Guard Dog

I want to be Shryke, he gets more girls in a weekend than I do in a year...

I worked on my book most of the day. Watching the Florida-South Carolina game now. Thinking about dinner. Maybe just microwave a pizza tonight. The Coyotes have been snooping around at night. They are not making any noise but I'm finding their scat and tracks in the driveway.

I don't have links to back this up because the site I read it on is not around anymore, but as of early this year (shortly after the SoZ release) NWN had outsold NWN2 (including sales of Gold, Platinum, Diamond,and expansion packs alone) by less than 10K units, and remember it had been on the market for six years longer I believe. That indicates NWN2 had pretty robust sales. For all of it flaws, NWN2 was a great game and what you got out of the box (as far as the quality of the game, story, tools, etc) it was superior to NWN1 by any measure. NWN has had a much more active modding community and I think that is mainly because when NWN1 came out everyone who wanted to mod "got it out of their system" with that game. Even now the community made tools for NWN1 make it much easier to do modding then NWN2 and some of the mods submitted to the vault of late have been very high quality. I have noticed, unscientificly, that the rate that NWN2 mods are added to the vault have really fallen off of late. That is to be expected. The rate NWN1 mods are added has been steady for years now asnd I imagine it will be for years to come because there is a small group of dedicated gamers who keep playing and refreshing it. I don't know if NWN2 will have the same thing two or three years from now. I sort of doubt it but I hope it does. If the interest stays up maybe we'll get another one somewhere in the future.

It was psuedo-sarcasm. Since we are talking about economics and tax policy it is relevant to point out that the same political school of... ahem... thought is responsible for the policy decisions in two of the states that are drowning. Actually, Michigan is pretty close to failure too. It would also be relevant to point out what political party makes State policy there. Texas and Oklahoma are cash positive and are experiencing growth, and it would be relevant to point out that the Republicans dominate the State government in those two states. Granted, all states are experiencing economic stresses that are beyond their ability to control but how each state reacts to the same enviorment that all 50 must deal with go a long way to deciding that states financial health as a whole. And the people who make the policy are the ones who get the blame or credit so examining their political phliosophy (their party affiliation is a good indication of this) makes a lot of sense. So I'd say my conclusions are not pointless at all but actually pretty accurate in the case of California, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Democrats that run NY and CA continue increasing taxes and spending, utterly ignoring the fact that people who actually PAY those taxes are leaving those States in droves BECAUSE they are doing that.

It is now a two horse race to see which state is the first to fail. New York State will run totally out of capital before years end. What do New York and California have in common? Foolish spending, uber-high taxes, and a rapidly declining population of upper middle class and affluent citizens (the only ones who actually PAY those ridiculously high taxes) and the business they work for. Think about t, Chase, Citibank, MBNA, EIB, Tyco, Lynxis, JC Penny, and Verizon have all left New York for other states with more business frendly tax policy and everyone employed there either left with them or lost their job. Taxing major companies and affluent citizens out of your state is stupid in the extreme. It's like cutting your own throat. http://wcbstv.com/cbs2crew/david.paterson.....2.1300362.html Oh, yeah, what else do New York and California have in common? They are both utterly dominated by the Democrats. Go figure....

I don't know Lare, I drink almost every day, although very seldom to any kind of excess and I do enjoy it. Here is a fast fact for you though. No one has ever smoked weed and killed their wife/husband. Alcohol can not not say the same. In fact they might have gotten stoned and decided NOT to kill their wife/husband.

Now reading As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me by Josef Bauer, about a German POW who escapes from a Soviet Labor Camp (yes LoF they really did have them) and sneaks all the way from the Urals to return to Germany. Great story. Just finished No Less Than Victory by Jeff Sharra. Like most of his books it was good but not great.

True story, A man I know who was an RF Design Engineer at AT&T, brilliant guy too he's forgotten more about radio theory than I'll ever know, was under so much pressue leading up to the launch of the UMTS network that he did not eat or sleep for days at a time. Finally when the launch was a resounding success he simply packed up his office and quit without a word to anyone. He moved to Indiantown Florida and opened a little Ace Hardware store there. He has no stress, sleeps fine and enjoys his meals now. No medication required. Sometimes instead of medicating it's better to remove the stress, or remove you from the stress. There are times I think about doing the same thing, only I'd open a bait and tackle shop somewhere. Doggone mortgage is too high for that nonsense right now though. But my job isn't really all that stressful these days.

The ironic thing is if Obama comes out and flat out states that there is no alien ship in area 51 or anywhere else, no one will believe him who is already convinced there is. And Obama is probably the one they voted for... I'd believe him and I despise him. Go figure.

NO at STL: Saints DET at MIN: Vikings JX at NYJ: Jests BUF at TEN: Oilers CIN at PIT: Steelers DEN at WSh: Broncos AT at CAR: Carolina KC at OAK: Chiefs SEA at ARI: Cardinals DAL at GB: Packers PHI at SD: Chargers NE at INDY: Patriots BAL at CLE: Ravens Ravens and Browns for a Monday night game... what were they thinking?

I do have a sure fire cure for depression. Drink copiuos amounts of alcohol and keep a loaded handun on the kitchen counter. Sooner or later those nasty depression problems just sort of solve themselves.... OK, that is probably the most tasteless joke ever but you might as well laugh about things rather than cry about them....

Yep, it is the second most common motive in murders and suicides all around the world. But I'd tell her not to worry about the "suicide" ultimatum. They guys who talk about it won't really do it, and the one who would, would never tell you.

That was... just the worst football game I've watched since... I don't even know. Maybe since that 3-0 Monday night Replacement Rams win over the Replacement Bears in the strike year. Seven turn overs, nineteen penalites, The absolute inability of the 49ers to do ANYTHING in the Red Zone (including getting there despite 350 yds of offense). Every man on both those teams should hang their heads in shame. But especially Cutler because five picks in one game... man thats really something. Especially that comeback killing one in the endzone at the end. But come on Coach Singletary, if your team gets five picks in a game shouldn't you have a little more to show for it than ONE MEASLY FIELD GOAL? If you get five picks you should at least win by double digits not four points! You know who walks away from this looking like a freaking genius in Enoch, who had the good sense or possibly premonition to change his vote. Thats like deciding to take a cab on the day the train wreck happened. (Not the same scale of course)

I like the 49'ers at home tonight. Everything points to bears win, they match up well against SF, they have won the last four games against the niners, but this years the Bears are 1-3 on the road and the Niners are a team on the rise, not decline. I'm taking the Niners for the win.

It's not usually accurate to assume that layoffs always happen because the company wants to boost profits. Wells Fargo got rid of all their stagecoach drivers a long time ago because no one was taking the stagecoach anymore. Some times the service a particular group of employees provide is simply no longer needed. Thats what happened at my last job. I was a Microwave Network Design Engineer at AT&T for many years. AT&T divested their microwave networks. After that there was just nowhere for me to go but out. I wasn't laid off to boost profits, my job simply did not exist anymore. It happens all the time, a company stops making product X, everyone who works on product X serves no purpose now. If they can be moved or retrained the usually are but sometimes there is nowhere to go but out the exit. It sucks to be the one with no chair when the music stops but thats just how it is sometimes.

This weeks results: Kelverin: 9-4 Enoch: 8-5 Volo: 8-5 GD: 8-5 Season Standings: Volo: 86-43 GD: 85-44 Kelverin: 84-45 Enoch: 79-50 Kelverin bags the win but Volo is still out in front.

I sold the bumper pool table I restored today. I got $400 for it, with around $150 in it. I'm going on www.newegg.com later to buy parts to build a new PC so in one hand and out the other...

I stopped at Costcos on the way home today. It's a warehouse/price club type place where you can buy stuff in bulk. So anyway, I bought five forty pound (a little over 18 Kg) bags of premium dog food. Thats it, nothing else. So I'm waiting to check out and the doofy guy at the register says "you must have a lot of dogs!" I looked at him with a dead straight face and told him "No, I don't have a dog." He looked at me a little funny so I told him, again with a dead straight face, that I ran the Chili concession over at the fairgrounds. Then I took the receipt, and walked away. You should have seen the look on his face!I laughed all the way to the truck! I bet thet guy never eats at that chili stand again!

YEA!!!!!! YEA!!!! YESSSS! Finally! I must admit it was very cool seeing winky the pirate again. It was even cooler seeing Lee Roy Selmon, his brother, Doug Williams, Charley Hannah, and some of the other old time Bucs there at half time. The Bucs website has the whole ceremony on it. And best of all they finally got a win. And Josh Freeman looked GREAT! I hope Coach Morris sticks with him the rest of the way. They are likely going to have a high draft pick in a QB rich draft next year. It's nice to see they won't need a QB and can use that pick on a RB or defense. Or best of all, trade it down for more picks.

Thats it, this thread is over and 213374U wins! In all seriousness, the EU should worry the citizens of Europe. It was concieved as an economic alliance and is quickly and by fiat becoming a de facto European central government. There is a very real and inherent danger in surrendering the sovreignty of your own soil to a political body who does not care about or represent your interests and over whom you can exert no influence. Historicly speaking such a thing can only be escaped at the cost of blood. Actually there are many, many Americans discussing the same things following the many and flagrant Constitutional trangressions and power siezures by the US Federal Government over the past two administrations.

It is still a possibility. Just a lot less likely. If it ever does happen I'd want to be a ground zero for the first blast. I don't think I'd want to deal with the aftermath. That is unless I can ride the bomb down like in Doctor Strangelove. If ya gotta go, go with a bang!

Washington at Atlanta: Man, the Skins are a sad story aren't they? Falcons win. Arizona at Chicago: Arizona has been really inconsistent this year. But so has Chicago. Bears win Baltimore at Cincinnati: I don't like this game. Too hard to pick. Ravens win Houston at Indianapolis: The Colts won't win them all, but they will win this one. Colts win. Miami at New England: Okay guys, that Wildcat thing isn't fooling anyone now. Pats win Green Bay at Tampa Bay: Please please please please please let the misery end! Bucs win. KC Chiefs at Jacksonville: Bad Chiefs O vs bad Jags D. I bet this one ends up with a score like 9-6, all FGs. Jags win Carolina at New Orleans: Caraolina has a good record against the Saints but not THESE Saints. Saints win Detroit at Seattle: Seahawks should be able to handle this one. Seahawks win Tennessee at SF 49ers: Niners came close last week, look for a rebound here. 49ers win San Diego at NY Giants: What the hell happened NY? Giants win Dallas at Philadelphia: The Eagles seem to win games you'd think they would lose and vice versa. I smell upset here. Cowboys win Pittsburgh at Denver: Beating Denver is hard. Doing in in Mile High is harder. Broncos are 33-14 at home since 2001, best in the NFL. Broncos win

Okay, I said I was going to wait but...I didn't. It took a week but I read it. All in all a pretty good book. Nice to see plot lines beginning to wrap up and thankfully no new ones were started. This book moved the story forward which is a good thing because saying it had been stalling out would be too kind. One thought I had on the plot though:

Well, it's all over now. All in all the WS was great. I watched almost all of all six games. It had it all really, dominating pitching and freat hitting, comebacks, hight drama, an aging veteran turning back time to save the day (how about Matsui's performance especially in game six...amazing). It had everything you could hope for. It was a great end to a great season. The Rays took a step back this year, the Marlins took a step forward. Now we concentrate on football and the NHL but there will always be time for Hot Stove talk. Until spring training...

Took the day off today. I ended up playing cards at the VFW Post in Millington all day. Not what I had planned but it was fun. There was Jack Daniels on ice and Ashton Churchill cigars all around. I lrft with a little less money than I came with but it was worth it. Sometimes it's fun to just relax and swap a few war stories.