A Hell of a Mess...

Physician, heal thyself...

It's been a long time, I know.  (I guess I don't have a lot to say, or no one cares.  After all, I don't see a huge outcry of "what the hell happened to you?" comments, do I.)

I post today, though, to point out a certain exchange on a certain travel board that I used to frequent, but (as prior posts indicate), no longer bother.  The first paragraph is from the founder of the board, in reaction to concerns about avatars being forced onto the membership (bolded emphasis is mine):

"Actually this has nothing to do with the democratic system, nothing to do with the U.S. There was keen interest from members of the TalkBoard and many others as to how we might "Get Out The Vote." This is not new and you might remember the I Voted icon has been used in the past. I just did a search on I Voted in the thread title and cannot find a single reference that any member in the past ever complained about the I Voted icon.

In my mind, and it's only a personal POV the use of the I Voted icon seems to be in the greater good of the FlyerTalk community. In fact, we did not use the icon last year (technical challenges) and I received many concerns from the TalkBoard and other members as to why not. It should be interesting to note that already this year using the I Voted icon, we have had more votes cast than all of last year and we're just getting started. So there is ample proof they do work.

Further to my personal POV, the use of the I Voted icon does not in any way reflect on the absolute sanctity of all elections and that is ... who you voted for. That is the key to me and we remain committed to that remaining so.

If you or any other member has a problem because of the I Voted icon, you can contact me. While not entirely sure, I don't have a problem checking to see if you can vote and i can manually remove the I Voted icon. I and all the volunteers are here to try and assist our members, we just need to know how we can help.

So again, it's really not a democratic or U.S. thing, it's really about how best we can get out the vote and that is for the greater good of all our members since a higher turnout for voters represents the broader base of all our membership.

I'm issuing a personal apology to you and violist for this. There certainly was no intent to harm you in any manner and as noted, there has never been any warning of any kind that this was viewed as anything but good for FlyerTalk."

 

This post was responded to as follows:

"Randy, your search skills need serious work.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=624278&highlight=voted+icon

This is a multi-page (153 post) thread from a couple of years ago discussing this very topic. There was a push to boycott the vote because of this silly icon.

You contributed to the thread, too."

 

And then, Dear Leader's response:

"Actually, you need to get some reading glasses. Please reread my post, it is here "I just did a search on I Voted in the thread title and cannot find a single reference that any member in the past ever complained about the I Voted icon. " I did a search on "I Voted" in the thread title. Can you show me where "I Voted" is in the thread title? Now, I'l get back to watching Saturday morning cartoons."

 

Because I don't post on that site anymore, I'm offering my opinion here -- in my own space -- for whatever it's worth.  The former owner of that site (who still runs it, due to an agreement by the new owners), in my humble opinion, needs his own pair of reading glasses -- since he, in his first post, says that he never knew that it would be an issue.  While he was busy nitpicking the first bolded part, he conveniently ignored the second bolded part.  This was brought up as an issue two years ago -- in a thread which I posted in, in a thread that is now linked in that post.  Hence the title of my post -- physician, heal thyself.

I gave over seven thousand posts to that site in six years, and I'm sad to see that little has changed in the fourteen months I haven't posted there.  FlyerTalk sucks just as much now as it did then, and the reason why starts at the top.

The eternal quest for free crap on the internet...

Once upon a time -- back when AOL thought it was king -- the ability to get free stuff on the internet was staggering.  And I was one of the people who would go for it, through sites that would give you stuff for anything from signing up for a service or simply joining a mailing list.  I got all kinds of stuff -- free shoes, books, gift certificates, and even money once -- I won $1000 on one of those free game sites about eight years ago.

Fast forward to 2007, and you'll find that the free stuff is still there.  It's just a little harder to find, that's all.  There are several that I'm still utilizing that you might want to check out if you haven't already:

ING Direct has offered online savings accounts for several years now, with varying signup bonuses for those persons who sign up brand new accounts.  If you've never had an ING Direct account, you can get a free $25 bonus (which appears as interest on your 1099 at the end of the year) for funding a new account with $250.  (I get $10 for it as well, which means it works out for everyone.)  To get a referral e-mail, drop me a message by clicking on poutine@gbis.com with a request for an ING referral.

MyPoints is one of the original free stuff portals, giving you points for signing up for offers, buying merchandise through their affiliates when you go through the MyPoints site first, and even by reading e-mails that they send to you.  I've been a member with them for nearly a decade, with the result of several hundred dollars' worth of gift certificates and other goodies from doing little more than reading e-mails, making random purchases, and so on.  (They even give points when you shop on eBay!)  To get a referral e-mail for MyPoints, drop me a message at poutine@gbis.com.

A new site that I've discovered as of late is called netwinner.com. This site gives you points simply for playing two different games on that site as well as its affilliates.  The games are free and easy to play -- one is a lotto-type game, and the other is a bingo game, both with cash and point prizes.  They limit you to the number of free plays you get in one day and they run ads in the side of the page while you play, but it's not hard to have it running in the background while you do other work, clicking on the start button to play a game every few minutes.  In fact, I've played several bingo games in the time I've been posting this blog entry.

The points accumulate towards prizes, with 25,000 points equaling $25 in cash or gift cards.  (I've accumulated close to 4,000 points in about 5 days -- they give you 1,000 to start, but the points seem to come rather quickly.)  The referral system also allows you to earn a percentage of the points earned by your referrals after they register their e-mail address.  (No, they're not spamming me, either.)

To join (and earn me your referral for signing up), click on this link.

One step back, and another step forward

In my last post, I made a statement about being largely over the whole issue regarding my leaving of this particular travel board.  That was, however, until I read this thread, which raises a similar issue to that which I raised back in late September.  Predictably enough, it was locked for "further comment," which (if it's anything like the issue that I raised five weeks ago) will never happen.

When it was locked, though, a post made last night by a user (who also shows as suspended, possibly for this post itself) was also deleted.  This post (which was made at about quarter after 10pm Pacific time last night) says the following (quoted entirely verbatim -- I cached it from an old version of the now-edited thread):

I've been noticing more of this in the past week or so and it's getting quite irritating. I've had a few of my posts vanish without comment.

I had another post in which I reported a post made by a Mod who used profanity and attacked a couple of different groups of aviation industry workers. Guess what, my post in response was deleted, the mod's profane post was left, and I was accused of taking the thread off topic.

Moderation is getting completely out of control, and it's more clear than ever that mods are looking out for each other and play by their own set of rules.

What I think is the saddest thing of this whole affair is the fact that the actions of the moderators (and the now-former owner of the website) only serve to validate and legitimize the complaints that are being brought forth.  Someone raises an issue that they don't want to be raised?  Get rid of the evidence and lock the thread so that a) no one else can say "Me too," and b) it can be summarily ignored for the amount of time it takes to have the thread drop like a stone off the radar.

I never really had issues with this website until now, and I didn't think that this website had issues with me until now.  But neither of those appear to be the case anymore.  I guess that's what happens when you're not in the group of people who happen to be above the law.

That was my step backwards.  My step forward, however, is bigger and better.  Yesterday, I left work early to go up to the university and put in a "graduate special" application.  This allows me to take a few  classes towards my masters degree without applying for the grad school itself.  I'll do that eventually -- I have to, as they'll only accept nine credits from a grad special status towards the degree -- but it's the only step I can take to go to school next semester and work towards that degree, given that grad school applications were due for the spring no later than October 15.

With my work schedule, I should be able to finish this degree by the fall of 2010.  We'll see how that goes.

Life moving on...

For about six years, I was a regular poster on a certain Internet bulletin board site, dealing primarily with travel and travel-related issues.  For a number of reasons -- most notably, the fact that the moderators of the site are largely immune from the rules that they themselves are designated to enforce -- I ended my participation on that site approximately one month ago.  And I'm okay with it, for the most part.  I'm not sure I'm okay with the fact that the questions raised surrounding this issue have been completely and utterly ignored, but I'm also not surprised in the least that they've been ignored, given the past track record of someone who claims to take these sorts of issues seriously. I knew that going in, though, so that makes it easier to deal with.

Again, though, life moves on.  The site will move on, and so will I.  Besides, I have bigger things to concern myself with.

Thursday (being the last day before our state holiday observing Nevada Day) was the last day for my co-worker, Tina, who gota job in the private sector.  She's making more money and eliminating her commute, so I really don't blame her for doing it.  Besides, I don't think that she was ever really happy doing what we do, so it was only a matter of time before she pulled the trigger for her departure.

What this ultimately means for me is several things:

1. A lot of the things that she was doing behind the scenes are now my responsibility.
2. We get to hire someone else (and hope that this person will work out).
3. I get to think about my future a little bit, too.

I'm not unhappy in my job.  I like what I do -- most days -- and I like the people I work with -- most of the time.  I've wondered, though, whether it's something I'll be doing for the next twenty-five years, and right now, I'm not sure of that.  I guess the important thing for me for the near future is to get through life moving on around me, move on to the priorities that are important in my life, and see what happens.

And as for the travel discussion parts?  I think I've moved on to something better.

Remember me?

Yes, I know.  I've been bad at this whole blogging thing.  For a while, though, I got busy.  And when I wasn't busy -- well, I guess I was just lazy.

Since I last posted, the following things have happened:

1)  The legislative session ended, and I survived.
2)  I went on vacation and survived.
3)  I went on a work-related trip to Maine and survived.
4)  The donuts are still around, and they've somehow survived.  (More on that in the next post.)
5)  Britney Spears' new lips are not hot, especially when it appears that she is trying to fellate a drinking straw.

There are all kinds of things that I've wanted to do with this blog, for no other reason than I can.  Maybe I'll find some free time here in the near future to do that.

If the Shelf of Crap were a virtual shelf...

...there would definitely be room for Alanis Morrissette's cover of "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas.

March in review

Another month gone by.  Shame that I spent the entirety of it at work.

And when I say that, I'm not kidding.  I've been in my office every day for the last thirty-six days, with no day off in sight.  When we're not even half way through the session, that's not encouraging.  If I don't get a day off between now and day 120, I believe that the last day of session will be the 99th day in a row.

I hope I don't get there.  The money is nice, but a day off would be a nice tradeoff, too.  Oh well.

Today was the first full day of baseball.  And while I always look forward to it, I won't be in full swing until hockey season ends.  That would officially happen for me at the point that the Sharks get my hopes up, only to be dashed at the hands of some Canadian team.  The only bright spot, I suppose, is that I'll be too busy working to watch that agony as well.

I'm really glad that they only do this for 120 days every two years.

I don't usually watch reality TV...

...but I've decided to make an exception for a little while.

Specifically, I'm talking about the ABC show "Dancing With The Stars."  I'm sure I'm not alone in this reasoning, but I really want to see whether Heather Mills' leg stays attached to her while she's dancing.

The best part about the whole thing?  Not only can you watch and see what happens, you can bet on whether or not it does, too.   At just over 4-1, I'm tempted to take the yes.

Diary of a (two-month old) donut

For the first time since I opened the box in the beginning of February and took pictures, I opened the box again and took more pictures.  This time, the donuts are sixty-one days old -- but they look remarkably like they did last month.

It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but the major difference between the donuts from now and from last month (aside from more flaking of the icing) is that the icing is starting to get a little darker.  It's still pretty white, as you can see from the closeup, but it's darkening a bit.

Note that the donuts are still in my car.  They don't smell bad or anything, which is a good thing.  It's been cold enough here most days that they stay cool most of the time, and don't have the chance to do anything nasty.  That isn't going to last forever, though, so we'll see how the warmth affects them.

They just won't be in my car when that happens, that's all.

The most exciting places you've ever been

Every year, I pick a place that was the most exciting place I'd been that year.  The criteria aren't that difficult for this decision:

1. I actually had gone there that year (go figure); and
2. I'd never been there before.

In 2006, for example, the most exciting place I went was Toronto, followed closely by Niagara Falls.  While I'd been in the Toronto airport on a couple of occasions many years ago, I'd never been in the city before.  Looking back at previous years, I get a list that looks something like this:

2005 - Albany, New York.  (I didn't get out much that year, thanks to biennial sessions of the Legislature.)
2004 - No award was given.  (I was finishing school and didn't go anywhere I'd never been before.)
2003 - Luxembourg City.  This was part of the trip to Europe made possible by $20 tickets from San Francisco to Frankfurt.  Amsterdam ran a close second on this one, and New York City was a close third.
2002 - Dallas.  We spent a couple of weeks on a road trip to Dublin, Texas, with the sole purpose of obtaining Dr Pepper.
2001 - Yosemite National Park.  I've lived no more than a few hours from it for most of my life, but I'd never been there until I was 27 years old.  Go figure.
2000 - Whistler, BC
1999 - The Mall of America in Minneapolis.  Meat Loaf was having a book signing that day.  (Second place goes to Charleston, West Virginia, which should tell just what kind of year it was.  No offense, of course, to those of you who live in West Virginia.)

The fact that many of these years have awfully boring exciting places notwithstanding, I bring this subject because the "winner" of this "award" back in 1998 - the very first Wendy's, located in downtown Columbus, Ohio - closed on Friday after nearly 40 years of operation.  I'd gone to a toy convention there for a day back that spring, and ended up going there for lunch because it was the only thing open in downtown Columbus on a Saturday afternoon.  (Or so it seemed.)

I'm not sure I really have a point to this whole thing, other than to say that -- for many years -- my life was awful sad if a fast-food restaurant was the most exciting place I went to all year.