Friday, October 06, 2006

Timing is Everything!

I was told this story by a co-worker at a place I worked years ago. Oh, I should mention the co-worker just happened to be black. That is an integral part of the story. I'll call my co-worker Jim because

1. To protect the innocent and

2. I've forgotten his name.

Jim was born and raised in So. California. Los Angeles County to be more exact. This story takes place in the very early 60's. I'm telling it as I remember it but you should know know I heard it in the early 80's. The conversation recounted might not be exact the the meaning was there...




One summer when Jim was 9-10 years old he was sent to visit his grandparents and family in Little Rock, Arkansas. He got to play with cousins and neighborhood children and had a really good time. Until one day a two white boys riding on a single bicycle came into the black neighborhood. One was sitting on the handlebars, had a BB gun and was shooting it off. He hit Jim's girl cousin in the face with a BB.

Jim saw which way they were heading and took off through a couple yards. On his way he found a loose board and picked it up. As the boys on the bicycle rounded a corner they were confronted by Jim with his board.

Thwock!

The kid on the handlebars was hit in the face with that board. A tangle of white boys and bicycle with a black boy smacking them. About this time one of the neighbors came out and grabbed Jim and dragged him away to his grandparents house. Jim didn't realize what he had done. For a black boy in early 60's Arkansas to hit a white boy with a board, a fist or a marshmallow was a capital offense. Even if he was defending his cousin against a BB gun.

This was the point in time that they told him that he would be killed for hitting a white boy. Jim was scared and didn't understand. In California where he was from black and white kids played together and sometimes would fight without all this broohaha. They would fight, stop fighting and go back to playing. Why was it so different here?

Jim's grandparents hid him at another neighbor's house while they dealt with the police and as soon as it got dark they had friends drive him out of the city. He told me of how confused and scared he was as he was hiding in the back seat covered with a blanket and trash. They took him to Texas and put him on a bus for home.

So much for a fun summer vacation at grandma's and grandpa's house.

Fast forward to the very late 70's. Jim is visiting his grandparents in Little Rock. Enough time had passed and he no longer resembled the little black boy that whacked a white boy. Besides, Arkansas had changed quite a bit. The entire country had changed quite a bit. Dr. Martin Luther King had made his 'I have a dream speech' and it took hold. People were working on judging other people not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. By all means racism had not ended but it was riding the back bumper not driving the car.

Jim, decided to go to the movies one day. While he was sitting in the movie theatre, waiting for the movie to start, more people coming in, a white man entered the theatre and sat next to him. No longer were the drinking fountains and rest rooms labled white and black. In Little Rock a white man and black man could sit side by side in a movie theatre. No shouts of nigger lover resounded as would have in previous years.

He and the white gentleman started a conversation. Usual small talk. Jim from California. Other guy born and raised in Little Rock. It turned onto the subject of changes in attitudes concerning the races in America.

Jim told him of his previous visit to little Rock and of the kid with the BB gun and him with the plank.

That was when the man said, "I'm so glad to meet you. I've felt so bad ever since that day I shot at your cousin and you whacked me with the board. I was a real little ass and have regretted my actions of that day. I was worried they would find you and kill you because of me and was real glad you got away. I want to tell you I'm sorry for what I did."

Jim apologised for whacking him with the board and the two were able to watch the movie together with uplifted hearts.

They left the theatre as friends.

Reconciliation can do wonders for the soul!



prying1 sez: Was it a coincidence that these two, nearly 20 years after the offense were able to get a burden off their hearts? I think not. - Divine appointments are great. - This was one of them.

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Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Pretty Spiffy Hand Drier

Ever go into a restroom and after washing your hands turn to find one of those air hand driers? No paper towels. Just the air drier. I hate that. It means precious time standing there with soggy hands for 30-40 seconds. AND you know they won't be dry when you leave the rest room. Hey! 30-40 seconds of valuable time I could be doing anything else but standing there not getting my hands dry.

For guys this really isn't too big a problem because we have shirts to wipe our hands on unless we are at some wedding reception and forced to wear a suit. Then we have to dry our hands on the back of our shirt under our jackets. There is always the toilet paper which instantly turns to sludge and sticks to the hands or the disposable toilet seat covers which are not really absorbant. I don't know how the ladies handle it because I'm too much of a gentleman to ask 'em...

Well! The solution is coming to a gas station and restaurant near you real soon (I hope). You might want to get one for your home. Although you will have to wait a bit. As of the time of this posting it is still in the testing stages in hospitals, several restaurants and service stations across the pond in the UK.

It is the DYSON AIRBLADE HAND DRIER!



Short video here!


Mr James Dyson, the inventor, says, "The Airblade scrapes your hands clean with a high speed sheet of air,...It's a bit like a windscreen wiper."


The air shoots out of two slots the width of a human hair at 400 MPH (640 kph) and all the water forced off is sterilized with an iodine filter Then the water is atomised into the air.

The old hand driers suck in dirty washroom air - heat it up - blow it back onto clean hands and so clean hands end up exposed to washroom bacteria.

This device takes only 10 seconds to dry your hands. That saves 20 to 30 seconds! Not only that. This device will actually get your hands dry.



Thank You Mr. Dyson!

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Hat tip to: Tom Simonite at NewScientistTech.com -
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Monday, October 02, 2006

WHO ARE THESE IDIOTS?

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

Recently I started getting emails saying I've won or a free product is on it's way to me...

They have ALL been caught in my Yahoo email spam box.

They proliferate beyond reason.

That tells me that they have been working.

- People answer the emails like they are not SCAMS!!! -

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Update!!! - SPAM EMAILS WITH THE LINES:

PlayStation3 Voucher #PS3-13151
Victoria's Secret Voucher #VSC-11283
E-TicketWinner Winner #S9-VM732
Claim: Home Depot Voucher Winner #D8-SL283
Claim:Home Depot Credit Ticket Winner #X8-SL67
PlayStation 3 Voucher #PS3-51874
Victoria's Secret Voucher #VSC-01715
Get 2 Boxes of Coffee, Programmable Coffemaker, and 2 Travel Mugs
35 oz. of Downy Fabric Softener On Us.
Get Tide Laundry Detergent On Us.
ETC. ETC. ETC.

ARE ALL SCAMS!!!

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Listen up people! Do you know what spam is? In case you don't here is the definition from MSN Encarta - I don't care if you don't trust MSN! This definition can be found free for nothing elsewhere if you don't trust this source.

spam


noun (plural spams)
Definition:

electronic junk mail: an unsolicited, often commercial, message transmitted through the Internet as a mass mailing to a large number of recipients
...
It goes on to say that the word probably came from the: Monty Python's Flying Circus in which all items on a menu contained Spam(tm)... - Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, and eggs but we're out of eggs.
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Got it? Montey Python was filled with JOKES but spam in the can is filled with parts that would normally be used for cat and dog food...
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Well that sentence lined me up for a lawsuit but at this point I don't care!

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Here are some one liner email subjects that are scams whether you believe it or not:

Home Depot Voucher Winner #543-3222
Airline Ticket Voucher Winner #7823-78512
Gillette Fusion Razor On Us
Airline Ticket Voucher Winner #KA8-MS243
Home Depot Voucher Winner #543-3222
Home Depot Voucher Winner #89321-9802
Gillette Fusion Razor On Us
True.com Membership On Us.
Fast Food Voucher #MCD-15822
Secret Shopper Job Offer #YTB-81546
Here's Your True.com 7 Day Membership On Us
Home Depot Voucher Winner #789-08967
[none]
ue SAVE 82%: VIAGR*, AMBIE*, CIALI*, XANA*, RIVOTRI*, LEVITR*, CIPRO, MERIDI*, C...
Fwd: WARNING
(email name)YOU ARE THE CONSOLATION PRIZE WINNER!!!!
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I was getting just a couple a day of this crap and all of a sudden it exploded. I had to go through over 75 to pull out the lines above and that is all from the past 2 days. Most were repetative to the point of being ridiculous The last couple don't really count. I just threw those in because they were there. They are still scams!

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I'll go through only one of them here and if you have problems with it EMAIL me and I will stick your email address on any 2 you choose and forward them to you. You can be the one "digging a little deeper" and wasting your time with this stuff.

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Gillette Fusion Razor On Us
- open email - Find link - Right click on link - click on properties - Highlight the address given and cut-n-paste address into new window. DELETE THE LAST PART OF THE STRING UP TO OR INCLUDING FORWARD SLASH(/) for security reasons. Click on GO and Whoo Hoo! - A page opens for - http://www.smoothershave4free.com/?config=1212&src=WC-51712aaaCD104:76461:
Copy: - www.smoothershave4free.com - and run though Google - Find ONLY THREE HITS! (at the time of this posting) - Check the hits and discover that all the hits are spam on free online bulletin boards -

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Double check the web page offered through this online scam and see:

1: They want your email address - Then you wil get the !!PRIZE!! (Whoo Hoo again)!
2: box stating, "I certify that I am a U.S. Resident over the age of 18,
and I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions." - - - It is prechecked for your convenience. (They only have your best interests at heart.)
3: At the bottom of the page of - - is the small print DISCLAIMER!!!: To receive the incentive gift you must: 1) register with valid information; 2) complete the user survey; and 3) complete at least 1 Silver, 1 Gold and 1 Platinum offer. Purchase may be required. Please read Terms & Conditions for details. (TYPICAL PAP THAT LEAVES YOU NO RECOURSE!) Upon completion of all requirements, we will ship the incentive gift to you with free shipping.

SmootherShave4Free.com is an independent rewards program for consumers and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of the listed products or retailers. Trademarks, service marks, logos, and/or domain names (including, without limitation, the individual names of products and retailers) are the property of their respective owners.

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Completing the requirements will cost you how much???


prying1 sez: I know it is not you that is encouraging this email spam by answering to it... It is not your friends because they know better... It is people that are third cousins of friends of your friends.

And for what? A razor that they loaded up on from their local 99 cent store.

Every person that answers spam emails should have their keyboards smashed with a rock!!!

~~~~~




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Sunday, October 01, 2006

eXlinks Is In Prelaunch Phase

I'm signed up with Blog Mad and have found their blog surfing services (Trading Blog visits with other bloggers) to be quite good. - The folks there are reputable. Good rate of exchange for your blog surfing time. Plus some wonderful bloggers reside there so you will most likely make friends.

PLUS!!! Customer service is quick! I always appreciate that in any online service. I've seen some outfits (Small Ones & Ultra Big Ones Too!) that don't answer emails for 4-5 days (if at all). Recently Blog Mad had various difficult issues (more than once - It is still in Beta) that were quickly and efficiently handled in such a way that, although there was temporary discomfort, service was quick to fix the problems and I believe the majority of folks were satisfied.

If you are not yet signed up with Blog Mad here is your chance. Simply click here to join!

Well Blog Mad is currently offering membership in a new program they are getting off the ground called eXlinks. Click Here to join in on the Prelaunch Signup!

Their advert says,

- quote - The basis of how it all fits together will become clear when we go Beta, but essentially we are going to go out and build small networks of friends, referrals, bloggers, website owners and basically anyone with an online interest who wants any of the following;

i) Readers
ii) visitors
iii) Traffic
iv) better search engine ranking

At this point we really do not want to get into how we plan on fitting it all together but we do promise that it will be worth it. Very much so. - end quote -

When they will go active is not revealed. They are working on getting enough people signed up then they will "Let 'er rip!"

If you decide later to join there is now a link on my sidebar that will give you easy access. - I'd suggest getting in early in case of extra bonuses they will give for the first folks to sign up in the prelaunch.

I dug a little deeper and this really looks legit. I'm still not sure what it is or what it does or how it works but the few minutes signup time may turn into something really good for you and your blog!



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