New ink

As mentioned in my last posting, I've (finally) gotten another tattoo with a third being done in two weeks.

It's said that once you get inked, your addicted. That was true in my case, but my wallet was able to resist my craving.

But for now, I'm in a better financial standing and decided I wanted my next artwork to involve my children.

About a month ago, a young woman I know was telling me about her latest tattoo and when I asked her where she got it, I was surprised to learn that it was done by a guy I knew back in high school.
I'd seen his shop (in my home town about 30 miles from where I now reside) but never stopped in. Now that I knew who owned and operated it, I just had to go. Plus, now I had cash!

The following week, I stopped in and sure enough, there was ole Donnie, just the way I remembered him. We caught up a bit, and then got down to business.
I told him my idea and we soon came up with a design.

Before beginning, he asked me what kind of lettering I wanted and I told him "It's got to be just like you see it here". His response was classic Donnie:"This'll be the worst lettering I've ever done!" He continued, "no, you're gonna have to tell everyone that I did this on purpose!".

To make a long blog short, the actual tattooing part was just as I remembered it. Not too bad at all. It was either because I was older, wiser, looking forward to the pain, or the fact he popped in The Chronicles of Riddick to give me something else to concentrate on.

Either way, I've got the first of two 'set in stone' tattoos, and I'm happy with it.

When you care enough to send the very best

I love tattoos.
The artwork involved. The colours. The pictures.
I got my first (and subsequently the only) tattoo about ten years ago.
It was a picture of Opus, from a comic strip called Bloom County, playing an electric guitar. For me, it represented my playing guitar and my collecting of penguins. Plus, Opus rocks.

So ten years go by, and each year I tell myself I'm going to get another tattoo but my financial status won't support it. I know I know. Just save a little bit here and there and in time you'll have enough cash for more ink. But because of my personal situation over the past decade, not to mention the past five years, I just couldn't swing it.

I'd decided the next tattoos I got would have something to do with my boys.
Three weeks ago, I asked each of them to write their initials and birthdates down and I would put them in some sort of pattern. They were almost as excited as I was.
"We get to write on Daddy!". You could almost see it in their eyes.

For the past few months I've been working a lot of overtime and with my salary to date, the OT has really boosted my bank account.
This weekend, I decided to spend a little on myself and get the first of two tattoos, which I will chronicle in my next posting.

Why does everyone keep telling me marry a girl named Christmas??

Normally, I abhor the day after Thanksgiving, ding-ading-ading-ading but today was different.

I'd been wanting to get a smaller computer desk and relocate the whole conglomerate upstairs, freeing up my meager office for other purposes. ding-ading-ading-ading
Yesterday a buddy of mine told me what I was looking for would be on the "day after Thanksgiving six hour sale", for about half it's normal price.
Having been working overtime for about a month, I'd amassed a small amount I could actually make such a purchase. ding-ading-ading-ading

Since I was going to the town the store was in anyway, I figured I'd brave the crazed masses and give it a whirl. ding-ading-ading-ading
As a side note, I normally cannot stand crowds and shopping is my least favorite thing to do. ding-ading-ading-ading So I set out in search of my new acquisition, not really thinking I'd come away unscathed.
ding-ading-ading-ading

I got to the store with about half an hour to go on the 'special sale' and as before I could even open my car door, I heard it:the sound that's worse than nails on the chalk board. ding-ading-ading-ading
That's right: 'tis the season of the Bell Ringers.

Those poor souls that brave the elements (mainly due to the fact that most stores have now banished them from the comfort of their heated entry ways) ringing those little bells, alerting all incoming and outgoing shoppers where they can donate to the Salvation Army. ding-ading-ading-ading
But I'm getting off the subject a tad.

I made my way to where the desks were and lo-and-behold there were a few left! Imagine my surprise to find that with fifteen minutes to go on the special hours sale a few tickets for this item were uncollected! ding-ading-ading-ading I nearly did a jig right there in the aisle. (ok.........so anymore it doesn't take much to excite me).

I took what to me seemed like the Golden Ticket up toward the checkout lines.
By this time, there was something like six minutes and forty-two seconds left before eleven o'clock and all of the checkouts were teeming with row upon row upon row of people all wanting to check out before the 'magic hour'. ding-ading-ading-ading I mean, there were people lined almost all the way to the back of the store, and this is not a small store.

I had to act fast. What to do?
I didn't drive half an hour to get this desk only to be turned away while still in line waiting to purchase is. And yes, I did have another reason I'd come to town but that's for another entry. And that's beside the point!ding-ading-ading-ading

I looked around, hoping to see a hole in a line somewhere. Something created by Little Johnny wanting to find a piece of candy ding-ading-ading-ading that wasn't in his lane while his mother's eyes followed him, not paying attention to what was going on in front of her. No such ding-ading-ading-ading luck.

I did what any other red blooded shopping Guru would have done with having only one item to purchase, ding-ading-ading-ading :
I went right back to electronics where they have their own register, plopped down my ticket, paid cash and strutted right out the front door, making my way back to pick up said purchase. ding-ading-ading-ading
Frickin' bell ringers.

I was in and out of there WITH my new desk within four minutes and thirty-eight seconds.

Yet another HELL YA moment in the History of Men's Shopping

It was only a matter of time.......

I've posted a few offerings on my opinions of online dating services.
Now it seems that I may have been on to something.
Check it:

Call 'em Match.con

Lawsuit sez online dating service set up fake dates

By HELEN KENNEDY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Match.com is being accused of sending ringers on fake dates with lonely hearts to keep them from dumping the service.

A racketeering lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Nov. 10 alleges the wildly popular online dating service secretly employs people as "date bait" to send bogus enticing E-mails and to go on as many as 100 dates a month - or three a day - to keep customers ponying up.

"Hiding behind Match.com's portrait of online success is a very big, very dirty secret," the lawsuit alleges. "Not everyone you meet and date through Match.com is just another Match.com member."

Company spokeswoman Kristin Kelly said Match.com "absolutely does not" employ anyone to tantalize customers, called the lawsuit "completely without merit" and said it would be fought "vigorously."

She said a survey showing 12% of last year's marriages resulted from meeting online is proof the service works and said membership is up 19% over last year, showing the company doesn't need to resort to tricks.

The lawsuit, filed by thirtysomething customer Matthew Evans, hopes to become a class action on behalf of Match.com's 15 million members and the 1million subscribers who pay $30 for one month or $80 for six.

The service has 850,000 members in New York City.

According to his lawyers, Evans went on many dates with dark-haired, buxom twentysomething Autumn Marzec, who allegedly confessed to him that she was a company ringer.

Evans alleges that Match.com employees identify customers whose subscriptions are about to lapse and send them "winks" - a way users show interest in each other - and scripted E-mails.

The suit alleges snooping employees read customers' E-mails to each other and use the information "to make themselves appear to be the 'perfect match' to that person."

"The paid Match.com employee then goes on a date with the subscriber, gives the deceptive appearance of having a lot in common with the subscriber [due in part to having read his or her E-mails] with the intent of luring the subscriber into re-signing with Match.com," the suit alleges.

Americans spent $245.2 million on online dating in the first half of 2005, up 7.6% from 2004.


and here's more

The war wages on..............

What war is he referring to, you may ask?
Is the ever growing war against keeping drugs out of the hands of our children?
How about the war on terrorism? That'd be a good topic.

No friends, the war I speak of is on a more personal level. It has waged on for many a year now and there seems to be no end in sight.

I now tell you of the battle between man and animal. This is my story, of my plight, against a mouse in my house.

While I am reminded of the epic story of Sir Ozzy, the Gerbil Tamer, mine is a simpler story.
One that does not end with a "huzzah", but continues with a heavy "sigh" for I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.

My story begins long ago when the first of his kind left signs he'd been there. (Why do I refer to it as a "he"? Makes for a good story. So there).
The strategically placed "markings" of where he had been were all to clear. He was toying with me.

He'd come and go as he pleased, mocking me at every turn.
I'd entice him,inviting him to partake of sustenance. Little did I know this breed was of a new era. One that could detect traps. One that could circumnavigate even the most creative of ensnare.

Each year, it seems that this assailant is nie invulnerable. Either that or has the ability to clone himself, having stockpile an amassed army, released one by one as another falls in battle.

As the war between man and mouse wages on, with a toll being applied to my psyche alone, I trudge on with my sights set on only one result:The eradication of this plight from my homestead.

Tracking

I started tracking the hits my site gets back in Oct., as my friend OzzyC has been. I was amazed by what I began to see!

First, the not so amazing part was the fact that during the beginning and end parts of the month, I didn't get too many hits. But in the middle weeks, hit counts almost tripled.

The really amazing part, for me, was the fact that not only was my best bud checking my site religiously (as I do your site!), but I was getting visited by peeps in non-English speaking countries.

Most of the ways I would get read, was by hit words on search engines such as MSN and Yahoo!. But then there were the 'referrers' that were direct links.
And when I'd go back and check their sites out, from common courtesy of course, I'd see things like this:

characters only
or my fave:
Russain

*(11/19)I am attempting to insert a link to see if i can do it*

It makes me wonder if when these people see my page, if they can't read it's characters as well.

Validation:part deux

Ok, so, I ended up going to the funeral after all.
I'm not sure why, but I did.

Validation

As I write this, there is less than an hour until the funeral service for my plant manager is to begin. I have elected not to attend.

While I knew him for eight years mainly through work and seldom in public settings, I can't help but wonder if it's a big deal I not attend.

I am at one with the events as they are and will indeed miss him. But do I need to attend his funeral to show this to others?
There was a 'ceremony' at work running the flag outside the plant at half mast with the president of the company saying words and the HR person leading prayer.
Not sharing a belief system of the rest, I did not hold any misgivings and stood along with the others.

The funeral will be held at the Catholic church, which happens to be down the street from my home.
While part of me feels a bit awkward concerning the proximity to my decision, I do not want to succumb to 'peer pressure' only to attend in body only.

I am not a religious person, per se.
At a younger age, I was turned off of religion as it is by the ways it was being presented to me and I've really not given organized religion a second chance.
To me, this is also another validation in not attending.

I will miss him, yes. But in not attending the funeral, does not mean I did not respect him, and the place in which he is now I believe he understands that.

I,Target

This weekend I went and played paintball with a small group of guys.
It was Steve's birthday wish to himself to play, so, of course I could not say I wouldn't participate.

Let me preface by stating that I am 37 and (after, paintballing finding out) that I am grossly out of shape.
I lasted four out of the five hours we were out there, but, the others being at least ten years my junior, still had a full head of steam to continue.

It was the first time I'd played, but I'd heard stories and seen it played. Basically, I had some idea of how it works.

It's a no-brainer: point and shoot. puh-puh-puh.
The sound alone makes it fun. puh-puh-puh. It's a unique sound that is made when the C02 propells a round paintball from the barrel of the gun. puh-puh-puh.

We had six guys, so we started off by doing a "three-on-three" battle.
The course we were using had man-made barracades as well as natural ones and was surrounded by woods, which we used later.

In the course of those four hours, we played several variations of war-fare:"President" in which one is chosen to be unarmed and gets two "Secret Service". The object is for the 'President' to get from one end of the course to the other without getting shot. The game ends when either he is successful in reaching his destination, or gets shot.

In another game, one is chosen to be "the rabbit" and gets one or two guns, depending on personal preference. The object of this game is to hold off all attackers. Basically, the 'rabbit' has no chance in hell of surviving so we chose the whiniest of the group and basically said "RUN RABBIT" and ganged up on the poor soul.

The best part of the day was in the beginning when we were doing a three-on-three in the woods, and it began to rain. THIS made it feel like what it must during real combat. (I word this statement this way because I've never been in real combat and I don't wish to assume anything and offend someone who has and may take offense. Respect)
The rain just made everything more intense. Not being able to hear the 'crunch crunch snap' of oncoming assailants made it more fun.

I'm not sure paintballing is a hobby I'll take up, but for the occasional opportunity to go out and shoot people without fear of prosecution is always appealing.

puh-puh-puh

Am I lucky or what??

Today, I received the following email from ARTS & CRAFT COMPANY PLC.
DL0311 VAUXHALL CROSS LONDON UNITED KINGDOM.

Attn: Sir/Ma.

With due respect to you, I am sorry for any inconveniences or embarrassment this my letter of assistance may cause you. I am writing following an impressive information we got about you through a constancy firm under UK/USA/CA. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY. Thus we assured your capability and reliability to champion a business of great magnitude.

I am Mr. Jackson Abraham, the managing director of the above-mentioned company. Base on the assurance given on your behalf, my company has appointed you as our debt collector from our overseas creditors. The creditors always send us CHEQUES for our payment, but foreign check take LONGER time to clear and sometimes some of them got lost on transit, which impact a great lost to this Company. It is on this effect, we the management outstayed a dept collector overseas. You haven been selected on these contract, the management has agreed that any debt YOU collected on our behalf, 5% is allowed for you as your share while the remaining will be remitted to us through wire transfer on our cooperate account.

To commence on this transaction, you are to send the following in your reply:
1. Name you want the cheque to be raised.
2. Direct telephone and fax numbers
3. Mailing address
4. Your company names if any.
5. Sex/ Age and Occupation.

NOTE: Your duty is ONLY to collect CHEQUES on our behalf from our creditors overseas and have 5% of the total fund paid to you. If you are interested, please reply through my secure email address: jacjulxx1@myway.com

awaiting your positive reply.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Jackson Abraham



I know this is spam of some sort, but allow me to rant over it anyway,(It's a slow blog night).

This is what gets me,the addressing of 'me' is very general. .
But then the email goes on to state I am writing following an impressive information we got about you through a constancy firm , suggesting at the possibility that I've become the subject of some very important study or something. I should be so lucky. Ed McMahon never knocked on my door and all of a sudden some 'overseas' venture plops in my lap?

Are we supposed to be this stupid by these agencies to think that we are getting personally contacted in the attempt to collect some checks for them?
Who are these people??
How do they come up with these things?
What are they really after?
Why can't I finish a blog in some witty fashion instead of getting so flustered I end with............
oy

"Are you losing weight?"

This is the question my mother posed to me today.

The last time I saw her was only a week ago, and she didn't ask me then.
This comes up now and then which is sort of humourous as I do not diet, fluxuate dramatically in weight, or am constantly buying 'clothes that fit'.

After telling her that I didn't think I had, she commented on my face looking thinner.
Again, she's seeing things because I'm still as chubby as I have been. The only difference, as I pointed out to her, was the way I was shaving my facial hair.

*side note* Along with being vertically challenged, I am also follically challenged and find myself creating facial 'hair-styles' as one would with their hair on their head!

After debating about it, she noticed I was growing my hair (on my head) out again.
"You've got hair!". oy.

How having hair upon my head creates the illusion of weight loss is lost on me.
This cannot be a common occurrence as I've seen rather large people that with hair and they do NOT look thinner. (pause for uproarious laughter).

I suppose this spring when I shed my "winter cap", my mother will complain that I "need to go on a diet" as I've seemingly gained X-amount of weight.

In honorum

Today I write in memory of my plant manager who passed away this morning.

He came to where I work almost eight years ago to fill a position that hadn't been filled since I'd been there already two years.

He was a good man in and out of the work place.

He filled his free time woodworking all sorts of items from intricately ornate clocks to canoes, but his passion was fly-fishing.

He will be missed by all that had the fortune to know him.

Boy divorces parents

Honorable Judge Stone of Madison WI. heard the case of little 10 year old Timmy Smith who was divorcing his parents.
His reason was due to the fact that both his mother and his father beat him on a regular basis.
The judge sympathetic to young Timmy's plight, allowed a temporary placement with a family member of Timmy's choice.
Suggesting his Aunt, Timmy said she beat him more than his parents did.
Surprised to hear this, the Judge asked little Timmy who he would like to be placed with temporarily while the DHS conducted an investigation into the violent situation surrounding the family.

Timmy suggested the Green Bay Packers, as they have never beaten ANYone regularly.
;)

(had ya goin.......didn't i?)

To blog or not to blog.........

I started blogging after my good friend OzzyC, told me about it.
He said it was basically like an online diary that one could write about anything and other people could comment on it.

At the time he suggested blogging, I was having a difficult time dealing with my divorce and the changing of situations with my children. It sounded like it would be a good release.

I thought it would be a good idea to run some of my blogs past him, being as they'd sound a bit too much even to me. I was right. A few of my blogs were filled with too much angst, bitterness, and what could possibly come back on my if my situation were ever to go back to court.

So, even though my life is pretty mundane compared to my blogging bretheren, I trudge forward, trying to come up with subjects that will 'wow' and 'dazzle' the blogging community.

Ernest Hemmingway I am not, so just bear with me and I will do my best to get the point acrossed without setting myself up for a fall in the future.

Online dating and you

Ok, so, it'’s time once again for my rant concerning on-line dating sites.
(It'’s a slow day).

I'’ve talked about how eHarmony uses 29 dimensions in matching people.
As I'’ve also said, if she's 3-d I'd be happy. (pause for uproarious laughter)

Another site I'’ve used allows what are called "“winks"” between non-members.
Winks are a way to get someone'’s attention, such as in life. But unless you are a paying member, that's as far as it goes.

I'’ve only come across two completely free dating sites, Plenty of Fish and Matchdoctor.
While these two sites allow people to write actual messages to one another, they have an upgradeable feature allowing say one to view a persons multiple pictures, or seeing how many people have viewed your profile. No big whoop if you ask me.

In my experience, though, there seems to be no single women using these sites within an acceptable radius. For me, acceptable would be no more than 30-45 miles.
Aside from the obvious millions of women from other states and countries (the UK seems to be popular), a multitude of women seem to be in the southern part of the state, which really does me no good.

While I'’ve considered moving in the past, now that I have my children back in the same town as me, relocating is not an option.

I'’m sure that these sites have done what they promised in finding soul mates for people. Hell, there are plenty of testimonials to this fact!
But the whole online dating world has just left this single guy............single.

Life..........what the hell??

In an attempt to gain more hits to my blog, I've decided to plagerize some other's blog site tag lines, (SORRY GUYS).

The perfect story for this particular tag line is this:
JACKSON RECRUITS KELLY FOR CHARITY TRACK
I haven't figured out how to link key words, so here's the story.

LATEST: MICHAEL JACKSON has recruited troubled R+B star R KELLY to perform on his charity single for America's hurricane victims.

It had initially been believed that Kelly, who is currently fighting child pornography charges, would not be able to perform on the single, which had initially been named FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, until Jackson altered and re-recorded it.

And while the many stars Jackson had mentioned - including MARIAH CAREY, LENNY KRAVITZ and JAY-Z - have yet to publicly confirm that they're participating on the track, Kelly has signed up not only to lend his voice to the project but also to serve as executive producer, reports MTV News.

Jackson, who has kept a low profile since his June (05) acquittal on child molestation charges, had started recording the single in London, but is now finishing it up in Los Angeles.

Kinda ironic, isn't it? I mean, two men involved in pedophile cases joining together for what is yes a good cause, but also kind of tacky.

In other news, Jackson is said to have also called Boyz II Men.
He thought that was the name of a delivery service.

Update

3-light
Originally uploaded by bat-a-ray.

I posted this picture back in Sept. of this year.
Today, I was informed that while it was being installed JUST today, the top insert broke. oy.

Nothing like rework to make a guys day!