a few years may not have a consequential accent. I am not a racist or I would also be against Chinks, Wops, Beaners, Japs, Gerry's (Krauts), and Micks. No amount of of political rhetoric is going to change these things only hard, honest work. And that includes pulling up your pants, speaking clearly without the prodigious use of expletives and derogatory names for each other.

Anyway, back in Baltimore, now some folks are dissin' Whole Foods because they offered free sandwiches to the National Guard. It's pretty sad when you complain about the white aristocracy because your kids are missing their [free] meal because they had to stay home from school because of the riots. For heavens sake if your kids are at home, feed them. But the NG folks aren't at home. They're in harm's way protecting your butts from the Thug March. I agree with Woody, except I don't like the word "nigger" and won't use it. I come from Houston (though I left about 30 years back) and never really had the problems they do now. The neighborhood I left was predominately white and very clean. Regardless of the race the folks got in your face if you started trashing the place. Now it is a mixed white, asian, and black neighborhood with the trash and crime and my old house is looking quite disgusting. There is no more pride of self; only entitlement of self. I no longer hear, "What can I do to help?" only "What's in it for me?" I no longer hear, "My kid did what?! Don't worry it'll get taken care of if I have to take it out of their hides." I hear the foul language, I hear the needlessly hurtful disparaging remarks for no better reason than to artificially lift the self esteem of the deliverer. BTW Woody. A while back I said something that made you angry with me. I still don't know what it was but I apologize.

Miss Kraft, I had to laugh at what you printed. I haven't seen that language since the L.A. homies tried to pass off Ebonics for a real language. I hear that sort of guttural street mexican now and then and I always wonder why folks like to imitate the lowest form of human behaviour. ...baseball caps worn rakishly cocked off to one side, pants worn at the knees, all the stupid assed gang punk signs that are supposed to mean "peace", duck lips that are meant to be sexy. I guess I am just getting old...alas. At least I play jazz and brew my own beer so I do have some redeeming qualities for my age. I know why you wrote it so party on dude...ette.

re: The chair that rolled forward on Nora. I had one like it that came from Ikea. It did exactly the same thing to me only I ended up with a spiral fracture on the pinkie of my left hand. I've had to learn to play my bass again since the finger didn't heal exactly straight. I am glad she didn't whack her head on the corner of that table.

You know what I hate...to laugh about? Austin is hands free for drivers now and it's about time. So the other day I am walking to the bus stop, on my way to work. I was crossing the street, with the light, in the crosswalk, and some bozo nearly hits me - missed by about a foot because I was watching and backed up. So I slapped his car on the way by and this not only startles him (the driver) but pisses him off. Firstly he isn't supposed to be texting while driving and secondly he nearly got me. So he pulls over presumably to kick my ass or at least yell at me; however before he gets out of his car he takes the time to finish his conversation -which is polite for the person at the other end. By that time I had finished crossing the street and was walking up the sidewalk past his car he had lost track of where I was and had to look around to find me. I was standing at the front end of his car, still on the sidewalk but just standing ... waiting... What he didn't realize though, because he was so intent on his phone use, was there was a policeman in the parking space behind me getting out of his car with ticket book in hand. The Dumbass driver got out only "Hey asshat..." before he realized his second or third screw-up. The policeman knew better but responded with "That better have been aimed at the person on the phone with you." Now, remember when I said he pulled over to yell at me? Well, he didn't pull off the road and was now blocking traffic. So what does the driver reply? "Did you see him hit my car?" The officer calmly asked, " You mean when you almost ran him over while you were texting? Yes I did and I also noticed you drove through the crosswalk while there was a pedestrian in it and you are now illegally parked and blocking traffic." "Did I miss anything?" Since the bus came before all the tickets were written I missed out on the rest of the conversation but that policeman was obviously good natured, I think since there had been no harm done, and had a wonderful, to me at least, sense of humor. Justice waited about two more hours before finishing up. It turns out the driver was a student at the business school where I am employed and I saw him again when I went into a class to help a professor. I had to ask him how it turned out and his reply was "because of you I may lose my license for six months." My answer was, "you mean when you almost hit me in a crosswalk while texting and then pulled over to yell at me for slapping your car as you passed, without pulling out of traffic and still taking the time to text some more. All this with a policeman near enough to see everything? I'm so sorry for your troubles." It was quiet as a cemetary in that classroom.

That last picture reminds me of the time I made two 5 gallon batches of Mead. One plain and one kissed by the Green Goddess. They had set-up for almost a year (almost ready) when the wife and I detected the distinctive odor of rotting flesh coming from the crawl space under the house where I stored the fermenting elixir. What I found was the carcass of a dead Raccoon that had knocked over one of the big glass bottles (corboys) and somehow broken off the neck. We believe it drank itself to death...or maybe had ingested some glass shards. Strange for an animal to drink that much, but after all, mead is made of honey...

...and this one