....that I really don't like Microsoft products anymore??
Or PC's anymore?
Really...the only MS product I use on a regular basis (besides XP) is Office and even that can be replaced by Open Office.
The more my laptop has issues, the more I want a MacBook Pro. Heck...any Mac will do.
There are only 2 programs I use that only run on Windows...
Logbook Pro
Paint Shop Pro
I can run WinXP as a Parallel to use Logbook Pro and I can download GIMP or Elements to photo edit.
So why do I need a buggy, virus-susceptible, platform that merely mimics what Apple's been doing for years?
I know the prices for Mac's are much higher than PC's but I added it up...If I'd had purchased a MacBook and an iMac, I would have spent about the same on what I have now. (Hardware and software included.)
Oh well...when I have the money and when they die...my old PC's will be donated to a museum and I'll drop the dime on Mac's...
Eric
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Won't Get Fooled Again
Do you realize you probably get lied to on a daily basis? By people who purposely mislead you to get what they want?
We decided, due to my unemployment, to refi the house. Lending Tree said, "sure, we can do that!"
What was said on the phone: "We finance our own loans."
What's said in the documentation: "We intend to sell 100% of all loans."
What was said on the phone: "We need $400 dollars on your credit card to lock-in your interest rate. This will be reimbursed to you in the form of a check once the loan closes."
What's said in the documentation: "Your lock-in fee will not be refunded for any other reason (other than Lender is not able to close the loan)."
What was said on the phone: "There are no other closing fees other than the $3131 quoted."
What's said in the documentation: Column after column of "other" fees.
When confronted with these "discrepancies", we're told, "Well we don't know what your mortgage banker's fees are?"
"But you said there were no other fees?"
"No other fees from us."
"Even after we asked if there were any other fees, anywhere?"
"Well we don't know what your mortgage banker's fees are?"
"So you lied to us?"
"No. There was a miscommunication."
"Ahhh...so that's what a lie is called today!"
Eric
We decided, due to my unemployment, to refi the house. Lending Tree said, "sure, we can do that!"
What was said on the phone: "We finance our own loans."
What's said in the documentation: "We intend to sell 100% of all loans."
What was said on the phone: "We need $400 dollars on your credit card to lock-in your interest rate. This will be reimbursed to you in the form of a check once the loan closes."
What's said in the documentation: "Your lock-in fee will not be refunded for any other reason (other than Lender is not able to close the loan)."
What was said on the phone: "There are no other closing fees other than the $3131 quoted."
What's said in the documentation: Column after column of "other" fees.
When confronted with these "discrepancies", we're told, "Well we don't know what your mortgage banker's fees are?"
"But you said there were no other fees?"
"No other fees from us."
"Even after we asked if there were any other fees, anywhere?"
"Well we don't know what your mortgage banker's fees are?"
"So you lied to us?"
"No. There was a miscommunication."
"Ahhh...so that's what a lie is called today!"
Eric
Why?
"Why God? Why all this stuff I, we've gone through?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because I am God."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What's what supposed to mean?"
"What's 'Because I am God' supposed to mean? I mean, what kind of answer is that? I know you're God and God does what God does for a reason. I'm looking for the reason?"
"Hmmm...I have many reasons. But the answer to your question is, 'Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?'"
"What kind of Professor X answer is that!"
"I am God. I do what I want to do because I am God. Look Eric, You don't get to know everything that I know. If you knew everything that I know then you'd be God and while God is great and God is good, God you'll never be. It's a mystery. You like mysteries. You read a ton of them!"
"Yeah, but at the end of the book, I get to find out the 'why'!"
"I know...isn't it great!"
"Wha..."
"And does it always make sense? When the writer gives you his or her explanation? Or do you sometimes wonder whether they've lost their touch?"
"Arguing with you is never fun."
"On the contrary. I enjoy talking with My children. Not all of them take the time out to talk with me. Most ask and run. Many plead and beg and barter but never fulfill. Many curse at me, rant at me, rail at me. Why...you've done that haven't you?"
"Uh...yeah."
"And...?"
"The end result was you were still there, silently taking it all."
"Right. And did you always get an answer?"
"Sometimes."
"Look. It's a mystery. I didn't tell Job did I? Did I? No. And have you lost all? Job. Home. Children. Respect?"
"......"
"I'll take your silence to mean 'no'."
"......"
"Have I ever let you down? Have I ever left you forsaken? Hungry? Unclothed? Unfed?"
"No."
"Did I not provide you with a home, a wife, children, a livelihood, skills, talents, ambitions, discernment? Did I not save you, Patrick and Patti from smacking the ground? Well?"
"Like I said, arguing with you is no fun."
"Sarcasm...it has it's uses...just not here, not now. Remember, I am God. The last group of people who trifled with me have been in a constant state of war with their neighbors for millenia!"
"Uh...right. Sorry."
"Good."
*heavy sigh*
"I take it from your sigh that you are at least willing to concede that I am and have the right to remain, a mystery at times? That what I do I do according to My will? That My will is, after all, My will and being God I get to do whatever My will wants and My will wants what's best for My creation."
"Yes."
"Good...now go out and play today. No more sitting by the computer! It's sunny and you have errands to run."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"I get the last word Eric. I am God remember?"
"....."
Eric
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because I am God."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What's what supposed to mean?"
"What's 'Because I am God' supposed to mean? I mean, what kind of answer is that? I know you're God and God does what God does for a reason. I'm looking for the reason?"
"Hmmm...I have many reasons. But the answer to your question is, 'Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?'"
"What kind of Professor X answer is that!"
"I am God. I do what I want to do because I am God. Look Eric, You don't get to know everything that I know. If you knew everything that I know then you'd be God and while God is great and God is good, God you'll never be. It's a mystery. You like mysteries. You read a ton of them!"
"Yeah, but at the end of the book, I get to find out the 'why'!"
"I know...isn't it great!"
"Wha..."
"And does it always make sense? When the writer gives you his or her explanation? Or do you sometimes wonder whether they've lost their touch?"
"Arguing with you is never fun."
"On the contrary. I enjoy talking with My children. Not all of them take the time out to talk with me. Most ask and run. Many plead and beg and barter but never fulfill. Many curse at me, rant at me, rail at me. Why...you've done that haven't you?"
"Uh...yeah."
"And...?"
"The end result was you were still there, silently taking it all."
"Right. And did you always get an answer?"
"Sometimes."
"Look. It's a mystery. I didn't tell Job did I? Did I? No. And have you lost all? Job. Home. Children. Respect?"
"......"
"I'll take your silence to mean 'no'."
"......"
"Have I ever let you down? Have I ever left you forsaken? Hungry? Unclothed? Unfed?"
"No."
"Did I not provide you with a home, a wife, children, a livelihood, skills, talents, ambitions, discernment? Did I not save you, Patrick and Patti from smacking the ground? Well?"
"Like I said, arguing with you is no fun."
"Sarcasm...it has it's uses...just not here, not now. Remember, I am God. The last group of people who trifled with me have been in a constant state of war with their neighbors for millenia!"
"Uh...right. Sorry."
"Good."
*heavy sigh*
"I take it from your sigh that you are at least willing to concede that I am and have the right to remain, a mystery at times? That what I do I do according to My will? That My will is, after all, My will and being God I get to do whatever My will wants and My will wants what's best for My creation."
"Yes."
"Good...now go out and play today. No more sitting by the computer! It's sunny and you have errands to run."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"I get the last word Eric. I am God remember?"
"....."
Eric
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Shack - Argued
The folks over at The Kindlings Muse have a podcast up at their website discussing the pros and cons of the book "The Shack".
It's runs close to an hour but it's well worth the time. They make good points about allegory and story in modern evangelicalism or rather the re-discovery thereof...
Eric
It's runs close to an hour but it's well worth the time. They make good points about allegory and story in modern evangelicalism or rather the re-discovery thereof...
Eric
Saturday, September 27, 2008
I Blew It...
The Jehovah's Witnesses were out today, canvasing the neighborhood. I tried to avoid them but the old lady and her very young helper hung around until I popped out into the garage. I noticed them and quickly scooted back in. Too late! She rang the bell and I got to talk to...well...she did most of the talking.
Anyways...
She went on and on about how the earth was once a paradise and how God was going to suck all the evil people off the earth and how governments were killing the earth and how...well...the bottom line was she was well on her way to telling me that this earth, the one we are on today, will, once again, become a paradise for all of us to live on.
I said, "This earth?"
She said, "Yes."
I said, "This earth is going to be destroyed. A new heaven and a new earth will be created. Read your Revelations."
(Revelation 21:1
[ The New Heaven and the New Earth ] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
See also....
Isaiah 65:17
[ New Heavens and a New Earth ] "For behold, I create new heavensand a new earth,and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
2 Peter 3:13
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.)
She said, "Oh" and then "Have a nice day." Then left.
What I really should have said was...
"We believe all life resulted from a giant sneeze by the Great Green Arkleseizure and we're waiting for the return of the Great White Handkerchief"....
That's what I should have said! ;)
Eric
Anyways...
She went on and on about how the earth was once a paradise and how God was going to suck all the evil people off the earth and how governments were killing the earth and how...well...the bottom line was she was well on her way to telling me that this earth, the one we are on today, will, once again, become a paradise for all of us to live on.
I said, "This earth?"
She said, "Yes."
I said, "This earth is going to be destroyed. A new heaven and a new earth will be created. Read your Revelations."
(Revelation 21:1
[ The New Heaven and the New Earth ] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
See also....
Isaiah 65:17
[ New Heavens and a New Earth ] "For behold, I create new heavensand a new earth,and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
2 Peter 3:13
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.)
She said, "Oh" and then "Have a nice day." Then left.
What I really should have said was...
"We believe all life resulted from a giant sneeze by the Great Green Arkleseizure and we're waiting for the return of the Great White Handkerchief"....
That's what I should have said! ;)
Eric
Friday, September 26, 2008
$200,000 Mortgage for only $500 a Month!!!
You.
Stupid.
Git.
If you fell for this you bear some of the blame. But not all. Most of that goes to...well...watch this video. It explains it better than I can.
My bank, Wamu, with whom I bank and have/had my mortgage (we refi'ed last week with another lender) is now Chase. And Wamu's current CEO is getting his $18 million in severance. I'm going to his house to piss on his plants...
Eric
Stupid.
Git.
If you fell for this you bear some of the blame. But not all. Most of that goes to...well...watch this video. It explains it better than I can.
My bank, Wamu, with whom I bank and have/had my mortgage (we refi'ed last week with another lender) is now Chase. And Wamu's current CEO is getting his $18 million in severance. I'm going to his house to piss on his plants...
Eric
Friday, September 19, 2008
I Win.
My EDD appeal that is.
My former employer claims that I "willfully violated company policy" which, in EDD-speech is, "misconduct connected with work" which is defined as "...a substantial breach by the claimant of an important duty or obligation owed the employer, wilful or wanton in character (emphasis mine), and tending to injure the employer (Maywood Glass Co. v. Stewart - 1959)."
The employer has the burden of proving misconduct. Which they didn't.
The law goes on to say, "On the other hand, mere inefficiency, unsatisfactory conduct, poor performance as the result of inability or incapacity, isolated instances of ordinary negligence or inadvertence, or good faith errors in judgment or discretion ar not misconduct."
The verdict?
"It is therefore found that the claimant (me) was discharged for reasons other than misconduct connected with his work and he is not disqualified for benefits..."
So, I win.
Thank you God. Prayers answered. Wife relieved. We live to see Christmas!
Eric
My former employer claims that I "willfully violated company policy" which, in EDD-speech is, "misconduct connected with work" which is defined as "...a substantial breach by the claimant of an important duty or obligation owed the employer, wilful or wanton in character (emphasis mine), and tending to injure the employer (Maywood Glass Co. v. Stewart - 1959)."
The employer has the burden of proving misconduct. Which they didn't.
The law goes on to say, "On the other hand, mere inefficiency, unsatisfactory conduct, poor performance as the result of inability or incapacity, isolated instances of ordinary negligence or inadvertence, or good faith errors in judgment or discretion ar not misconduct."
The verdict?
"It is therefore found that the claimant (me) was discharged for reasons other than misconduct connected with his work and he is not disqualified for benefits..."
So, I win.
Thank you God. Prayers answered. Wife relieved. We live to see Christmas!
Eric
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
One Man's Landing...
...is another man's non-landing.
I just got back from my EDD Appeal. My former employer, at roughly $600-$700 expense, flew my former Director of Operations, to Redding to explain the company's side of the story because, "there is no one at the Redding base who is familiar with the situation."
Pardon my French but....
BULL.
SHIT.
The Base Manager was part of the whole firing shebang. Lying dirtbags.
So the DO and I are trying to explain to the Appeals Judge just exactly what a landing in an airplane is. I was even accused by my former boss for not knowing the FAA's definition of a landing.
Huh?
What a crock!
So my former DO makes it sound like I was still "flying" when I raised the gear by saying I was not fully "landed" when the incident occurred. I, on the other hand, took what he said and refuted it. I had landed. All three wheels were on the ground. I had applied reverse thrust to slow down. I inadvertently raised the gear. I screwed up. Some have. Some will.
My former DO was chastised by the Judge for trying to bring up other issues unrelated to the firing. The Judge set him straight. The Judge also got the DO to admit he doesn't know if the pilot followed the checklist or not. (I did.)
All in all, don't want to go there again. It's a 50-50 shot now. It all depends on who the Judge believes when it comes to landing. But basically, my former employer painted a picture of me as a rule-breaking, non-conformist who willfully violated company rules and damaged a $2 million dollar aircraft on purpose.
I really wished the Judge had allowed the other issues to come up as it would have given me excellent opportunity to, once again, state that the Director of Operations, knowing and willfully, ordered me to order a pilot to violate Federal Aviation Regulations.
What really cracks me up is the company is spending money to defend themselves to save approximately $4000 in unemployment benefits. This is a company that spends 4-5 million dollars on helicopters. Then pays more to outfit them. This is a company that spends hundreds of thousands of dollars in the aviation industry and makes only some of it back. This is a company that pays it's pilots damn good wages but is balking at $4 grand? Go figure.
I'm going to play some poker on the PS2 now to cool down...
Eric
I just got back from my EDD Appeal. My former employer, at roughly $600-$700 expense, flew my former Director of Operations, to Redding to explain the company's side of the story because, "there is no one at the Redding base who is familiar with the situation."
Pardon my French but....
BULL.
SHIT.
The Base Manager was part of the whole firing shebang. Lying dirtbags.
So the DO and I are trying to explain to the Appeals Judge just exactly what a landing in an airplane is. I was even accused by my former boss for not knowing the FAA's definition of a landing.
Huh?
What a crock!
So my former DO makes it sound like I was still "flying" when I raised the gear by saying I was not fully "landed" when the incident occurred. I, on the other hand, took what he said and refuted it. I had landed. All three wheels were on the ground. I had applied reverse thrust to slow down. I inadvertently raised the gear. I screwed up. Some have. Some will.
My former DO was chastised by the Judge for trying to bring up other issues unrelated to the firing. The Judge set him straight. The Judge also got the DO to admit he doesn't know if the pilot followed the checklist or not. (I did.)
All in all, don't want to go there again. It's a 50-50 shot now. It all depends on who the Judge believes when it comes to landing. But basically, my former employer painted a picture of me as a rule-breaking, non-conformist who willfully violated company rules and damaged a $2 million dollar aircraft on purpose.
I really wished the Judge had allowed the other issues to come up as it would have given me excellent opportunity to, once again, state that the Director of Operations, knowing and willfully, ordered me to order a pilot to violate Federal Aviation Regulations.
What really cracks me up is the company is spending money to defend themselves to save approximately $4000 in unemployment benefits. This is a company that spends 4-5 million dollars on helicopters. Then pays more to outfit them. This is a company that spends hundreds of thousands of dollars in the aviation industry and makes only some of it back. This is a company that pays it's pilots damn good wages but is balking at $4 grand? Go figure.
I'm going to play some poker on the PS2 now to cool down...
Eric
Friday, August 29, 2008
Dinked By God
I've been reading Job lately. It has come up in my daily reading. It also dovetails with what I'm going through personally. (Caveat...while I've lost my livelihood, I still have my family, some money and better health than Job!) Even my counselor mentioned the connection. He called it...
"Being dinked by God."
And I didn't like hearing that. The God of love is now dinking with me? What the hell for!! I need to be dinked with ? What about all the others out there who really need to be dinked with?!! (Politicians, lawyers, terrorists and welfare-cheats come to mind!) What did I do to deserve such treatment? I mean, I was pissed!
Then he said something that confused me, pissed me off more and made me stop and think.
He's dinking me because He loves me.
For some of you this is a conundrum. An oxymoron. But it is a common theme in the Bible. Not just Job. Think of Peter. Thrice denying Christ after being told he would. Jonah and the first submarine ride. Jacob working 7 years for Rachel only to get Leah. Joseph being sold into slavery. (And what good Jews his brothers were..."No! Don't kill him. We can make few bucks selling him to this traveling caravan!") Jesus saying that you had to deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Him to experience the good news. Paul, beaten 39 times three times, shipwrecked twice, stoned, jailed and left at sea for a day and a night. And he was the one God said, "you shall take the good news to the gentiles and I will protect you."
He's dinking me because He loves me.
And wants me to be something else, something better. And my counselor seems to think that God ain't done dinking with me yet. Severe turbulence penetration, termination from my job, PTSD, and rejected for unemployment all seem to be the latest means of dinkage from God.
I can look back throughout my life and see the hand of God's dinkage all along.
And it still pisses me off.
(I'm working on that attitude...really...I am.)
But I'm accepting it more each day. It's not easy (which also pisses me off) and it's not fun (which also...you get the idea). But it is needed.
I thought about it. The way God has been treating me. The way He uses it to make me grow. After my initial, "That's totally not fair" I realized I was doing the same thing to my own son. To make him better, stronger, more able to survive in the world. And I realized that my own Dad did it to me to make me better, stronger, more able to survive in the world.
I have to move beyond the anger and see what God is doing. And frankly, I can't see shit. Maybe the blinders are on. Maybe the anger is coloring things. Maybe the despair has bogged me down. Or maybe I'm in the fog for a reason and I need to trust that I will break out in time to see the lights and make a safe landing.
Eric
"Being dinked by God."
And I didn't like hearing that. The God of love is now dinking with me? What the hell for!! I need to be dinked with ? What about all the others out there who really need to be dinked with?!! (Politicians, lawyers, terrorists and welfare-cheats come to mind!) What did I do to deserve such treatment? I mean, I was pissed!
Then he said something that confused me, pissed me off more and made me stop and think.
He's dinking me because He loves me.
For some of you this is a conundrum. An oxymoron. But it is a common theme in the Bible. Not just Job. Think of Peter. Thrice denying Christ after being told he would. Jonah and the first submarine ride. Jacob working 7 years for Rachel only to get Leah. Joseph being sold into slavery. (And what good Jews his brothers were..."No! Don't kill him. We can make few bucks selling him to this traveling caravan!") Jesus saying that you had to deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Him to experience the good news. Paul, beaten 39 times three times, shipwrecked twice, stoned, jailed and left at sea for a day and a night. And he was the one God said, "you shall take the good news to the gentiles and I will protect you."
He's dinking me because He loves me.
And wants me to be something else, something better. And my counselor seems to think that God ain't done dinking with me yet. Severe turbulence penetration, termination from my job, PTSD, and rejected for unemployment all seem to be the latest means of dinkage from God.
I can look back throughout my life and see the hand of God's dinkage all along.
And it still pisses me off.
(I'm working on that attitude...really...I am.)
But I'm accepting it more each day. It's not easy (which also pisses me off) and it's not fun (which also...you get the idea). But it is needed.
I thought about it. The way God has been treating me. The way He uses it to make me grow. After my initial, "That's totally not fair" I realized I was doing the same thing to my own son. To make him better, stronger, more able to survive in the world. And I realized that my own Dad did it to me to make me better, stronger, more able to survive in the world.
I have to move beyond the anger and see what God is doing. And frankly, I can't see shit. Maybe the blinders are on. Maybe the anger is coloring things. Maybe the despair has bogged me down. Or maybe I'm in the fog for a reason and I need to trust that I will break out in time to see the lights and make a safe landing.
Eric
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