Guard Dog

Calax if you don't mind a bit of advice, do some volunteer work at a charity. You have the time, it might make you feel better, and it will give you a chance to meet people in local business. Those kinds of contacts can often lead to good jobs. Especially when their description of you begins with "He works for a charity I'm involved with." United Way might be the best choice because they are very community oriented and work with a lot of companies.

I'd hardly call the use of the term "liberal" a pejorative when describing Obama. In the new American political definition of the word liberal (advocating strict government control over free enterprise and eschew individual and states rights in favor of federal mandate) Obama fits it to a T. Ironically if you ever actually looked up the word liberal and liberalism in a dictionary you would find this: "a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard c: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties" I could not imagine a definition more contrary to everything Barack Obama believes in. So I guess really he's not a liberal. He's a democrat. According to Websters those are two very different things. You would have a point here if West Virginia, Ohio, or any Western States had not already voted Republican in the last three presidential elections. But they did so I guess you don't. Those states you mentioned (except Ohio which Clinton won by a slim margin in '96) have rejected the last three male white democrats and now if Obama is in trouble there it must be because he's black. Maybe the voters in those states just don't like democrats? Nah that can't be it, they must be racists. Racism has been trotted out to blame for so many facts that are unpleasant that is is starting to lose its meaning. The charge of racism loses all gravity when it is applied to a political opponent who has done nothing but advocate or vote for a different viewpoint. And that is a shame because there are still racists out there in the national spotlight. For example Philadelphia Enquirer columnist Fatimah Ali wrote a piece promising an all out race war if Obama loses. I guess if the outcome of an election is enough to make someone take up arms against their countrymen it was inevitable any way. That would be the ultimate form of racisim wouldn't it? http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20...eorge_Bush.html

I need to switch my Baseball alligience. It would be so nice to be a fan of a team tht did not sell off all their players after every succesful year. Marlins face costly off season. Fire sale likely?

I bought the land back in May, then contracted the house in June. The walkdown is on Sept 9. The day after I'm going on a long road trip to pick up all of my dogs, they are scattered out over three states. And for all the lonely Obsidanites my hospitality is always yours if you bring me booze. I like Flying Dog, Rolling Rock, Guiness, and Knob Creek bourbon.

I just picked up The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I haven't read any fantasy in a while. Anyone ever heard of it? I just saw it on the shelf.

Emo? I'm not familiar with that one. What does it mean? Wannabes? Just curious. As for the teenage goth chicks of the early 90's and late 80's just remeber, speed metal had not come around yet, hard drugs were expensive and hard to come by, and everyone of that ilk thought grunge music (Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Ministry, etc) was cutting edge. It's probably changed a LOT since then.

Drove by the house for the first time in over a week today. They have all the siding on now and are starting to add drywall to the interior. Only two more weeks hopefully. It's looking like they will finish on time.

I will be honest, I do not date very much. After the divorce I've become very wary. And when I do I'm very picky. I won't date a woman younger than 30 and prefer a woman who has done something with her life (i.e. at least went to college). Keeping that criteria I have met very few dummies. Most of the women I've dated post divorce are just like me, been there and done that and just looking for a fun time and a little companionship to distract them from their real life problems. There was one who, I think, wanted to get serious but I gently broke it off early. I don't want to get married again, possibly ever, and certainly not soon. When I was younger I had only one rule, don't sleep with anyone you don't want to see again. Unless there was some kind of mutual understanding up front. Of course there were a few I thought understood and was wrong about. But I was not at all discriminatory about who I dated. The raving beauties always turned me off a little mentally because I found so many to be self centered and materialistic to a fault. Most were not really dumb though but they acted the part because I think they thought they were supposed to. My favorites were the ones who were quiet or never dated in HS then getting into college they were starting to really go out and live a little for the first time. They were always fun to be around. And Goth chicks, wild stuff there but for most of them it was just a phase. Most Goth girls I found were attracted to guys like me (the beach bum type) because we were the polar opposite of who they hung around with regularly.

Sitting at work with nothing to do. Absolutely nothing. I've been so busy I have not had time to think for weeks. Now all I can do is read my new issue of Popular Mechanics, surf the web, and watch the clock. Maybe I'll order Chinese for lunch. Watching the Olympics has me jonesing for Kung Pow chicken. This afternoon I'm going to this cool furniture store called Wood You. They make all wood furniture and do custom jobs to. I've always wanted a really cool desk and bookcase. Then I'm going to see the puppies and take them to the park. Writing this took 3 minutes. Only six more hours to kill.

They didn't' court martial me (I'm back home now) all they did was dock my last weeks pay (well after the Captain signed my paper) and send me home greyhound. What I really want to fight is my re-enlistment code. That sucker is the big thing that pisses me off, because I've got an RE-4 which means I'm unable to re-enlist and most federal agencies won't even look at me for a job... I'm just wondering how the heck to go about getting that changed. I had bipolar well before I entered the military, I just didn't think it was a big thing because I told my recruiter and all he asked was "are you on medications?" to which I responded no and he just went on like there wasn't a problem in the world. the thing I did knowingly (and stupidly) conceal was that I'd had counseling up until about 2 months before entering the navy. :shruggies: I guess I'll go Job corp or Borders (currently working on the app to the latter) I was curious about this so I did a little research. It all depends on th type of discharge you got. It sounds lie this will be an entry level separation or "For the Good of the Service" discharge which it a General Discharge or Medical Discharge. It that is true there may be very little you can do about the RE code. If it is a General on "Other than Honorable" that you would have legal standing to challenge since you did not deceive the service to enter. I've posted the Link below. The short answer is if you can upgrade the discharge it upgrades the RE code. Ironic isn't it, you have to hope for a bad deal to try to get a better one but if they give you a fair deal you have no shot at a better one. That's the US military for you. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Careers-Militar...ent-Navy-re.htm

Romance is an important aspect of any relationship. You can't have a healthy relationship without it but by itself it will not mean a healthy relationship. Romance should not be confused with love. You can have romance without love but love requires romance. I'm 37 now. I've been in relationships with many women but I can honestly say I have only loved two of them and married one of those. The first love died when the romance cooled off and we drifted away from each other due to career pressures. I was in the military at the time she had just gotten out and was starting her nursing career. I was sent overseas and the seperation drove us apart. Maybe had we had longer to build something it might have endured. I was very sad but told myself it was just bad luck and bad timing. The second love I actually married. There the romance was all we had. The other apects of love like mutual respect, complementary personalities, common outlook on life, etc. we had none of that. We were great in bed but for most of the rest of the time we were like two scorpions in a jar. It lasted seven stormy years and ended badly as all such relationships do. So you see here are two examples of failed relationships, one had all the other elements but no romance, the other had all romance and nothing else, Neither was healthy. Romance is important, it's like the mortar for the bricks. Without the mortar the house collapses but you need the bricks for the house. Thats my $.02

I've never been a big Rum drinker, I guess I just don't care for the taste. Sour mash whiskey like Bourbon is about the only hard stuff I'll drink. But American distilleries have elevated that to a form of fine art! As for the Russian invasion, heck I don't really know. Since I moved up here I've been in a news vacuum. All my stuff is in storage so the only entertainment I have is my XM, my work laptop, and a 7" LCD TV with a DVR/DVD player. Plus a few books and DVDs. Heck I'm only going to be here a month and a half so I don't even have cable. So I only get 4 channels. @theslug: It's coming along nicely now. Just the frame and foundation are up but it is nice to see. I've been working building a fence around the perimeter of the property and I should finish that by next weekend. Right now I'm living in a pretty crappy studio apartment next to Shelby County Community College. The house will be done next month. Originally it was to be ready for walkdown on 9/1 but it will be delayed at least a week. I've heard that is not unusual tho so what can you do. So? Whats the job?? Are you going to tell us or not?

Took the day off and worked on the new place today. Now sitting in a partially darkend room with a glass of Knob Creek listening th the Marlins vs Mets game on my XM radio. I was going to watch the Opening Ceremony but I'm not up for it. I'll record it instead. I'll catch the Rays vs Mariners game later if the whisky doesen't get me first.

What you don't know is that she, or he, had been enticing him -the hamster- all night and had planned the whole event. Now that IS evil. Must have been like that goldfish from South Park.

The whole plot of land is just shy of 26 acres. I'm working every weekend building a fence around the whole plot. Since I'm working alone it is one HECK of a hard job. Hot too. I've never spent so much time with a chainsaw in my life! Anyway, once the perimeter fence is completed I can start bringing the four dogs I have up here with me on the weekends when I work on the place. The house is coming right along. The well is done, the foundation and frame are up and every Friday when I go there more has been completed. It's VERY exciting to see. The house is in a natural clearing (that I enlarged a bit) about 1/3 of the way into the property. I cut a driveway in from the main road. The clearing is roughly 1.5 acres and I'm going to built a second fence (rubber coated chain link) around that part. When I'm home the dogs will have access to the whole property (except at night of course) and when I'm at work they will have the house and the clearing. I can't wait for Friday to get back out there. How the heck did your hamster drown? You didn't have a Richard Gere moment did you???

I'd say we build a giant supermax prision underground in the middle of interior Alaska. The prisioners will be confined to an 8X8 cell with no windows 24-7-365. They never leave their cells. They can receive no mail, no reading material, no TV or entertainment of any kind. They can recieve no visitors and take all meals through a slot in the door so they never see each other. And the lights will be on at all times so there will be no sense of day or night or any way to measure the passage of time. Then we take all death row inmates, transfer them there to live out their natural lives and abolish the death penalty. Anyone have a problem with that idea?

I received the design docs and prototype for the new beacon controller. Looks like I'll be busy sifting through it the next few weeks. I need to have all of my changes completed by 8/22. I'm renting a very crappy one room apartment in Bartlett now. It's just a 90 day lease so the rent was just god-awful. And I don't get to have any dogs with me. I've got dogs scattered accross 3 states. Two with my parents, one with my brother, two with friends in Ga., three with my ex, and four boarding in a doggie day care here in Memphis. I go see them every day though it's not so bad. It's always sad when I have to leave though. September can't get here fast enough!

Is that worse than an ulcer? It dosen't sound good.

I just finished The Afghan by John Forsyth. I can't really say I reccomend it, it was not that good. Next up is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stien.

I sold my West Palm Beach house today. With the crappy real estate market I ended up selling it for a heck of a lot less than I'd hoped, but it was enough to cover the closing and my down payment on my new house even after paying my ex her half. So since my new place won't be done until September I'm sort of homeless now. I'm meeting my ex-wife tomorrow morning to give her the check from the closing. If I know her she will be at the Palm Beach Gardens Mall before the ink is dry. I'm driving back to Memphis as soon as we are done so I guess that will be the last time I ever see her. Ever. I'm not sure how I feel about that... Tomorrow I'll see Florida in my rear view mirror for the last time. Turn the page....

damaging government property. couple guys in my brother's boot camp troop (US marines) got dinged for it. as i recall, they got bent for a few days as a result. this was back in 1990 when the san diego MCRD was still operational (didn't they shut that one down since then?). taks >.> well it's got another two days to heal before I ship out. Oh come on guys. Nobody ever really got in trouble for sunburn. I did hear the threat thrown around but nobody is seriously going do njp over a sunburn. As to your bothers story Taks they were in Boot Camp, the look for reasons to screw with you in Boot Camp.

i'm quite certain that there are really only 3 posters on this entire board, and i'm one of 'em. the rest are just a mish-mash of alts between the other two actual posters. is your new home in TN, GD? i recall you mentioning moving but don't recall if that actually happened. i'm jealous, btw. granted, i could never give up my family (kids do that), its just that there's something to be said for the bachelor life at times. taks Yep. I took a new position in the company and it required a move to the regional HQ in Memphis. My new place in about 20 miles north just west of a little town called Millington. As for the bachelor life I sometimes wish things had turned out differently. I think my ex does too but there is entirely too much bad history there now. Things are a lot simpler when you are single. I won't say never but I really do not see me wading into the marriage tar pit again. I've already experienced the three rings of marriage: The Engagement Ring, The Wedding Ring, and the Suffering.

Kind of a big day today. I met my ex-wife for lunch to discuss the sale of the house. I made it easy for her and told her I'd pay all the closing costs. It was a lot friendlier than I expected. When we were married we were like two scorpions in a jar. She was asking a lot about the new place, where, how big, how much. I really did not want to answer but wanted to be polite. She seems to be afraid after I move she will never see me again (she won't). I wonder why that bothers her. Construction began on my new place today. Yea! Tentatively the walk down will be 9/1/08. Closing on my S Florida house is next week. I can't wait to get all my dogs back together in their new house. This will be my last weekend in the S Florida place. I'm here with just one dog, one chair, my computer, and a cooler full of beer and stuff to cook on my portable weber.

Night I once went to an interview with two other offers in my hand. I ALWAYS ask for at least 24 hours to make a desicion on an offer. I'd ask for more if I had to travel for another interview. Never accept an offer the moment it's tendered. Who knows, if they start to sweat they may offer more. It's never happened to me but I have heard of it.