Month: October 2003

These are sad times

You know, I get really annoyed and saddened to see good friends of mine get screwed, get pay cuts, etc… . I won’t mention company names here, because I don’t want to see my good friends get screwed. Recently, some former co-workers and some good friends of mine (from a few companies) confided in me the situations they’re going through at their respective companies. In one instance, the CEO of the company owes several employees thousands of dollars, won’t pay up, but keeps promising the money is coming. To those people (and you know who are): file a wage claim or take a class-action lawsuit. The CEO you’re dealing with is a man who will do everything in his power to screw you. Those who are still left with the company, get out while you still can. Those who managed to get out and find other work, consider yourself blessed.

The other instance, the once large, energetic staff that was trying to compete with a large, stable, organization, is laying off folks, running a skeleton staff, and the staff that’s left is taking pay cuts just to see the company survive. It’s sad when this has to happen, especially when you have mouths to feed.

To all of you, I wish you good luck, and I’m just really glad I’m not jobless — it sucks, I’ve been there.

October 7, 2003

Man, 85, allegedly planned to have sex with girls, 9 and 12

You sick, sick bastard. Leave the gene pool, for the love of all things holy.

October 7, 2003

Can’t you just buy regular damn coffee anymore?!?!?

7-Eleven used to be one of the only places that you could get just basic, no frills, coffee (you certainly can’t walk into Starbucks and ask for it). Well, 7-Eleven has moved to a “Beverage Bar” setup, according to this press release:

The new 7-Eleven hot beverage bar will feature: five or more varieties of coffee (Exclusive Blend, Dark Mountain Roast, 100 Percent Colombian, Decaf, Flavored), four Italian-style flavored syrups (Vanilla, Caramel, Hazelnut, Irish Creme), five toppings (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Vanilla, Chocolate, Mini- marshmallows), Steamed Milk Mix, Hot Chocolate made with Hershey’s Cocoa, Flavored Cappuccino, Half and Half and flavored creamers (French Vanilla, Hazelnut, Irish Creme), sugar and artificial sweeteners, and seven varieties of teabags (Black, Earl Grey, Green, French Vanilla, Orange Spice, I Love Lemon, Mint Medley) to be brewed fresh with hot water.

That equals out to over 1300 combinations of stuff. Link via Tara at PR Bop, who points out “Look, I can barely choose from all the cold drinks they have now. What am I going to do when it gets cold, I stagger in to the 7-Eleven, and I’m confronted with this beverage bar? I’ll tell you what: my brain will lock. I’ll probably end up getting Earl Grey with caramel syrup and mini-marshmellows or something.”

October 7, 2003

This lady needs to run for president

In remarks on a radio interview, Maryland’s first lady Kendel Ehrlich said “If I had an opportunity to shoot Britney Spears, I think I would.” Why don’t people like this run for office?

October 7, 2003

This was a new spam for me

I generally don’t even read my spam, but this one happened to make it past my spam filter of choice. I’ve obviously deleted the filename so you don’t go clicking and getting more traffic sent to me:

A revolutionary new service connecting cheating wives with single men. They are lonely and they need a real man to satisfy their intimate desires. Browse the database and get a date with a cheating wife tonight.

http://datemakermania.com/ocw/xxxxxxx.html

Just what you need — a date with a married lady who probably has a rich, powerful, 6′ 5″, 250 lb husband, ready to kick the crap out of anybody that looks wrong at his big-breasted model of a wife. Thanks, but no thanks.

October 7, 2003

Are you depressed?

Then please don’t use this as your hair dryer in the morning. It might push you over the edge. Link via alldumb.com.

October 6, 2003

Ding dong, the witch is dead

Verisign has pulled their controversial SiteFinder catch-all domain service. Full Story.

October 6, 2003

Man Wants to Question Parrot in Court

A man claims a woman wrongly adopted his lost parrot ? and he can prove it if given a chance to question the bird in court. Full story.

October 6, 2003

The FBI Debit Card Scam

OK, since Barney got screwed by the latest PayPal scam, I figured I’d post this one not only to make sure that he’s aware of it, but you are, too.

I just got this sent to me via e-mail in what looked like an official FBI e-mail (I wouldn’t know what an official e-mail looks like, as I’ve never gotten one). But it was from “[email protected]”:

Dear inhabitant USA.

FBI together with government carry out investigation concerning financial thefts of money from accounts of holders of debit cards. The earnest entreaty to all owners of debit cards to follow under the link that is lower for more detailed acquaintance with a situation and to take necessary measures.

or follow this link https://www.fbi.gov/debit_theft.html

Help the government to rescue the country and yourself from financial crash.

It’s an HTML-formatted message, so the link to www.fbi.gov/debit_theft.html actually goes to 64.246.47.234//urgent_messages/debit_theft.htm which, needless to say, is not the FBI’s site.

So just for kicks, I went to the link, and it asks for your debit card number, expiration date, and PIN.

Needless to say, I didn’t give it that information up. You should NEVER give out your PIN, not even to your bank (as any good bank won’t ask for it, but they can reset it). Regardless, don’t be stupid and fall for this scam.

Just an FYI: The IP address (64.246.47.234) traces back to Everyone’s Internet and I’ll be forwarding this note on to their folks there, and I’ll be letting the originating server of this e-mail (a Comcast machine) know as well.

October 6, 2003

What’s up with the Ortmans

OK, it’s been a while since I’ve updated everybody on what’s going on in the family life, so read on if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

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October 5, 2003