Welcome, spend your money, now go home

Just got this sent from a friend of mine (Update: OK apparently my friend is on the same mailing lists I’m on, as this was published in the LangaList, I just hadn’t gotten to that in my inbox yet). It was written for the mid-west, but could very well be applicable to Central/Eastern Oregon as well:

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IN AN EFFORT TO HELP OUTSIDERS UNDERSTAND THE MIDWEST UNITED STATES, THE FOLLOWING LIST WILL BE HANDED TO EACH DRIVER ENTERING THE AREA:

1. That farm boy standing next to the feed bin did more work before breakfast than you do all week at the gym.

2. It’s called a ‘gravel road’. No matter how slow you drive, you’re going to get dust on your SUV. I have a four-wheel drive because I need it. Drive it or get it out of the way.

3. We all started hunting and fishing when we were seven years old. Yeah, we saw Bambi. We got over it.

4. Any references to “corn fed” when talking about our women will get you whipped… by our women.

5. Go ahead and bring your $600 Orvis Fly Rod. Don’t cry to us if a flathead catfish breaks it off at the handle. We have a name for those little trout you fish for…bait.

6. Pull your pants up. You look like an idiot.

7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of mallards are making approach, we will shoot it. You might hope you don’t have it up to your ear at the time.

8. That’s right. Whiskey is only two bucks. We can buy a fifth for what you paid in the airport for one drink.

9. No, there’s no “Vegetarian Special” on the menu. Order a steak. Order it rare. Or, you can order the Chef’s Salad and pick off the two pounds of ham and turkey.

10. You can bring Coke into my house but it better be brown, wet, and served over ice.

11. So you have a sixty-thousand dollar car you drive on weekends. We’re real impressed. We have quarter of a million dollar combines that we use two weeks a year.

12. Let’s get this straight. We have one stoplight in town. We stop when it’s red. We may even stop when it’s yellow.

13. Our women hunt, fish, and drive trucks – because they want to. So, you’re a feminist. Isn’t that cute.

14. Yeah, we eat catfish. Carp, too – and turtle. You really want sushi and caviar? It’s available at the bait shop.

15. They are pigs. That’s what they smell like. Get over it. Don’t like it? Interstate 70, 80 & 90 go two ways. Interstate 29, 35, & 75 go the other two. Pick one and use it accordingly.

16. The “Opener” refers to the first day of deer season. It’s a religious holiday. You can get breakfast at the church.

17. So every person in every pickup waves. It’s called being friendly. Understand the concept?

18. Yeah, we have golf courses. Don’t hit the ball into the water hazard. It spooks the fish.

19. That Highway Patrol Officer that just pulled you over for driving like an idiot, his name is, “Sir”… no matter how old he is.

Now, enjoy your visit and go home.

I’m getting bored with TV, too

I’ll just do what this lady did, and chuck the TV out the window. She was quoted as saying “There was nothing decent on so I just threw the thing out the window.” She later mellowed out and watched TV with her kids.

When is spyware not spyware?

When you’re getting sued, you’ll do whatever a company says, even if it is a slimy company like Gator. Quoted:

In an effort to improve its corporate reputation, adware company Gator has launched a legal offensive to divorce its name from the hated term “spyware”–and so far its strategy is paying off.

I had very little respect for them before, but lawsuits like this make me respect them even less.

Bryant case tests rape shield laws = Careless bastard slew thy panties

This and other headline anagrams from Davezilla. Don’t forget that the comments on that site are always funny, too.

A random thought

Neil had a random brain fart: “While waiting for one of the lab machines to boot to XP Pro, a thought came into my head: if this is what XP Professional is like, what would XP Unprofessional be like?”

I think they already did a XP Unpro — it was called Window ME.

Bend had a video game company?

That was news to me until Jon pointed out a bit of local history. I knew we have some other major tech company offices here. I know Bend has a small Intel office for a few local geeks, and obviously Orcom is frickin’ huge in the utilities industry, but it is cool to know about what other tech companies have done around here.

Common Sense is Dead

(Got via an e-mail forward)

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend by the name of Common Sense, a virtuous one, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were lost long ago in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such value lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, and that life isn’t always fair. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge). His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentions brought us overbearing regulations: Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student. This only worsened Common Sense’s condition. He declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Finally, Common sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than their victims, and the Pledge of Allegence came under attack for using the words “under God”. Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, and after spilling a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers; My Rights and Ima Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still know him pass this on. If not, you give him a second death!

Don’t swallow keys from your keyboard

They hurt going down, and probably coming back out.

Kevin Costner as Neo? <shiver>

I love the Matrix movies, but I don’t like Keanu Reeves. Never really have, at least in the role he’s playing in Matrix. But I hate him less than I do Kevin Costner, who was seriously considered for the lead role in the Matrix series. I had heard rumors a LONG time ago that Jet Li was wanted as well, but turned it down. Instead, they got stuck with a guy that, really, has done some crappy movies. I’m sorry, but Keanu will always be Ted Logan or Tod Hawkes, in my mind.

Oh well … I know what I’ll be seeing on November 5th.

Update: Welcome to all the folks from Jon’s Matrix Name Generator. He was kind enough to link to me, even though I haven’t seen revolutions yet (don’t hold it against me — I haven’t had time to make it to the theater yet). BTW: My Matrix Name is Cairo 🙂

Cool Color Matcher, and even cooler coding job

The 5K is a coding contest that requires you to program a web page in entirely 5-kilobytes. One of the entries was linked on BBspot, and, along with EasyRGB, this is my new favorite color toy. Look at the code for the thing. That’s the tightest code I’ve seen in a long time.