“Hello, I want to talk with Raimundo Andrade!” …

•November 12, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Ok, here I go again.  Those of you who know me… know that i hate it when people call me… pretending to know who I am…  assume that I speak Spanish… and start chattering off in a language other than English.  This is an extension of that fact… and it really got my goat.  Last night… my roommate Dave was telling me how he hates people calling up… trying to track down deadbeats.  For Instance… John Doe… owes $18,000  in unsecured credit card debt to a Visa company…. the department of the company…. who is charged with getting the Dead Beat John Doe to cough up the money…. says “Well, John Doe” is off the radar… he has gone to ground.  If he lost his house and stuff…. he is probably living with relatives in Orlando, FL.  There are 500 Doe families in Orlando (made up number) so let’s call all 500 of them… and catch them off guard… and tell them that John Doe needs to pay.  We will track him down somehow… no matter the cost!”

Pretty crappy huh?  No sooner had Dave and I finished discussing this… the phone rang.  Guess what?  Yup…. “Hello, I want to talk to Raimundo Andrade!”.  I thought for a split second…and then responded “what makes you think that a Raimundo Andrade is associated with this phone number?”  He answered “Well, they told me to call this number because Raimundo Andrade is living there.”  I countered “Who are ‘they’ and why are they telling you to bother me…. there is no Raimundo Andrade here.  I do not know a Raimundo Andrade!”

The guy says that he knows that Raimundo Andrade is in my house and he demands to talk to him.  I was getting mad… I told him “Look… You are pronouncing Andrade like a spaniard would pronounce it… my family does not say our name that way… as we are not Spanish/latino.”

I told him “Look, I know the game you are playing… or the game that your company is playing.  they are throwing the net wide… trying to get a lead on Raimundo Andrade… and they don’t care how much of my time they waste… because if Raimundo Andrade owes you 18K… and you can collect even part of it…. the company will give you 75% of it… and take 25% of whatever you recover.  Got it.  That being said…. I don’t live with Raimundo Andrade, I don’t know a Raimundo Andrade… nor, in the near or distant future do I even remotely think I will meet a Raimundo Andrade.  Please dude… help me out here.  I am hereby requesting that you remove my name, my address, and my phone number…. from your records… as I am in no way associated with Raimundo Andrade!”

The guy had to laugh… after I was done… he said “you are a sharp guy dude… I will remove your contact information from this account.”  I thanked him and recognized that he needed to work for a living too…. and thanked him for his help.  Also I wished him a good evenening.

It just kills me with this type of crap.  Guilty until proven innocent.  You are assumed to be harboring a Dead Beat… until you prove you are not.  I cannot tell you how many times I get harassed looking for Sheniqua Jones,  among a host of others!  This type of action should be illegal!  Anyway… for the record…. I do not know anybody by the name of Raimundo Andrade!

Why Did The Windows 7 Beta Work Fine On My Desktop, Pass The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, but FAIL TO RUN When I Installed It On The Same Hardware?

•October 26, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Ok, back in January I installed the Windows 7 Beta Release… Did I have some problems… yes.

First off, I had difficulty with the Network driver… found a driver that would work… (yes, an old 3-com DOS driver) and it worked fine.  No problems with lack of support for my mother board’s chip sets, or sound card, or Kodak All-In-One Printer.  I was working with the beta… and even was using the PC to run WoW WOTLK (Wrath of the Lich King).  Had good performance too.

The question remains… when Microsoft put together the final release package… why did they strip out all the “good” stuff that allowed my computer to run Windows 7?  First off, my roommate burned me back to the Stone Age… he told me that since I was being kind enough to beta test Microsoft’s new OS FOR FREE (!!!!) they wanted the biggest installed user base to participate in the beta.  They enabled all the older PCs…. to be able to run.  Why?  because we were helping them perfect their system.

I asked my roommate… why if Microsoft “giveth”… why did they also “taketh away”?  He told me that even though Microsoft does not make hardware (they are not called the WINTEL Monopoly for nothing) they have a stake in making sure that the PC platform continues on.  By continuing on, my roommate explained that this really means… sells more new computers.  So, basically, even though my machine passed the Windows 7 upgrade advisor…. and was running the beta with no problems… Microsoft had to ensure that my older machine would not work…  to make sure that I would eventually…. feel left out…. and by a new computer…. running Windows 7.

For all those people out there… who bought Windows 7… because the upgrade advisor said they were ok to do so…. they had a big surprise.  they paid money for something that they cannot use!  I have made the switch…. so my old XP machine is being used until it dies.  I am going to use the copy of Windows 7 to virtualize on my 24 inch iMac.  Other’s will not be so lucky!  Microsoft screws the public again!

Also, let me tell you that so many people… after the launching smoke has cleared… are asking one question?  What happened to Outlook Express?  Oh… don’t worry about that…. buy Microsoft Outlook 2007 for $350 and you get the “real” version of outlook.

Apple has three new commercials making fun of the fact that when you upgrade to Windows 7 from XP… you have to move all your data…. and install Windows 7 as a new installation.  Apple says… rightly so…. that if you have to move your data anyway… why not upgrade from a PC to a Mac?  (Great thinking if you ask me!)

Anyway… just when you think it is safe to go back into the Microsoft water… Steve Ballmer and crew open up Microsoft’s Jaws of Death on your butt.  Fool me once Microsoft… shame on you… fool me 3,453 times… shame on me!  Is it any wonder i made the switch to Apple?

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Disappointed In The Way The I Got Hoodwinked By Microsoft Yet Again? – Not In The Least. (All My Computer Eggs Are Not In The Microsoft Basket)

•October 24, 2009 • 2 Comments

Nah, it does not bother me at all.  It might bother others…. who shelled out the big bucks for the home version of Windows 7… but I have made the switch to Apple…. and their Mac computers…. and am very happy with Snow Leopard!  Plus… the $49.99 cost for Windows 7… was cheaper than the $119.99 that everybody else is spending.  Also, I will virtualize it on my Mac anyway.  Don’t plan on any more problems with that… LOL.

As I type this…I am installing XP on the PC.  The only think I don’t know is if I will be able to kick off the SP2 install… before I go out to PetSmart for Catfood, Litter, and other miscellaneous goods before I can install it.   I will be contemplating that as I sit down having my Sierra Turkey Sandwich at Panera.  LOL

Will keep you abreast of how it works out.  I do feel sorry for people who have an older machine… and believed the results of the Windows 7 Upgrade advisor… and it said all is fine.  Not everybody can drop hundreds or thousands of dollars on a new computer… and some people thought that they were getting a bargain basement upgrade for $119.99 LOL.

Read This Blog Entry Before Upgrading XP to Windows 7… Don’t Be A Jamoke Like I Was!!!

•October 24, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Hey Gang:

Just went and spent time…reinstalling XP on my PC…before installing Windows 7.  Guess what… don’t bother! LOL.  See, Windows 7 will validate that you have an existing windows…then blow it away.  That is why you need to back up your DATA first.  I don’t know now… if I want to install Windows 7…. I have a nice SP3 “NEW” installation now… and why do it?  I might as well save my Windows 7 license to virtualize on my iMac… Like I planned… Ha ha ha ha.  Maybe I should have read the article below before reinstalling XP… my defective, crappy, slow, corrupt XP install …would have sufficed to validate Windows 7.  The article is:

Five Things You Should Know About Upgrading From XP to Windows 7

Oh, and here is the upgrade advisor.  It will evaluate your hardware and crap… and tell you if you have any potential problems…and how they can be remediated… if indeed they can be remediated.  (Of course… Microsoft’s idea of remediation usually involves you buying a new computer… or a new HP printer, or a …. well, you get the idea…. Ugh!

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Tune in for more details on what I actually decided to do … ha ha ha ha

UPDATE:  My PC… is about 6 or 7 years old… and as things have “burned out”… I have replaced them.  Since the components have such a mixed bag of parts now… Windows 7 did not recognize a bunch of motherboard and associated chipset controllers.  Add to it…that it would not recognize my fairly new Kodak All-in-One printer… and that I did not have sound.  Ok… Am back to installing a pristine copy of XP on the PC.  The performance seemed to be ok… but things would not update properly…. and the printer did not work… and other “under the hood things” would probably screw me in the end. Therefore…Windows 7… is a bust…and the PC …shall stay XP… until it drops dead.  Funny… I ran the upgrade advisor… and it did not find any of this stuff…. so… maybe the upgrade advisor sucks!  (Ya thinkg? !!!)

Anyway… I guess I get to virtualize the OS… Now… on my iMac with VirtualBox.

I am not sure…but I think I might have just wasted $49.99!  Ugh.

Barack Obama Sees Worst Poll Rating Drop In 50 Years !!!

•October 23, 2009 • Leave a Comment

The decline in Barack Obama’s popularity since July has been the steepest of any president at the same stage of his first term for more than 50 years.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6409721/Barack-Obama-sees-worst-poll-rating-drop-in-50-years.html

Wow… never thought that I would see the day.  Personally, I can attribute this to the fact that he is actively trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people… in terms of what is in the legislation that he and his “LIBOCRATS” are preparing and trying to jam it down our throats!

I guess this proves that the American people are paying attention after all!  I urge everybody to go to www.gradegov.com now and vote on their Senators and Representatives!

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“Ya There? Ya There? Ya There Now? Ya There?” Or “How To Annoy The Blazes Out Of Somebody By Nagging Them Via Text Message, E-Mail, Twitter, Yahoo, Voicemail, and Phone Calls”

•October 21, 2009 • 3 Comments

Well, let me admit something to those reading my blog…. I just don’t get it.  Why is it that people are “so desperate” to get a hold of you… that they rapid fire all kinds of thinks to get a hold of you…. within seconds after trying one method… they don’t wait for an answer…they just move on to the next method.

You are probably confused…. how about this scenario.  I am at work… I go to get a cup of coffee… from when I stand up…. my phone starts ringing/chirping/chiming/vibrating … one different sound after the other.  I get a text message…. it says….”You there?”  Then I get another message…repeating “You There?”, Then I get another message “You There Now?”.  While I am trying to figure out what is going on… my Yahoo Messenger starts chiming…. “You there?”.  I look at my e-mail account… I have new e-mails… I open up an e-mail and all I see is…. “You There?”.  Before I close up shop on the mail…another one comes in…. “You There?”.  As my coffee is growing cold… my boss is behind me…. laughing his butt off… because to him… my phone is going wild!

Now… I ask you…. is there any reason…. why somebody…. is so desperate to get in touch with me… that they rapid fire try all these methods….and don’t wait for me to respond to a single one?  After things like this happen…. I feel like taking my iPhone…and pegging it against the wall…with the goal of shattering it into a billion small pieces!  I guess that during a work day… or when I get home at night trying to take a moment out to pet my kitties…. and the phone launches into a cacophony of digital burps… it is enough to enrage me!

As long as I am complaining… I have another admission… it really has started to anger me…. when people…. who need my help for something… call me up…. and “ATTEMPT” to make me responsible for helping them with something.  Remember the AGE OLD PROTOCOL when somebody needs help.  If I need help… like I did when my irrigation system had a leak…. I asked my buddy Tony.  I had a few false starts… but here is the deal.  Tony was helping me as a friend.  He had the expertise that I did not have.  I was lucky that he helped me.  I appreciated his help too.  I did not say “Tony, get your butt over here ASAP … 5 minutes ago…. and drop your wife, your kids, and your job…. to help me!  I needed help… so…as the one NEEDING the help… I totally put myself at his disposal…. if he could squeeze me in…. I would be soooo grateful.  The problem is… when people need something…. from me at least… they freak out.  They start with the old “Drop everything right away”… “Your life…such as it is…is insignificant with how busy I am… and what I need!”  An attitude like this…. to me… is just plain ludicrous.

Life is stressful enough… and when somebody pulls a maneuver like this…. it just torques me off big time!  I know that I am not married….I know that I don’t have a kazillion kids…. I know that I am not a busy executive… but it does not mean that my time is any less dear to me…than your time is to you.  I think I need to take a massive CHILL PILL…. and I am doing what I can… to not get myself obligated with crazy people.  I kind of did this stuff… when Microsoft came out with Windows Vista.  I was switching to Macs… so there was no way that I was getting involved with that crazy Vista.  Neighbors and all kinds of people… told me that they were making me responsible for their computers being upgraded to Vista… and for their personal happiness as well!  I told them that it was not going to happen.  I held firm…. and guess what?  People who were obnoxious about Vista… found somebody else to bully for their computer support.  (Hey, Windows 7 comes out this Friday… maybe I should do the same thing…. LOL.)

At any rate… I don’t mean for my blog readers to be afraid to ask me for help… because… I like to help people.  I just don’t need the baggage and harassment that some people… ill mannered people I might add… dish out to those they need help from.

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Does Anybody Other Than Rush, Glenn, and I Realize That The Libs Are Burying All Kinds Of Damaging Crap Into Legislation That Nobody Is Reading… That Will Hurt This Country?

•October 21, 2009 • Leave a Comment

I am so sick and tired….  provisions in Obama care to make owning a hand gun a deal breaker for getting insured.  Hiding this “label” crap… a certification that your house meets, will meet, and forever will meet ever escalating energy efficiency standards is plain EVIL.

This is why that in order to be free…. the working man…. has to be forever vigilant.  People that are angry at Glenn Beck think that he is a nut case.  I just read his book ARGUING WITH IDIOTS and I have never had more respect for him than I do now!  He was on the radio the other day…. and told us that the Obama REGIME…. is busy burying all these small parts of their whole, larger agenda…. into various bills… so the tools for their plan will be in place… and all they have to do is pull the trigger… to take total control of our lives.

Freedom of speech is under attack…. as well as Fox News…. It would not surprise me if the Govt. tries to shut down Fox News under some other technicality…. and ends up putting Rupert Murdoch in jail!

Laugh and scoff while ye may… but it won’t be over until the Fat Lady sings…. and neither her, nor me (I exercise my 2nd amendment rights) will be able to get health insurance!

Burried In The “Cap & Trade” Legislation… You Cannot Sell Your House Unless You Spend $$$$ To Make It Energy Efficient !!!!!

•October 21, 2009 • Leave a Comment

This bill has passed the House

—————————————————————————–

Here’s the link to the bill in case you think this might be false:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2454

Thinking about selling your house – A look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and trade bill)

This is unbelievable! Only the beginning… Welcome to the USSA !!!

Wow! Home owners take note & tell your friends and relatives who are home owners!!! Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you won’t be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act.

H.R. 2454, the “Cap & Trade” bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced. The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year. No one is excluded. However, once the lower classes feel the pinch in their wallets, you can be sure these voters get a tax refund (even if they pay no taxes at all) to offset this new cost. Thus, you Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America will have to pay even more since additional tax dollars will be needed to bail out eve ryone else.

But wait. This awful bill (that no one in Congress has actually read) has many more surprises in it.

Probably the worst one is this: A year from now you won’t be able to sell your house.

Yes, you read that right. The caveat is (there always is a caveat) that if you have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can sell it. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes (“mobile homes”) are included.

In effect, this bill prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator.

To get this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured. Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements. Then you will have to get your home measured again and get a license (called a “label” in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner If you don’t get a high enough rating, you can’t sell. And, the EPA administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act.

The EPA administrator, appointed by the President, wi ll run the Cap & Trade program (AKA the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009″) and is authorized to make any future changes to the regulations and standards he alone determines to be in the government’s best interest. Requirements are set low initially so the bill will pass Congress; then the Administrator can set much tougher new standards every year. The Act itself contains annual required increases in energy efficiency for private and commercial residences and buildings. However, the EPA administrator can set higher standards at any time.

Sect. 202 Building Retrofit Program mandates a national retrofit program to increase the energy efficiency of all existing homes across America .

Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you won’t be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. You had better sell soon, because the standards will be raised each year and will be really hard (i.e., ex$pen$ive) to meet in a few years. Oh, goody! The Act allows the government to give you a grant of several thousand dollars to comply with the retrofit program requirements if you meet certain energy efficiency levels. But, wait, the State can set additional requirements on who qualifies to receive the grants. You should expect requirements such as “can’t have an income of more than $50K per year”, “home selling price can’t be more than $125K”, or anything else to target the uppe r middle class (and that’s YOU) and prevent them from qualifying for the grants Most of us won’t get a dime and will have to pay the entire cost of the retrofit out of our own pockets. More transfer of wealth, more “change you can believe in.”

Sect. 204 Building Energy Performance Labeling Program establishes a labeling program that for each individual residence will identify the achieved energy efficiency performance for “at least 90 percent of the residential market within 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.” This means that within 5 years 90% of all residential homes in the U.S. must be measured and labeled. The EPA administrator will get $50M each year to enforce the labeling program. The Secretary of the Department of Energy will get an additional $20M each year to help enforce the labeling program. Some of this money will, of course, be spent on coming up with tougher standards each year. Oh, the label will be like a license for your car. You will be required to post the label in a conspicuous location in your home and will not be allowed to sell your home without having this label. And, just like your car license, you will probably be required to get a new label every so often – maybe every year. But, the government estimates the cost of measuring the energy efficiency of your home should only cost about $200 each time. Remember what they said about the auto smog inspections when they first started:20that in California it would only cost $15. That was when the program started. Now the cost is about $50 for the inspection and certificate; a 333% increase. Expect the same from the home labeling program.

Sect. 304 Greater Energy Efficiency in Building Codes establishes new energy efficiency guidelines for the National Building Code and mandates at 304(d) that 1 year after enactment of this Act, all state and local jurisdictions must adopt the National Building Code energy efficiency provisions or must obtain a certification from the federal government that their state and/or local codes have been brought into full compliance with the National Building Code energy efficiency standards.

WE ALL NEED TO TALK TO OUR SENATORS AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO.  ALSO, WE NEED TO CHECK TO SEE HOW OUR REPRESENTATIVES VOTED SO WE CAN HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE !!!

Bet Your Little Bippie That Windows 7 Will Be Released Friday, October 23rd, 2009!

•October 21, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Hey Gang:

Coming this Friday, October 23rd, you will be able to purchase the next version of Microsoft Windows…. Windows 7.  Windows 7 is based on Microsoft’s previous “bad boy” computer operating system “Vista”… and is supposed to be a tweaking/revision/upgrade of the Vista technology.  According to the hype, Microsoft has made Windows 7 less annoying, less consuming of system resources, easier to use, and more importantly… more expensive than any previous version of its consumer computer operating system.

“Ka-Ching” !!! (As in a cash register adding up to a huge amount!)  <My friend Rick would probably approve of me typing the word “Bazinga!” after this statement, LOL>

Well, what are a few more of your rapidly devaluating dollars in the last quarter of 2009?  In for a penny, in for a pound.  A penny for your thoughts and a pound of your flesh! HA HA HA HA

Hey, if you have been reading my blog… you know that I pre-ordered mine….and yes… NewEgg.com has charged my credit card and shipped my copy already.  I got mine for the discount price of $49.95… not the $119.95 that the 32 bit home version goes for on the web and in the stores.

Heard a rumor … that my local Best Buy went and scuttled all the existing XP and Vista computers/laptops from their showrooms… so that they can put out their brand new models…. with Windows 7 inside!  Don’t know how they can do it…when Windows 7 does not go on sale… officially…. until Friday.   Today is only Wednesday.  Such a shame… all those fine Windows Vista systems…. with its elegant UAC (User Access Control) … which coincidentally was the first thing that Windows 7 tweaked away… are now obsolete.  Makes you wonder why Microsoft even bothered with the just released Windows Vista Service Pack 2 which auto-corruptdate is just now starting to deploy!

Well, I guess I will find out how good Windows 7 is.  I still don’t know whether to put it on my XP machine… in place of XP… or to keep that machine XP-ized… and install Windows 7 on my 24″ iMac… as a virtualized operating system.  Stay tune for my decision.  In the mean time…. enjoy Windows 7.  Oh, in case you don’t know if you can upgrade your current installation of Windows XP or Windows Vista directly or if you have to erase/reformat your hard drive. you need to look at a few blog entries ago…. and follow the links.  They have a chart there… that tells you which you can update to Windows 7… and which upgrade paths require reformatting of the hard drive.

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Do You Legally Own A Hand Gun And Expect To Be Covered Under Obamacare? Think Again!

•October 19, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Heard today that buried inside the huge Obamacare health bill…. is a section where, since hand guns are not healthy for you, you will be charged a huge premium on-top of any other premiums if you LEGALLY own a hand gun!  So… nowhere is there legislation pending now…. that tells you that owning a hand gun is illegal… they are just going to make it cost prohibitive to exercise your 2nd Amendment Rights!

Folks… do we see what is happening here?  Little by little… in all these other laws… there are small little odds and ends…that when added up… means that the American People have lost or will be losing their rights!  With a one payer system…. if you cannot afford insurance if you own a hand gun…. then where are you going to get insurance from?  The Government in this case will be regulating… de facto style…. who can own a gun … and who can exercise their Constitutional rights!

I am so disgusted with all of this crap.  Well, the American people voted for change…. but I don’t think that we are getting the change that they had hoped for!  I cannot wait until the next congressional election where we can blow out these morons…. and then for the election in 2012!  (Hey, wait…. how much you want to bet… that in 2012… Obama win/lose…. he won’t give up the office of the President.)  I think he will contrive some national emergency or something… to stay in office.  It will end up being like Chavez in Venezuela!

If you own a gun… be afraid… be very afraid!

By the way …. EVERYONE MUST READ GLENN BECK’S BOOK… ARGUING WITH IDIOTS !!!