It's sad to report that in other countries throughout the world, one can be jailed and sent to labor camps for up to 4 years without a trial or even formal charges. This all for the offense of taking photos of buildings that were destroyed in the quake in China. I'm thankful that as screwed up as our country is, there are far worse places to live.
Chinese man held for quake photos
7.30.2008
How sad...
'Extreme Makeover' Home in Foreclosure
Things couldn't look better three years ago for Milton and Patricia Harper of Lake City, who giddily accepted the keys to a small castle, plus enough money to pay taxes on it for 25 years.
Now, the Clayton County house that "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" built is a two-story, turreted example of how things can go wrong. It's in foreclosure.
The Harpers used the house at 5489 Ahyoka Drive as collateral for a $450,000 loan, Clayton County mortgage records show. Records at the law firm handling foreclosures for the lender, JPMorgan Chase Bank, say it is in foreclosure. The four-bedroom house with decorative rock walls and a three-car garage is scheduled for auction on the Clayton County Courthouse steps Aug. 5.
The Harpers, who declined interview requests when reporters knocked on their door Friday, told WSB-TV they got the loan for a construction business that failed.
Things couldn't look better three years ago for Milton and Patricia Harper of Lake City, who giddily accepted the keys to a small castle, plus enough money to pay taxes on it for 25 years.
Now, the Clayton County house that "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" built is a two-story, turreted example of how things can go wrong. It's in foreclosure.
The Harpers used the house at 5489 Ahyoka Drive as collateral for a $450,000 loan, Clayton County mortgage records show. Records at the law firm handling foreclosures for the lender, JPMorgan Chase Bank, say it is in foreclosure. The four-bedroom house with decorative rock walls and a three-car garage is scheduled for auction on the Clayton County Courthouse steps Aug. 5.
The Harpers, who declined interview requests when reporters knocked on their door Friday, told WSB-TV they got the loan for a construction business that failed.
7.28.2008
Weekend Update
So one of the Superfriends and I went to see DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. We met up with one of the other Superfriends and she and all of her coolness hooked us up with some free beer (YEA for Free Beer!!). We then headed down to the showbox sodo for some good times. We see a van parked outside that says 'kube 93' what the heck is that radio station doing at a show like this. Well the opening act (if you can call them that) sucked horribly. So we sat and drank PBR Tallboys (see below photo).
Enter DJ Shadow... now myself and the superfriend that was with me turned me onto DJ shadow in the first place. I've wanted to see this guy live for well... ever. Well they do this funny intro talking about they'll be spinning real 45's all night. A 45 for those of you who don't know is referring to a record. So 20 minutes into it I'm wondering what the deal is I haven't recognized a single thing thus far. At 90 minutes into it I look at the superfriend and we say screw it and leave. So after years of waiting to see one of my favorite artists I am sadly disappointed that not a single lick of what I've known was played.
Now you ask, well David maybe you haven't kept up on his music. Well actually I have and so has the other superfriend and he didn't recognize any of the tunes either. Now it wasn't a bad show, but a show lacking any of his old/current music.
So we split and decide to hit Dicks Burgers on the way home. So Kevin and I are leaning up against the back of his car grubbing on some wonderful burgers. A rather rotund Seattle cop walks out the back door of the fine establishment with a large box under his arm. I'm tracking him the whole way from the door to the vehicle he is going to. He notices me and yells out "Haven't you ever seen a cop before". I respond with "Yeah, I've seen a cop before". He retorts "What are you looking at" and I respond "Just Curious to what you're doing". At this point I give up because I'm slightly drunk and figure if this diatribe goes much further I'm going to risk getting arrested by an off duty cop. The thing that pisses me off is he most likely is getting/taking food from Dicks for him and his stupid as buddies. He didn't stand in line/didn't pay etc.. We finish up, get in the car and split before this cop decides to be a real prick.
BTW - we are both still sober in this photo.
Enter DJ Shadow... now myself and the superfriend that was with me turned me onto DJ shadow in the first place. I've wanted to see this guy live for well... ever. Well they do this funny intro talking about they'll be spinning real 45's all night. A 45 for those of you who don't know is referring to a record. So 20 minutes into it I'm wondering what the deal is I haven't recognized a single thing thus far. At 90 minutes into it I look at the superfriend and we say screw it and leave. So after years of waiting to see one of my favorite artists I am sadly disappointed that not a single lick of what I've known was played.
Now you ask, well David maybe you haven't kept up on his music. Well actually I have and so has the other superfriend and he didn't recognize any of the tunes either. Now it wasn't a bad show, but a show lacking any of his old/current music.
So we split and decide to hit Dicks Burgers on the way home. So Kevin and I are leaning up against the back of his car grubbing on some wonderful burgers. A rather rotund Seattle cop walks out the back door of the fine establishment with a large box under his arm. I'm tracking him the whole way from the door to the vehicle he is going to. He notices me and yells out "Haven't you ever seen a cop before". I respond with "Yeah, I've seen a cop before". He retorts "What are you looking at" and I respond "Just Curious to what you're doing". At this point I give up because I'm slightly drunk and figure if this diatribe goes much further I'm going to risk getting arrested by an off duty cop. The thing that pisses me off is he most likely is getting/taking food from Dicks for him and his stupid as buddies. He didn't stand in line/didn't pay etc.. We finish up, get in the car and split before this cop decides to be a real prick.
BTW - we are both still sober in this photo.
7.25.2008
Red Sox vs Mariners
Here are some of the photos from our adventure to the baseball game..
The Field
It Was the 5000th Game!!
The Man
The Drinkers
Sleepy Dude 1
Sleepy Dude 2
The SuperFriends ( minus one) !!
The Field
It Was the 5000th Game!!
The Man
The Drinkers
Sleepy Dude 1
Sleepy Dude 2
The SuperFriends ( minus one) !!
7.19.2008
Yard Work update..
Money spent to date: $32 - Dump fee's
Total weight of blackberry bushes - .22 tons
Total trips to the dump - 2
The view of my "backyard"
Total weight of blackberry bushes - .22 tons
Total trips to the dump - 2
The view of my "backyard"
The workhorse
7.18.2008
Sad sign of the times...
This sign was found up the street from my house. I had to steal it and take a photo as proof it actually existed. If this is a tell tale sign of our public schools, then we really need to look at our education system.
7.17.2008
Bounty found thus far
1 12oz can of Pepsi - Used circa 1988
1 12oz bottle of Corona - Used
1 white walled tire - Used
Several saturn missile remnants
1 12oz bottle of Corona - Used
1 white walled tire - Used
Several saturn missile remnants
7.16.2008
I'd sell my soul for this...
A house to end all houses
* Update *
I'd have to make roughly $755,688 a year just to cover the mortgage payment.
* Update *
I'd have to make roughly $755,688 a year just to cover the mortgage payment.
Even Bill Gates....
Even Bill Gates isn't safe from the ups and downs of the real estate market. Now mind you his house is valued at about $140 million dollars, the value can fluctuate (and has) about the cost of yours' and mines' house.
50,000 sq feet
25 bathrooms
8 bedrooms
5 acres
Go check him out at Super House
Another cool place that has houses slightly cooler, but not nearly as expensive is University Park, TX.
50,000 sq feet
25 bathrooms
8 bedrooms
5 acres
Go check him out at Super House
Another cool place that has houses slightly cooler, but not nearly as expensive is University Park, TX.
7.14.2008
Driveway Havoc
So I invited my father down (AKA the supervisor) to assist in the removal of the dead grass in my soon to be expanded driveway. So I left him to start pulling up the grass and I headed back up to my hill of terror. I got about 5 minutes into it and my metal rake was broken by the vines of death. Blackberry bushes defeated my metal rake???
So I had the supervisor dig about 6" down right along the line that the utility companies came and sprayed (verizon, comcast,pud,etc). Nothing was discovered and so I figured that the lines were further down(18-24").
I decided to join the supervisor and head down and help dig the top layer of the grass off. It was found that the grass/dirt in that area was incredibly hard and compact. After about an hour of digging we both decided that it was going to be a long and painful day. Since my rake was broken I needed to head to Lowes and purchase a new one that we'd also stop by Hertz and see if they had any small rototillers for rent. Got one for 3 hours for $35 dollars. I figure that's a great deal and I should be able to bang it out in less than three hours. We head home with the tool in hand unload it.
I get working and realize that this thing is a real bear to work with. One because the ground is hard as a rock and two because the bugger is heavy. After a few hours of work I've finished off about 95%, battered, beaten, burned, and about to give up the ghost. We load it back up on the truck and head back to the Hertz shop. Drop it off and make our way back to my house.
Run in and take a shower and then head downstairs to check a few things online. Well I don't have a signal and I'm not getting out anywhere. So I check my router, my terminal out on the side of the house and both of them are in an error state. I immediately think - the line is cut. I run into the garage and grab my shovel and start digging. After about 5 minutes of digging I realize that the utility company didn't come even close to spraying the lines right for my fiber cable. I found at least one spot where I'd cut it with the rototiller.
So I call Verizon and go through the whole deal with them. Thankfully I got on the phone with someone who actually cared. Apparently this is not an uncommon thing as the guys out there spraying are using a metal detector to find the lines. Well for those of you who don't know about a fiber cable, its made out of glass. Glass doesn't reflect well with a metal detector. I was promised to be contact in the next 24-28 hours and that someone would be out to fix the severed cable.
So I had the supervisor dig about 6" down right along the line that the utility companies came and sprayed (verizon, comcast,pud,etc). Nothing was discovered and so I figured that the lines were further down(18-24").
I decided to join the supervisor and head down and help dig the top layer of the grass off. It was found that the grass/dirt in that area was incredibly hard and compact. After about an hour of digging we both decided that it was going to be a long and painful day. Since my rake was broken I needed to head to Lowes and purchase a new one that we'd also stop by Hertz and see if they had any small rototillers for rent. Got one for 3 hours for $35 dollars. I figure that's a great deal and I should be able to bang it out in less than three hours. We head home with the tool in hand unload it.
I get working and realize that this thing is a real bear to work with. One because the ground is hard as a rock and two because the bugger is heavy. After a few hours of work I've finished off about 95%, battered, beaten, burned, and about to give up the ghost. We load it back up on the truck and head back to the Hertz shop. Drop it off and make our way back to my house.
Run in and take a shower and then head downstairs to check a few things online. Well I don't have a signal and I'm not getting out anywhere. So I check my router, my terminal out on the side of the house and both of them are in an error state. I immediately think - the line is cut. I run into the garage and grab my shovel and start digging. After about 5 minutes of digging I realize that the utility company didn't come even close to spraying the lines right for my fiber cable. I found at least one spot where I'd cut it with the rototiller.
So I call Verizon and go through the whole deal with them. Thankfully I got on the phone with someone who actually cared. Apparently this is not an uncommon thing as the guys out there spraying are using a metal detector to find the lines. Well for those of you who don't know about a fiber cable, its made out of glass. Glass doesn't reflect well with a metal detector. I was promised to be contact in the next 24-28 hours and that someone would be out to fix the severed cable.
The Supervisor
The Hardware
The Aftermath
7.11.2008
My Bounty today....
So myself, Russ, Chuck, GJ, and Randy went to lunch today. As we were out and about it was free handout day... here is the bounty I acquired...
7.10.2008
The Little Guy vs NSA
Now kids, make sure you're not surfing for inappropriate things, the NSA will find them and come knocking on your door
AT&T vs NSA
AT&T vs NSA
7.08.2008
In other good news..
So last night my ever so wonderful girlfriend made me this super yummy salad for dinner. If you the reading public enjoys pecans, pears, blue cheese, and a rather tasty dressing, give this a try.
Roquefort Pear Salad
In other reportable news I have new next door neighbors. I went over and introduced myself to them last night and got to talking. They thanked me for "mowing" the lawn. I did it because I was tired of no one taking care of it as the previous owner was a complete toolshed. I also talked with them about all of the trees in the back of their lot. Convinced them that they should cut these trees down. They agreed and said once they move in they'll have them taken down. Now you ask, why is it that I'm asking for them to take these trees down. Well because every wind storm that rolls through I fear that one if not many of them may hit my house. The previous owner really didn't have much motivation to get most anything done, let alone get those trees taken out.
Roquefort Pear Salad
In other reportable news I have new next door neighbors. I went over and introduced myself to them last night and got to talking. They thanked me for "mowing" the lawn. I did it because I was tired of no one taking care of it as the previous owner was a complete toolshed. I also talked with them about all of the trees in the back of their lot. Convinced them that they should cut these trees down. They agreed and said once they move in they'll have them taken down. Now you ask, why is it that I'm asking for them to take these trees down. Well because every wind storm that rolls through I fear that one if not many of them may hit my house. The previous owner really didn't have much motivation to get most anything done, let alone get those trees taken out.
Backyard carnage..
So again last night I took to the hill and laid waste to more blackberry bushes. Though this time they fought back and one got the upper hand and took a cheap shot at my upper lip. Needless to say I put him down with a vengeance.
And the pile grows... and grows...
And the pile grows... and grows...
7.07.2008
Email is down...
So we've had a major outage today... thankfully I have my deposition to read to keep my entertained.
7.02.2008
Really, are we that bored?
Is there really a reason for people to still get upset over something that hasn't happened in a very long time? People talk about wanting to move forward, but yet people take things out of context and get upset over a stupid piece of rope. I think what happened to the Africa Americans back in the day was a really shitty thing; but it's 2008 here people. Do we really need to bitch and complain about it? I could understand an African American being upset over this, but a white dude and his son??
Pointless...
Pointless...
7.01.2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
