Olympic Glory, or is it?

Congrats go out to Shani Davis for being the first Black win an individual gold metal at the Winter Olympics. Of course, I'm all interested in the winter sports. But Shani's story interests me because I was trying to get my club to donate money to the US Ski & Snowbard Association. Other club members didn't share my enthusiasm, and Shani's story explains why. Why is it that Black athletes don't get the same level of support other athletes get? I don't know all the details, but its clear that Shani carries a huge chip on his shoulder because he (and his mother) had to rely on international means of support in order for him to compete on the world level. So if the US Speedskating Association appears to give preferences to athletes that obviously didn't have as much potential as Shani, it's likely that the USSA does the same thing. In fact, Andre Horton is the only American to ever win the Italian Downhill, and he never made it to the Olympic team, and he is black.

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Sue Me?

Here I am, fighting to protect my property value. Protesting at Town Hall meetings, zoning meetings, Board of Commissoner meetings... and quite successful I might add. But this success means someone else is losing. So this loser is now trying to intimidate me from making further protests, and has sent me a formal threat to sue me!!! What the hell? How's a millionare going to sue little ole me? It doesn't matter that nothing I said was inaccurate, he can sue me for any reason at all, and I have to prove it in court. He's already sued the county and other business entinties, and now he's targetting me! The last thing I need is to become broke fighting some rich bastard when I'm about to start a new chapter in my life. I'm not some punk that can be bullied or intimidated, but I will tread very carefully, picking my words very selectively, just in case. Fortunately, I found this crazy neighbor who is just as determined to fight the Bastard, so I think I'll have her speak for me. After I move, I'll be through with all this.

Am I Dreaming

I know I was trippin' this morning when I woke up & saw snow on the ground, I was ready to put on my ski gear and hit the slopes! Must've been all the Olympics I've been watching. I arrived into work early, instead of my usual tardiness, and took advantage of the weather by wearing my Triple Fat Goose Cleveland Browns coat. Yeah, everyone looked at me like I was crazy or lost, and the Steeler's fans had plenty of jokes for me, but I was proud in Brown and Orange. Go Browns! And I'll delay my ski adventure until the following weekend, when I head up to N.C.

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The Man Under The Man

The company had production crews over here today taking video of my lead, as if he's some superstar. Well, maybe he is. He's up for the Engineer of the Year award for my program. That's great recognition... except for the fact that it's an individual award, and not a team. I'm not trying hate, or rain on his parade. But the fact is, he wouldn't be so great if it wasn't for work of his team! For example, I'm the one who travels so he can attend his son's wrestling matches. I'm the one who finds problems & fixes them. I'm the one he comes to get important tasks done. OK, these are probably reasosn why he is pushing to get me promoted. But it's not just me, there's 5 others that contribute as well. All the lead does is delegate, and perform a few urgent projects that everyone is too busy to work on. So for someone who does little, to get a big award, rubs me the wrong way. Do I have a reason to be irked, or am I trippin'?

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It's That Day Again

This is the day I used to run from. As a single guy, nothing good ever came out of Valentine's Day. It was always about material things. And no matter what, it never seemed to be enough. Pressure was too great to be Mr. Romantic when I haven't found Mrs. Right. I'm happy to share the holiday this year with Mrs. Right, and wish everyone out there Happy Valentine's Day. I thought this picture was perfect! No matter how big, ugly, and wrinkled up you are, everyone's lovable!

My First Flash Animation

CLICK HERE to see the movie if you don't see it.
Flash player is needed.

Ignant Politician

I guess there's no qualifications to be a politician. I swear, we have the most ignorant commissioner representing my district. OK, I knew she was questionable when I saw her several times over the past year, but one would think that after a year of public speaking and dealing with any & everybody, she would be able to communicate like she has at least a middle school education! But nope. I attended a town hall meeting Monday, and could not believe that she could not read. It was like, the words were there, but they didn't make any sense, so she tried to make nonsense out of them.

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You know how you read off of bullets, and you may elaborate on each point? Maybe that's what she doing, except there were no bullets. Someone did a great job writing complete sentences that made sense. But she would read it aloud, so it wouldn't make sense. It didn't help matters that she spoke just as ignorantly when answering questions. NEVER AGAIN will I vote for someone just cause s/he's black!

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Anyways, I feel like an activist myself. I was protesting the developer in my area... trying to protect my property value. My question actually got heated when I accused the county planner of accepting the developer's lies, and being allowed to be misled instead of looking at the facts. I came to my senses later on that I need to be careful who I call a liar out in public unless I want to get sued. Even if I have the facts to prove it.

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Today, I went to the Zoning hearing to make my protest directly in front of the developer and the panel that makes recomendations. He must've heard I was coming armed with facts, cause he asked for a "continuance" before I even got there. I expect he'll find a way to present without me knowing about it so I won't object, try to convince me that I shouldn't object because he'll do something for me, or most likely... he'll threaten to sue me. He's done it before. Bastard.

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Web Skillz

Back in August, I announced that I was focusing on learning how to do some F.lash animation. I'm proud to announce, I have learned, I have practiced, I can now create some ultra-cool graphics and animations. I said I would show something impressive in 6 months. I'll see if I can put to gether a little project to post.

Workin 9-5...

My boss sent out a letter day expressing his frustration that no one was around at 7:30 AM when he needed some information. Well, duh! Who the hell goes around looking for folks at 7:30 AM? Was he looking for one person, and just surprised that no one else was here yet? Did he not realize that getting in at 7:30 serves no useful purpose if there's no meeting? We're supposed to work 9 hour days, plus lunch, so we're expectd to be there about 10 hours a day. Uh... yeah, right. It may happen, but don't expect it everyday. Most people subtract their lunch break, claiming since they ate at their desk, they didn't take a lunch break. Others like me.... take a 2 hour lunch break. :-) And yeah, most folks are gone around 5:00. So we've been advised when we come in early, make it a point to be seen. And be seen when you work late. I can't help but be seen, being the only dread-headed guy around. The only thing I will say is I will make an attempt to put in more hours & be more visible, but I'm not making any promises.

Indecent Exposure

Here I am at work, walking up the stairs, and I look up to see the grossest site possible at work! A beer belly was sticking out from under this guy's t-shirt! OK, it happens, maybe it was an isolated incident. NOPE! Walking to the cafeteria, I saw a worse example. I was looking downward towards his belly, and still saw the hanging blobs of fat under his t-shirt. There's no excuse for this! It's near freezing outside, and dudes up here showing their belly cleavage.

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Road Trip

My trip out to Albuqwerky had its challenges the first day. There was bad weather in Atlanta, which delayed my flight a couple hours. I arrive there at 11:30 (that's 1:30 my time), drive for 2.5 hours through the mountainous Indian reservations, and arrive at the small Sipapu ski resort after 2 AM (that's 4 AM my time). A drive from HELL! Seemed like something from a horror movie.

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Once I left Sante Fe (hour from the airport), there was no gas station, no open stores, no nothing for the next 100 miles. The map said I was on a highway, but here I am going 25 miles an hour through little villages w/ my bright lights on. Mapquest said I'll see the intersection in 7 miles, I'm still looking for it 30 miles later. Funny thing is, I was never lost. I was confused, since many intersections had no street signs, but apparently, never lost. One time I stopped, just to be sure I was heading the right direction, then a pack of dogs attacked my SUV!!!! OK, it was only 2 dogs, but it scared the shit out of me! I was in one of those scenes from the Twilight Zone. Away from modern civilization (it seemed to me), wondering if someone behind was going force me off the road and scalp me!

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It was an uncomfortable drive, but I made it to my destination, eventually. Got my free room, with no phone, no tv, and no cell phone service. But I had fun snowboarding the next day. The drive back the next day was very pleasant & scenic. I don't get the fascination with Adobe houses, but they were nice to look at.

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Corporate Hustler, Part V

I'm still trying to get my hustle on. I now have two opportunities to get promoted, and I'm aggressively pursuing both of them! I can either get this new position, or I can keep my current one. Either way, I'll be extremely blessed with anything I receive, even if it nothing this time around. I'm currently bruising my head against this glass ceiling. But if I get either position, I will have moved up extremely quickly compared to my co-workers at the same level, since I don't have an advanced degree. Not even my current degrees are in this field! (To fend off questions, I have BS degrees). Word is, decisions won't be made until the end of March, so I'll report on my status around then.

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Body Clock

In the last 4 weeks, I have been to Hawaii, California, and New Mexico. I have taken red eye flights, & early morning flights. My body clock is all screwd up! I wake up like clockwork around 6 AM EST, but staying up in the morning more difficult than it ever used to be, taking mid-day naps are much more attractive, and I can't fall asleep at night. Aside from a small weekend trip to NC, I hope to get back on track these next 8 weeks. Then it's off to Switzerland, Paris, Cabo, Vegas... *sigh* .... *YAWN*!!!!