Tears of the Sun. Another movie that thinks highly of itself. 2 hrs and 1 minute. If they removed the long winded musical scores and panoramic shots of steaming jungles they might have had a movie with dialog. Which, for and american film, would have been note worthy in and of itself.

Still its not a bad film and I'm happy to have seen it, and evenhappier to NOT have sat through this at the movie theature.

So there what I've been doing for Thanksgiving weekend.

Well I discovered that I have an Alkaline rechargable battery, D Size.

What I had thought to be a Ni-cd was anything but. As I sat by my computer this morning the battery charger made a interesting sound. A pop, fizzle sound, which was a bit disconcerting as it was right next to my elbow.

The battery popped open and the acid leaked all over. Fortunately the charger maker had this thought out and the whole base screwed off and the acid easily rinsed out and put back together.

So lesson learned check your batteries before you charge them

Well the story of the HP camera seems to have come full circle. Here's the story.

Bought a nice HP 320 camera 2 years ago and it works fine for about 9 months. Thing broken down, and after some hassle (nothing out of the ordinary) I got a replacement sent and that works well for another 6 months or so.

Then the fun started. Camera would fail to turn on with any regularity. It Didn't matter if it had batteries or AC plug in. Some time it would turn on, most of the time just wink its little start light 3-4 times then shut back off.

So, I contacted Hewlet Packard again. and after 4 emails and a phone call I have found out that I don't excist, then 'never' sent me a camera and there is absolutley no record of me or my purchase.

I am one of those people that sends all product warrenty cards in for just about everthing. I did pass on the warrenty for my 8$ wristwatch since I'd have to pay shipping and for that, I could almost buy a new one.

So how does a company like that go and lose a customer. I dunno, but I figure if they can lose parts of the database like that then anything is possible.

Months pass. Guess what? I got a catalog from HP! Seems they now 'found' my address again.

I will admit that earlier they offered a bargin deal for a replacement camera, but the bargin was about 10$ less that I bought it and could still buy it, new at wal mart. They probably would have been better off simply saying, "Yea, your right, but we don't have your records, so here is 10% off, have a nice Day.

Anyway I call HP up and had them remove my name from the mailing list. Flat out I cannot ever in good faith buy anything from HP again.

Anyone have a good tip for a digital camera's?

My Dear wife, the handyman about the house, tore the camera apart, wiggled parts about and reasembled it. It seems to be working again, but I don't trust it one iota.

2 Camera's, two problems. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!

Raille

Michigan has a bottle deposit. I was behind this since High school, being a sort of enviromental goody goody thing, plus back in 1980 10cents was a big deal.

I could collect up a bag of bottles and cans and take them anywhere and get cash.

Eventually stores and manufactures began stamping cans and bottles so you coul dnot take back just any and expect money.

Still a good thing. Couple years later what do you have? Store and distributors complaining about receiving cans/bottles from brands they did not carry. So they quick accepting those 'off' brands.

Then since it was a lot of work automated machines took place of tellers, so if the label was worn off or unreadable you might get the store to accept it.

Fast forward to the present.

I have bottles that have to go to Spartan brands stores, Meijer Brand Stores, Sams/Wal-mart, or in the case of imported beer any of a dozen stores since different importers have different stuff and stores what to be different that the guy next door. Its helps keep business.

So how do you know where to take Bottle 'X'? Christ on a crutch. Gas is 2$+ gallon and I have 2 cans from Wal mart, 2 from Spartan Stores, 9 from Aldi's and 6 from a local importer. Then I have 14 more from God knows where!

So by the time I drive to all these places I have spent my deposit on Gas. Is it any wonder people simply throw them away! Lately I just give the poor beggers a sack of cans and let them suffer for the 2$ it 'might' contain. They usually avoid me after that.

So the moral of the story is if you want to keep beggers happy and far away from you, keep a sack of mixed cans in your car and give them to the first homeless person you see. Make sure they get a good look at your face though, you'll never have them hassel you any more.

In a more serious train of thought, why does the deposit not go up. Come on 10c 26 years ago could buy you something. Like a candy bar or soda. Now a candy bar is 50c or more and soda anywhere from 25c "faygo" to 1$ "name brand vending machine"

Should not the deposit go up to 50c or something? I bet then you increasing amount of cans I see along the roads would virtually disapear over night and at least it would be worth my effor to at least TRY to return them.

Cold. The weather is Cold. Sort of expected this time of year, but when it happens your never really prepared.

Currently heating my little abode with a woodstove soap stone stove which works wonders, even when the powers out and I cannot move the heat with fans around the house.

Being rural, once powers out the furnace is off, the stove is off and the refriderator is off. Worst is the lack of water. With the wood stove no matter the weather I have heat and a place to cook in a pinch.

If its cold enough to heat, then its usually cold enough I can store food on the porch till the powers back.

My goal is to have a hand pump installed so at all times I will have running water, heat and a cooking surface.

I guess the next goal would be to get one of those propane refridgerators so I could run on propane and be mostly able to live off the grid 24/7.

If not for the ridged zoning rules I think I'd work on getting a wind generator also.


Next: Why is it Ok for nations to capture and hold US troops and civilians in remote locations world wide and torture them, with no further goal than to humiliate the United States.

I guess if its ok for everyone else its just dandy for the USA to do also!

Maybe not. But Certain politicians sire think so. Its the Wal-mart Syndrome, rushing to the least common denominator.

I neither with to be 'least' or 'common' prefering much more to aspire to have my personal morals along the lines of 'extreme heights' and 'uniquness'.


Next: My promotional item for the year. www.yourmusic.com
Sold. for 6$ a month I get music CD's delivered to my door. Hell yea. Shipping included!

Related item. RIAA says downloading is bad, sues everyone and the horse they road in on. So why is it Music CD's at virtually ANY store starts at 9.99 and Up? While the same store will carry DVD's for 7.99 and Up.

You'd think they were ripping us off or something. I buy shipping paid CDs for 6$, that include mfg costs, contracts with artists, shipping to a vender, then shipping to me. The vender www.yourmusic.com still makes profit and the record label makes a profit. So where's my reason to drive at 2$+ gallon to a store miles away and pay 10-20$ for the same music?

Record labels have driven buyers away from stores and then they whip them when the cut corners and download music for free. Face it even at 10$ a disc, thats a lot when many bands only have 1 or 2 songs worth listening to on any particular album.

Actually I'd rather see more money to the artists and I'd be happy to pay 10$ a pop for albums. But unless the music is from some independant label or unsigned band, I'll stick to ebay, yourmusic and garage sales.

Yes for the record I have paid top dollar for indy bands 15-20$ PLUS shipping for stuff I like. These people need to eat. Columbia records CEO's probably have plenty.

Signing off like there's no tommorrow

Raille

Finally got my Ext Hard drive. Nice great big 200Gb Maxtor. Now I have a place for those 30 gigs of music files I have.

Next task if to figure out how to back up to the drive.

Stay tuned for adventures in software application. Its supposedly 'one' touch, but I'll belive it when I see it.

Expect this to happen next week some time. My cold is messing with my self of time. At least I've not oozed mucus all over the keyboard. yet.

Deer Hunting Season starts soon and all my co workers will be gone. Nothing as nice as 2 weeks at work without having to worry about actually working. Yea, I know deer hunting is a serious USA thing, at least for some people. I'll eat them, but its far too much effort to go do it.

Wasting time from work, cost for equipment and other sundries, and ultimately after hundreds of dollars you might get a deer and some meat. So it costs 10$ a pound, I think those NY Strip steaks for 6$ at the grocery store are a better deal and they don't fill up my limited freezer space.

How come we can't just buy venison in the store?

Well off again.
Raille

Been thinking about the Legacies of Blood release by White wolf. Looks like a fun set, but with limited funds its going to be a restricted finacial investment. The next one I may opt out of entirely, relying on tourneys and the occasional pack from the FLGS.

Job hunting sucks. You never seem to have enough experience.

23 years with the Guard and I'm thinking its time to go! Getting over the hooks of having the additional income is rough. Can you be addicted to work? They "the Guard" seems to think so they way they keep selling this to you. 15,000$ bonus just sign here. 1 weekend a month 2 weeks summer training.

Right.

Now on to the fun stuff. Finally getting into lots of games and entertainment with my son. Eventually I will be able to say, these games are cool for both of us and keep, and these are not and sell them. That should free up a lot of space in the house. :)

Computers. Been working on these for 20 years. Can feild strip one and put it back together running fine, can build a system with spare parts, can savage data and back up systems, setup run and maintain networks (no wifi) but do you think I can get a job. Not in this life. I think the best I might be able to do is open my own business.

Signing off for now
Your Internet Curmudgeon