Snowy pictures from my new office window.

This is a view from my window in my new office.  My office is no longer in the basement under the stairs.  I used to feel like Harry Potter.  Okay, Harry Potter minus the wand, magic ability, friends and protectors, and the school.  Okay, so, I didn't really feel like Harry Potter.  I felt like I wasn't important enough to have a real office with a real window.  That has all changed.

This is another shot from inside my cozy office.  My office is about the side of a small bedroom.  Maybe 13' x 9' or so.  I am a dude so I have trouble with measurements, just ask Babsalot, she'll tell you how bad I am at guessing measurements.  The window is huge.  About 3' wide by 4 1/2' tall and it overlooks the valley next to my office building.

My office building is technically a basement too.  But it is a much newer basement in a much newer building.  And I am not the only one in the office building.  I now have coworkers.  That will take a bit of time to get used to, but I will adapt.  The town that I live in has a lot of hills and valleys and most structures are built on the side of the hills.  We have one hotel that is eight or so stories tall and all floors are considered ground level.

Living in this small town has its ups and downs -no pun intended- but one of the winter perks is when it snows it looks like something from Switzerland.  In fact the city used to call it Little Switzerland.  You expect to see some lumberjacks wandering around.  I do enjoy living here.  Working for the tourism industry in a small town can be trying but it works out okay.

Well, there you go.  My boring tale of the day.  The fun will begin when it is time to go home and I have to navigate the hills with re-frozen snow and slush.  I have to cross two bridges to get home and neither of them have guard rails.  That may be a tale for tomorrow. 

Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and other people who suck!

Here is my list of people who suck:

Sarah Palin: Seriously you conservative republicans and Teabaggers, is this your poster child?  How could you even possibly allow someone like this to represent you. 

Rush Limbaugh: This guy has about as much taste as dry sand.  He just doesn't get it and he never will.

Glen Beck: I seriously have doubts that this man should be allowed in public.  I Feel he would be better off in some type of asylum where he can be properly medicated.

The entire Republican Senate:  Get up off your ass and start helping America.  You hate Obama, we get that but blocking healthcare for 9-11 responders, extending unemployement benefits at Christmas and adding tax cuts to your fat ass salaries?  SHAME ON YOU!

People who bully ANYONE: You don't have to be gay to get the business end of a bully.  All I can say is maybe you should look into penis enlargement pills.  Do something to make the world better and see how much people like you.  For you it doesn't get better by being a jackass.

Sure, there are a lot more people who suck but I just don't have the energy to list them all.  Anyone want to add to this very fine list?

Mass Unexplained Dead Fish and Birds Around the World. Is This the Beginning of the End?

 "There has not been a generation that has not cried, 'The end is near.'" -George Washington University religion professor Paul Duff recently said when asked about all the dead birds and fish being found around the globe.  I cannot believe more truer words have ever been spoken. 

I live in North West Arkansas in the Ozark Mountains.  I am a few hundred miles from the 3000 to 5000 blackbirds that died in Beebe, Arkansas last weekend.  I am a few hundred miles from the river where thousands of drum fish washed up on the banks.  I am also a few hundred miles from the New Madrid Fault.  Coincidence? Yep, 100% coincidence.

I am also a lot of miles from Chesapeake Bay where reportedly millions of fish up and died.  Dead fish have also been reported in Florida.  Yep, you guessed it I am quite a few miles away from that too.  The coast of Brazil has also had a ton of dead fish wash up on its shores.  Dead fish seem to be popping up everywhere, just like it has been for millions of years I suspect.

The internet is pretty new.  The TV waves have not been around for very long.  Writing, yep, writing has not been around since the dawn of man.  That is why there are no records.  200 years ago the dead fish and dead birds would be thought to have been a message from God that there was a witch living in the area.  500 years ago dead fish and birds would have been a Heretic living down the street.  A thousand years ago, dead fish and birds would mean the church would say God was displeased and giving more to the church would solve it.  Two thousand years ago dead fish and birds would have meant that the Gods were displeased, and they would probably need a sacrifice.

The point is that with mass media a  small amount of dead fish and dead birds can be shared and compared to "similar" events around the world.  Now, if large amounts of dead fish and dead birds start to happen all over the globe you might want to worry.  I mean if all the fish in all the lakes in Arkansas suddenly go belly up and then all the fish in the Nile and Amazon and Thames all dies and float up, you might want to worry.  But it seems that it does not take much for people to start crying wolf and talking about the end of times.

Of course this is just my opinion.  I will be really embarrassed in the next few months if locusts start attacking and everyone gets boils and such.  But I figure if that happens I won't have to worry about anyone saying "Ha! The dead fish and dead birds WERE the sing of the end of times!" because they we will all be dead just like the fish and birds.

Has Texting and Twitter caused people to think in 140 characters thoughts?

I use an iPhone now so I am not limited to 140 character texts, but I am a Twitter user.  I guess I have always just said what I wanted to say and broke it up into multiple texts or tweets but some people cram so many abbreviation into their text and tweets that is is just impossible to figure out!

?	I have a question
?	I don't understand what you mean
?4U	I have a question for you
;S	Gentle warning, like "Hmm? What did you say?"
^^	Meaning "read line" or "message above"
<3	Meaning "sideways heart" (love, friendship)
<3	Meaning "broken heart"
<33	Meaning "heart or love" (more 3s is a bigger heart)

That is an excerpt from http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.asp and they list so many abbreviation that it is like trying to learn a new language!  How is one expected to learn even a fraction of that, especially since many have multiple meanings.   It makes me wonder if someone shouldn't create an iPhone ap just to translate textspeak!

Let me just make one comment about my age.  I am not someone who didn't grow up with computers.  I have been around computers since well before the 286 era.  My first computer was a calculator - the TI-99!  I can program my DVR and build websites.  I am not computer illiterate.  Part of my job where I work is unofficial IT and IS.  I have been around since before cell phones.  I may only be in my late 30's but my father is a computer teacher so I always had access to cutting edge technology.  Why don't I get textspeak?

The Holidays are over and I am glad.

And........we're back.  I have not felt much like blogging the last couple of weeks.  The holidays mean more than presents and drinking for me.  They mean relaxing and being off from work.  They also mean doing some work around the house, which I did not do nearly enough of over my days off.

Now that the holidays are done for the year and a new year has begun, I am glad.  The holidays are also somewhat of a stressful time as well.  Trying to make sure you didn't miss anyone on your Christmas Gift list.  Making sure you got equal gifts for all the nieces and nephews and so on and so forth.  It can get to be a little overwhelming.

I think things have settled down now and I can enjoy getting back into the work routine once again.  My office is moving to a different location this month so I have the opportunity to go through all my work papers and such and downsize and organize.  Being better organized is my number one goal for 2011. 

I never make resolutions just goals.  My goals are generally set pretty high but with smaller goals in between.  I am almost 100% out of debt.  One of my other goals this year is to be completely out of debt.  I canceled all of my credit cards last year and paid them off.  There are still a few medical bills that need to be paid off and that is about it. 

In 2009 I had $1650 in overdraft charges at my bank.  2010 I had $0 overdraft charges.  In 2009 I had about 20 different disconnect notices from different utilities and the like.  In 2010 I had one disconnect notice right at Christmas time and it was because a mailed payment was a couple of days delayed because of the holidays.  All things considered I did a good job of meeting my goals last year.

What are some of your goals for 2011?  I'd like to hear about them.  Post a comment or e-mail me at eric.cole.young@gmail.com

The most disturbing movies are based on fact.

I watched a very disturbing movie the other night.  It is a documentary that is supposedly based on true events.  I have no doubt that 98% of this movie was true, there are only a couple of things that seemed scripted or altered. 

The movie, without spoiling it for you, is about an on-line relationship that starts on Facebook.  It delves into the creation of an on-line romance and shows how it can grow.  Catfish is about how sometimes you stretch the truth to make someone like you.  It is about what happens when it is time to meet in person.

I would love to tell the whole plot but I do not want to ruin anything for you.  I strongly suggest that anyone who has a MySpace page or a FaceBook page or a Twitter account go out and rent this movie.  It might make you see things in a completely new light.