Monday, December 18th, 2006
Is ticket scalping a victimless crime?
If not, who is the victim?
If so, why is it against the law?
(sent wireless via Treo 650)
Archive for December 18th, 2006
2006 Cycling World Championship Finish
Monday, December 18th, 2006Fast wind up, credit Sanchez for that. Pretty impressive work in the last few hundred meters to drag Valverde, Zabel and Bettini clear.
No beating Bettini in the sprint however.
Monday, December 18th, 2006
SanDiego81 has some great pics posted from the Dave Witt Memorial Cycling Classic velodrome event. Some dude named Floyd showed up out there on a BMC road bike. Check it out.
5 Things
Monday, December 18th, 2006Sunday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos columnist George Will stated:
It’s about narcissism. So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean, it’s extraordinary.
It really is extraordinary isn’t it? I am always surprised that people find interest in anything that I post on this site. Never-the-less, here you are, reading the latest installment of my narcissist diary of inner turmoils. I am wracked with angst just thinking about it…
In the spirit of writing about topics that probably no one cares about, Tuffy via Gilby via Masi Guy tagged me to list 5 things that you probably don’t know (or care?) about Smithers. I thought I already played this game last year but apparently the last game was 5 interesting things about myself. It’s a relief to know that these 5 things don’t necessarily have to be interesting.
5 things you probably don’t know about Smithers (dealing specifically with past employment):
1) My first real job out of high school was at Warners True Value in the lumber department. I spent the summer driving the fork lift, which was awesome, as well as making my expert recommendations as to what size nail or what width board Mr. Home Improvement Project should choose for their particular task. Anyone that knows me well would find this absolutely hilarious as there are few things I despise more, and am less qualified to attempt, than home improvement projects. Anyone that takes my advice on such tasks will certainly end up with the same kind nightmare on their hands that I face every time I take on a project.
2) My first real job was not my first job. My first job was at Mr. Steak in Coon Rapids, now long since out of business. When I showed up for my first day of work the parking lot was full of members of the CR police department. As I approached the restaurant they started swearing at me and told me to get the hell away as the place was in the process of undergoing an armed robbery. Turns out some idiot inside hit the silent alarm by accident. I worked there for a couple of weeks until I got my first pay check which no local bank would cash due to the fact that this place had a reputation of bouncing payroll checks. I did not say anything and kept working there until a few hours before my Friday evening shift at which point I quit on the spot in order to leave them in the lurch for dinner time rush. I was only 16 years old at the time but I am still pretty proud of myself for coming up with that little piece of sweet revenge all on my own.
3) I once worked as a school bus driver for grade school and junior high kids. I had just got back into town after racing in Belgium all summer and thought it would be a great idea to drive bus so I could work in the morning and afternoon and then train the rest of the day. I ended up quitting after two weeks because all I did was sleep during the hours between my route responsibilities. I also knew that if I kept at this job long enough either one of those kids, or myself, or both, would end up dead. The kids were really sorry to see me go as I had a policy of enforcing no rules of any kind on my bus. Want to eat on my bus? Go ahead. Play music? No problem. Get in a fight? Bring it on. Jump out the emergency door? Close it behind you please. I was like that bus driver on The Simpsons, I just did not give a crap. Those kids knew they had it really good and their next driver was going to crack the whip on them. Some of them cried on my last day, sorry to see me go. A side note to this job: A few months later, after I had started working at a local ski and outdoor shop, I received a phone call from one of the junior high school girls that was on my bus. After she took great pains to make sure that I remembered which kid on the bus she was she went on to explain that she was pregnant (!) and did not know what to do. I was immediately terrified that she was going to tell people that I was somehow responsible for this situation, but apparently she was just scared and looking for advice. I was 23 years old at the time, and knew nothing, so there was not much advice I could give. As scared and nervous as I was in my early 20’s trying to figure out how to help this person, I could not imagine what it must have been like for this 14 year old to be in this situation. How desperate do you have to get before you get on the phone and track down your old school bus driver from months ago to ask their advice? I regret to this day that I was not up to the task of providing her good guidance.
4) I once lived at a group home for developmentally disabled men. I was not one of the developmentally disabled men however, I was the live in staff who was responsible for the guys over night. I lived downstairs and they lived upstairs. I did this job for a couple of years and saved enough money for a pretty good down payment on my first house. I had a normal day job so I worked during the day and then was on the clock from 10pm until 6am in case there was a problem with one of the guys. So I got paid a salary while not having to pay any rent. It was a pretty good deal but the work could be pretty stressful at times. One of the guys had a seizure disorder and refused to wear a helmet overnight, not that I blame him. A few times a year he would suffer a seizure during the night, fall out of bed and crack his face or head on some piece of furniture. By the time I would get up there and get a light turned on there was blood everywhere. Gruesome. One of the other guys had an anal fixation and would steal the other guys toothbrushes and shove them up his ass. This behavior did not make him very popular with the other guys as you can imagine. I quickly got in the habit of hiding my toothbrush in a location that he would not think to look. I never thought that these guys were actually “developmentally disabled”, that’s just the PC terms that we were trained to use. I think that the guy with the seizures was just suffering continual brain deterioration due to his disorder and the guy with the anal fixation was just mentally ill. It was an interesting couple of years and it really gave me a perspective on life as well as the right to use the term “retard” since I know first hand what I am talking about.
5) Continuing in my quest to make money while avoiding rent, I once lived on a farm out in Waconia that was owned by the local school district. They would send the kids with behavior problems out to the farm during the school day to work out their problems while tending to the needs of animals. My responsibilities included the general upkeep of the property (see item #1 regarding my qualifications for this duty) as well as taking care of the animals during the evenings and weekends. There were a couple of horses, some chickens, geese and a herd of sheep. I despised them all. You would have too. These poor creatures were subjected to abject torture at the hands of horrible kids every week day and, by the time I would get home from my day job, the farm critters were looking to exact their revenge on somebody. The horses would try and bite or kick me, the chickens would get in a fight with each other while I was in their pen causing loud chicken squawks and feathers to fly everywhere, the geese would attack me as soon as I stepped into their pens and the sheep would charge and ram me the minute I turned my back on them. The only real satisfaction I got on that farm was when I was charged with the demolition of one of the farm buildings. I took out a burn permit with the county and torched that fucker right down to the ground. I remember all the animals standing at the edge of their fences watching me as I stood before that burning building, laughing diabolically. That was a good day. I think those animals gave me a bit more respect after that. It was pretty lonely out there in the middle of nowhere. I realized I needed to move back to civilization on the day when some Jevoah Witness stopped by to convert me and I ended up holding them hostage in boring conversation for over an hour. You know you are pathetic when Jevoah Witness start giving you excuses as to why they have to leave.
So there you go, all job related but that’s what was on my mind.
I don’t need to tag George Will for 5 things because his narcissistic diary of inner turmoils are on display each week in The Washington Post and TeeVee.
I instead tag Jared, if he is so interested in playing along.
