Saturday, June 24, 2006

Weeding out the gene pool

Every once in a while, I become reinvigorated that the theory of natural selection actually works.

Read:

A 23-year-old Anderson man died Thursday night after he was injured attempting a wheelie on his motorcycle at Anderson Mall, the coroner said.
Michael Neil Ray, of 2020 Cardinal Park, died of spinal and chest trauma at 7:31 p.m., according to Coroner Greg Shore. Shore said witnesses said Ray, who wore a helmet, was attempting the wheelie on a Honda and ran into a building at the mall on North Main Street.
Ray worked at Nutra Plant, which manufactures health food, on Liberty Highway in Anderson, said his father, John Ray.
He is a graduate of T.L. Hanna and attended Greenville Technical College, his father said.
"He was active in his church and was a typical fun-loving 23-year-old," Ray said. "He made a bad mistake today and it cost him his life."
He is also survived by his mother, Linda Chapman, two brothers and two sisters, Ray said.


Dumbass.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Islam sucks

Let's see. Sing a song about "Hadji Girl," and the Muslims raise hell.

Kidnap, torture, and mutilate two American soldiers? Nope, not much in the way of rhetoric there. Where are the Muslims speaking out against such barbaric actions?

Nazism and Communism are nothing compared to Islam. I keep my fingers crossed for a true "crusade."

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Back from the dead (almost)

About two weeks ago, I started to develop a pain on the left side of my rib cage. I figured it was caused by a heavy bout of coughing the night before, and that I possibly pulled a muscle. It actually started as a dull ache while at work, but by that night the pain was so bad I couldn't lay on my left side. I figured that I might have cracked a rib, since there seemed to be a central spot on my left ribs that hurt when prodded. I endured the pain all week. Some days the pain was worse than others. I was taking 600-800 milligrams of Ibuprofen at a time. Then 9th rolled around, and I left work early because I was starting to hurt. This time, Ibuprofen wasn't helping as I sat on my couch. The pain began to radiate up into my shoulder and around the front to where I felt pain when my heart beat. I went to an urgent care facility, and the doc tells me that I have pneumonia in my lower left lobe! He gives me two shots, one for pain and the other an antibiotic. Well, my wife was working, so my mother wants me and my son to stay overnight with her, so I agree. As the night progressed, the pain on my left side got worse, and I realized that I was having some difficulty breathing. Early Saturday afternoon, my wife arrives to pick us up. I get up off the couch to take a leak and I collapse in the bathroom because I can't breathe. It was the most frightening experience of my life, and it made me very aware of my own mortality. I was taken to the hospital by ambulance and admitted for four days. I had developed double pneumonia, and I had fluid building up in my left lung. I was scared!!!

I am currently recovering at home. Each day I get a little better. I've had a whole shitload of antibiotics pumped through my body. I was prescribed a schedule II pain medication and a schedule II cough syrup. Woohoo! Take both of them and you are in La-La Land for hours.

What I remember the most about the experience was the fear I saw in my wife. She was definitely worried, and I have no doubts about the limits of my wife's love. That first night, she wouldn't leave my side. I had to make her leave the next day to clean up and get some rest. I don't know how I got lucky enough to get such a caring wife, but I hope everybody who reads this knows how much I love her.

Anyway, I can't wait to go back to work. I'll probably be out for at least another week. Fortunately, I have over 900 hours of sick time saved up.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

AIDS awareness

My second rant of the day:

I just saw a queer on TV who was lamenting over the issues of AIDS. He brought up the topic of more money for research into curing AIDS and AIDS awareness.

Let's address the first issue. Money going into AIDS research should be rerouted for cancer research. AIDS is essentially a lifestyle disease, and as such we know how to avoid contracting it. We still don't know what causes cancer, or how to cure it. AIDS (or, more specifically, HIV) is a virus, and man has never been able to cure a virus. With the exception of a very, very small minority, those who have AIDS got it based on their own life choices. It takes two to tango...but many totally unexpecting, healthy people contract cancer every day.

Issue two. People are screaming for more money for AIDS awareness. Is there anybody here who is not aware of AIDS? I thought so. I don't give a shit about AIDS awareness in Thailand or Africa: That is an internal problem that the respective countries should deal with. I don't want any of my tax money going to Nigeria because a bunch of breeders are having unprotected sex. I view it as nature's way of controlling the population.

Cancer research? Absolutely! AIDS research? Keep your dick zipped!

Mail in rebates

Time for another rant, and this time it is about the mail in rebate.

Last week, I got a catalog from Hewlett-Packard. This was a mail order catalog. That means that I received this catalog in the mail, and if I were to find something that I wanted to order, then I fill out the order form and mail it back with my payment, and the company then mails back the product that I ordered. Simple, right?

So I'm looking at the some of the items HP is selling, and I notice that some of the products - Hewlett freakin' Packard products - being sold are offering a mail in rebate. Does anybody see the stupidity in this? I receive an HP catalog in the mail. I order a proprietary HP product through the mail. HP sends me the product I ordered through the mail. Now, upon receiving the HP product that I ordered directly from HP, I have to mail back to them a rebate form. HP will then send me my rebate.

Why, oh why, don't they just give me the damned rebate by discounting the price? I did some research, and I found that the reason why many stores/companies offer the mail in rebate instead of an immediate discount is because they count on a certain percentage of the clientele to NOT send in the rebate form. They know that some people will forget, and others just won't bother with filling out and mailing in the forms.

My choice, and what I tell the salespeople at the various brick and mortar stores, is that I will shop around for the lowest price, but if the discount can only be obtained by mail in rebate, and the store won't accomodate me by reducing the price at the register, then I will take my business elsewhere.