melog-20101123.log.0

i used to listen to pandora online radio rather frequently. especially after i learned how to link my pandora account with my roku box and play songs over the tv.

once my family found out . . . all your stations r belong to us.

my perfectly calibrated, personalized radio stations became hijacked and started being seeded with songs that contain lyrics like, "if you're sexy and you know it, clap your hands".

man . . . i like hip hop, but c'mon.

that's the other problem with pandora . . . all songs are the explicit versions. and, the roku box is so easy to manipulate. keeping kids from hearing a lot of explicit music it difficult to do without simply banning the radio stations.

i just renamed my station, "hijacked radio: my kids hijacked my stations".

if there is anything personal in your life, be sure that your kids, spouse, and nephew will hijack it in time.

oh well, when you can't beat 'em-- bounce wit it, drop wit it, lean wit it . . .

melog-20101123.log

i feel exonerated! i was supposed to have a project finished by 11/15 and i still haven't figured it out yet. but, after people started looking at the problem with me, we've found that we had very poor installation documentation. crucial steps were omitted from the install documentation and i've received very little support from the vendor of the product i'm trying to install.

once some people smarted than me realized the problem was in the documentation, i stopped feeling so bad about not being on schedule with the install.

so then, it's not my fault. it's the documentation's fault.

and even after trying to add in the omitted instructions, the gurus above me can't figure it out. so, i'm not crazy! yeah!

working with linux, unix, databases, and unfamiliar, open source programs, you often run into a lot of terse, cryptic (i really mean: bad) documentation.

now that i have evidence that the documentation was the problem, a weight has lifted off my shoulders. i was so stressed earlier.

///////////////////

my dear wife is having some confidence issues today. i wish i could wave my had and they all disappear. but, it's not that simple. i hate to see her that way. she's so hard on herself and becomes rather depressed at times.

but, she's doing a workout right now in the living room. so . . . maybe that will lift her spirits.

//////////////////

i went to an indian restaurant today and met my wife and a family friend there. good eats!

funny . . . a co-worker of mine went to a training class in new york city last week. he said that the city has an area known as indian curry lane that has almost 100 indian restaurants in the area.

wow. we probably only have two indian restaurants in our whole state!

well, i know that at least one of the two restaurants in our state is really good.

after my wife finishes her work out, she going to meet a new lady friend that i introduced to her a few days ago. she seems nervous about it. that's so odd to me. i would never be nervous if i were meeting another dude. she's going to meet her for coffee or something while i keep the kids (again).

i guess i'll fix some more tyson chicken patties for the kids. i think i'll just have a can of chilly beans for myself or maybe some ramen noodles.

i suck at cooking.

melog-20101122.log.2

i was an amazon junkie until i heard that they defended the publishing of an e-book that seemed to instruct pedophiles on how to carry out their desires in a "proper" fashion.

it's one thing for amazon to say, "oh, we didn't know this book was here. shit! let's take it down!"

nope. they said something like, "we don't want to censor people just because their content is objectionable--even though we don't condone it."

okay, that's not really an exact quote of their statement, but that's the gist of it, to me.

so, i decided that i wouldn't buy anything else from amazon until they admitted that they made a mistake.

boycotts were threatened. they pulled the e-book. their stock dipped mildly and came back up with little problem over the next few days.

i really wish we had stuck it to 'em. i know we live in a world of free speech. it's just that free speech does have it's consequences. it's free speech because the government cannot imped the delivery of the message. it's not free speech in the sense that it's free of repercussions.

anyway . . . i usually do all my christmas shopping from amazon because i hate malls and shopping centers and all that.

anyway. i'm trying not to bow down. but, it almost seems pointless to protest any more.

i wrote the letter to my brother about the mystery check he received. i hate having to do things like that. it makes the disappointed of his situation fresh again. he's older than me and i always looked to him for wisdom. many times, he was even a father figure. somehow, he seems to have become a bit delusional lately. i'm not sure what has changed about him. maybe i just never saw it before. maybe people can have uncanny wisdom in certain areas of their lives, and have uncanny delusions in other areas of their lives.

at least he's in a low security facility. it's not like he's in oz or anything. i'd be worried to death if that were the case.

my wife called me from her cell. that means she's off work and heading home. she's probably going to have a lot to talk about concerning work today. or maybe not. anyway, when she gets home, i'll try to spend a little time with her.

but first, i gotta get the kids in bed. it's late, but they don't have school.

melog-20101122.log.1

got tyson patties and mac n' cheese cooked for the kids. i'm a lazy cook. but, it's the only thing my kids will eat that i cook besides cookies, brownies or pies. i can bake sweets, but i can't cook a meal worth a damn.

well, maybe a hamburger. but, that's not really cooking. that's just turning meat over until it's done.

my wife and nephew-- now they can cook.

my kids are chowin' down now. so, they must like it at least some.

why does the water in my pot always start to brim over when i make mac n' cheese?

i don't know. but i know one thing-- nothing makes you feel more alive than a hot angry drop of boiling water popping onto the back of your hand!

i'm so glad i have a laptop now. my nephew is hogging our desktop computer right now. my wife doesn't want him on our computer, but geesh . . . man shall not live by bread alone, but should always have access to a computer and the interwebs!

i've never mentioned this before in any of my writings . . . but i have a brother who has gotten into some legal trouble and landed himself in prison. i have have alluded to it, but i've never come out plainly and said it. he's been in prison now for about a year and has four more years to go. he tried to appeal his case, but no dice. i think i could have advised his lawyers on a lot of points. i think my brother paid for bum counsel.

he had a lot going for him, but now he's potentially lost a good future. not just here and now . . . but if you project out what he'd have financially from his job and retirement, he would have done really well for himself.

i hate that for him. but, i fear he might be guilty and therefore got what was coming to him--unfortunately.

i have to take care of his financial business in the meanwhile. i have power of attorney over his affairs and i have to settle a lot of his debts on his behalf. with his money, of course. i got a letter for him at my address. i think it's a scam, so, i have the dreary business of writing him and asking him why someone sent him a check for over $1000 when he probably owes them over $2000.

ah well . . .

my son is eating at the table with me. he's talking to me while i'm creating this melog. he's telling me that he knows why the sun makes the sky look blue.

my daughter is drinking some of my cranberry juice and playing in her mac n' cheese. i guess she doesn't like it all that much after all. that's bad when a carboholic won't eat your mac n' cheese.

my washer has stopped. i guess i gotta start folding and drying.

i hate house work; house work is never done and it interferes with what i'd rather do. housework makes me feel like a damn slave.

ok . . . that's a bit harsh. but, still, i hate housework.

and yard work, too. so glad it's fall-- at least until it's time to rake the damn leaves.

oh wait . . . that's why i bought that big ass leaf blower / vacuum last year! ha, ha!

melog-20101122.log.0

an old friend called me today just before i left work. i haven't talked to him in years. he's a good guy, but he's hard to talk with on the phone. he starts talking and won't let you get a word in edgewise.

but, he'll bend over backwards to help you out when your in a jam. and he's a much better listener when talking face to face.

when i first knew him, i was really gun-ho in the pentecostal movement. i got him into it. after i was saved, i convinced him that i have found the truth. he was going down the nation of islam track in that time of his life.

i've long since left church altogether, but he's still knee deep in the moment. sometimes i feel like i owe it to him to tell him i don't believe in the apostolic doctrine any longer. but, then, he would probably rat me out if i told him. he's really chummy with my mother-in-law, who is a pentecostal minister at the church we all used to attend.

he never mentioned church until just before hanging up. he asked me if we visited the local pentecostal church in the suburb we've moved to. he figures that since we don't go to our "home" church any more, that perhaps we go to the church closer to our new home (we moved about two years ago to where we are currently).

i told him that we hadn't, but had thought about it (no, not really).

i suppose he went to that all night, shut in prayer service, too, like my mother-in-law. i suppose they now have a renewed sense for wanting to win souls and figure out why their loved ones won't return to god. when i was caught up in the movement, i spent a lot of time praying about those same things. i bet that's what they're doing, too. they think if they pray harder, fast longer, and give up more then god will touch our hearts and make us come back to "the fold". that's why i think they both asked me about church around the same time.

there most certainly would have to be a pentecostal god for that to happen, now that i've come to evaluate god and religion in a totally different light.

well, gotta pick up the kids from my mom's house. probably had better clean up, do a little laundry, and find something for dinner tonight cause the missus is working late tonight.

*sarcasm* yea. i'm a single dad tonight. */sarcasm*

melog-20101122.log

i get to have a lunch break today since school is out this week. usually, i have to sacrifice my lunch break to take my kids over to my mom's house after school. thanks to thanksgiving holidays, i get a week of lunches.

i went to a chinese restaurant today. they were playing chrsitmas music. here in the south, they play the local radio stations and holiday music. sometimes even country music. i've been to some resturants outside this state that plays traditional chinese music. i wonder if they are catering to the demographic of their customers, or if they simply don't want to continue portraying the stereotype he may have of the chinese.

oh well, the food was good and the staff was very friendly. and the christmas music was no bother at all.

my back feels a bit better. it took a muscle relaxer last night. i also drank a lot of cranberry juice. i think the muscle relaxer might be the thing that's helping. if this doesn't get better soon, i'll see a doctor. i don't want to find out that this was something worse 10 months from now.

my wife hates her job and is waiting for something else to come open. i hope that can happen soon. i think she's approaching her breaking point.

i might have been wrong about thinking we found our nephew's stash. i was hesty in saying such a thing as fact. but, i won't pry. we weren't snooping-- only making up the sheets on his air mattress.

lunch break is almost over. gotta head back to the office and get some more work done.

melog-20101121.log

my wife took my mom to church for me. i usually do it, but my back is still hurting me a lot.

i slept on the floor after watching some more claymore. sleeping on my back on the floor felt better for some reason than the bed.

my back is really aching. i took a goody powder last night. it hardly put a dent in the pain, even though the pain isn't what i would call excruciating. i've certainly felt worse pain in my back.

i had plans to go to a local atheist meet-up group. but, with my wife gone, i'm home with the kids. and with my back ache, i think i'll end up staying home.

i've taken some time to read some of my favorite blogs. i wanted to comment, but i didn't. it seems that what ever i could say is already said in a more succinct way. sometimes, and i don't think my mind can ascend to the cognitive level of conversation found in the comment sections of many blogs i follow.

they do give me something good to think about.

since thanksgiving is this week, there's no school for the whole week. lovely. i guess we gotta take them over to grandma's this week before work.

ok, my back is really annoying me. i'm going to lay down on the floor now.