Category: Misc.

A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon GasBuddy.com, a site with a bunch of links to other sites that use the same software to track gas prices nationwide. When I clicked on the link for Michigan, I saw listings for Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Detroit but pretty much overlooked the link to MichiganGasPrices.com at the top. I was disappointed that there was no Muskegon listing and actually emailed GasBuddy.com to ask about it. They, very kindly, sent me back a link to the Muskegon section of MichiganGasPrices.com. So now I can track area gas prices, assuming that people in the area help keep it updated… which at least some people do, seeing how there are prices listed. FWIW, my user ID on that site is StarDestroyer.

Just saw an interesting question on Gerv’s blog. Where exactly did the phrase “Seperation of Church and State” come from? And why is it being thrown around to ban anything that may have to do with religion? All throughout the country there are cases where judges are being ordered not to display the ten commandments, schools are being ordered to teach evolution as fact without presenting alternative ideas (no, I’m not kidding), and countless other acts where a seemingly vocal minority is forcing atheism (the opposit of ‘God exisits’ is ‘God doesn’t exist’) upon the masses. All this on seems to be based on the phrase “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” from the First Ammendment. Where in there does it saw that the Ten Commandments are illegal or that evolution is a fact?

Yesterday I went and picked up some contacts. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever worn them. It still seems strange intentionally putting something into my eye. I mean, I’ve spent my whole life to this point trying to keep things out of my eyes. For example, when I’m in the shower, I try to keep the shampoo from entering my eyes. Heck, I normally close my eyes when I go underwater just to try to keep the water and/or chlorine out of my eyes! Anyway, I seem to be getting a little better at putting them in. This morning it only took me 20 minutes (yesterday it took an hour). I’m still at the point that every time I see my glasses setting on the bookshelf I think I need to grab them. It only takes a second before my brain realizes that it saw my glasses, not just a semi-fuzzy shape resembling my glasses so I haven’t actually grabbed them and tried to put them on yet. I imagine this whole process gets easier the longer you do it. After all, if it took 20 minutes every morning just to get contacts in, I really don’t think many people would wear them.

Today must be annoyance day. I saw an article on slashdot about the direct marketing companies (read, telemarketers) planning to increase the amount of SPAM and Junk Snail Mail they send once the national do not call list goes active. In preparation for this onslaught, I updated my Mozilla install to version 1.4 using the RPM’s from Red Hat’s rawhide in order to get the built in Junk Mail Controls. For the other side of the coin (snail mail), I think I’ll start ripping up the applications I get sent and then putting them in those nifty postage due business reply envelopes and sending them back to the company. With any luck, they’ll get the hint that I really don’t care.

As long as I’m on the topic of annoying advertisements, does anybody else’s movie theater insist on giving you a small ad for their concession stand when they hand you the tickets? Mine does, and it really doesn’t seem to make sense. I mean, I can see the concession stand from where I buy the tickets and I have to walk past it in order to get to the actual movie theater. Do they really think that little piece of paper is going to make me decide that I really do want popcorn if the smell can’t?

Saw a link on Mike Pinkerton’s blog about the National Do Not Call registry accepting registrations. For some reason they require a valid e-mail address, but if it will stop most telemarketing calls for 5 years I guess I can live with that.

Looks like I’m on my way to Fort Jackson, SC. That means pretty much everything I said 13-Jun applies again. I did drop my laptop off before I left last time but still haven’t heard back from Circuit City telling me that it was back in or whether they had found any problems. They’ll probably call me while I’m out of town these next few days.

Well, I decided to do it… enter into the realm of useless blogs. Hopefully this will allow me to keep a record of things I do. In the end I think this will probably be of more intrest to me than anybody else, but I figured I might as well make it public :).