Warning.....Rant Coming!!!!

Read the article in the link first, then come back. Go ahead, don't cheat; read the article.

Rant coming in...3....2.....1

Ah yes, the "It's all about me" generation. I was wondering when we'd hear from them on some offense they think has been visited upon them. You know these whiners; they were born in the '80's. They were over coddled and over protected. They grew up with one billion channels of TV (just ask one of them what UHF means...go ahead...), yet still bitch that there is nothing on. They will go to the store to buy new batteries for the remote before they will get up and change the channel or turn the damn thing on. They were Federally mandated to wear bike helmets because of a handful of Mom's with a cause gave some Senator or another the right amount of cash. If they couldn't have it "now....(let me rephrase that)...NOW!!!!!" it was the end of the world. They grew up with the "There are no winners or losers in this sport" mentality. They were given awards for "just showing up". Special awards because the kid that deserved the medal, trophy, etc. couldn't feel special without it "hurting" the feelings of the other "non-special" kids. These spoiled whiners are now in their 20's. They have jobs and vote and pay taxes. They are getting married at a younger age too. These are the ones that created "Play Dates".....WTF????? If my Daughter wants to have friends over to play, and we aren't doing anything else, they can come over. I don't need to make a freaking appointment with their parents so they can come over. As we know, society tends to be Parent-Centered. There is a whole market for Parents and their kids. Big money there too. Parents are given the "magical" Child Tax Credit. I've heard lots of Single folk bitch about this. I got two words for you: Screw You!!! The news site I got the article link from was Fark.Com. Great site. In the comments section that is attached to every submitted article there was a single guy giving a married parent grief for the Child Tax Credit. He kept asking "Why do you not get to pay your fair share???" Or "Why should my taxes pay to put your stupid kids through school?" Ah, Youth. I remember being a Smart Ass when I was in my 20's. To answer idiot face: A. Parents pay more in sales tax than any single person. If you are a married parent, you buy double the food, clothing, services, etc than a single person. Therefore you are paying more sales tax than that single person is. B. You should pay taxes for education because someone paid for yours when you were a kid and now it's your turn to give back.

Now to the article. The whiner generation has a movement called "Childfree". Apparently these are married couples who don't have, nor do they want children. Good for them. I'm glad there are people out there who have the sense of mind to say "I really don't want to deal with that responsibility." Thank you for that. Apparently several of these childless couples are getting their feelings hurt because there is no special label for them. They didn't realize (because they have been trained at birth that it's okay to just show up....) that in life there are now "Participation" awards. So they have a new cause now. They are pissed at we parents for taking our kids into "Their places". Especially "Nice Restaurants". WTF????? Now cranking up the rant machine...3..2...1....

How dare these smarmy, attention whores whine and bitch. In the article there was one woman who said "I'm tired of being looked at like I'm a freak for not wanting kids." Wah!!!!! Wah!!! Freaking cry baby!!! Yes, relatives are bad about this with couples. I remember my friend Kevin and his wife Sharon going through this when they first got married. They were both 21 and all the realtives were hounding them. They ignored it. Hmmmm....see how easy that was.....let people have their opinion and their say; if you don't like it or don't agree: JUST IGNORE IT!!!! WOW!!!! Simple. You don't need to form an organization, write a book, call your Congressman or protest in the street. Why is it so important what other people think about you?????? Why??? Whiny little bitches one and all I swear!! We have a label for childless couples: Lucky Freaking Bastards!!!! You have it made you stupid shit heads!!! As a married couple without kids, your income is doubled (obviously) and that means double the disposable income!!! You don't have to know more about the Disney Channel than you ever wanted to in your lifetime. You can have sex where, how, as loud as and when you want in your household without a care. Oh wait, the Neighbors might hear??? So freaking what! You can pick up and go whenever or wherever you want. Want that ginormous Plasma Screen TV?? It's yours!!! Want to drive sports cars? You can. The only people you have to be concerned with are each other!!!! So what the Hell are you bitching for???? There are tons of products and services out there for you. Oh wait, you don't get the child tax credit.......you don't need it!!!! As a married couple filing jointly, you get taxed less than a single person. Why??? Married people need more of their take home (kids or not) than single folks. Unfortunately married parents (or single parents for that matter) will sacrifice buying themselves a new shirt/car/game/DVD/ etc to buy stuff for their children. Whine whine whine.....want some cheese with that? If I ever meet one of these "Childfree" annoying assholes I'm going to kick them in the "Childfree" asses.....then get back to watching the Disney Channel with my Daughter. These are the same people who use the term "Breeders" to describe us who are parents. Screw You!!! What are you, a "Breeder-in-training"???? Dumbasses. I will admit, some parents suck. Badly. As in sterilization and removal of the children from their clutches bad. There are exceptions to every rule. I love being a married parent. I really do. I love my Step-Children and my Wife. I may bitch about having to watch Disney Channel, but honestly I'd rather have my 11 year old Daughter watch that then any of the other crap that is on television.

In conclusion I have a few words of advice for those that are married but don't want to join the rest of us in the gene pool:
1. Pull up a lawn chair by the edge of the gene pool and enjoy your life and let us enjoy swimming in said pool.
2. Grow the F**k UP!!!! You are adults now. Screw the cliques and elitist attitudes. Learn to ignore people. If your family gives you and the spouse grief for your choices, tell the family that they should respect your wishes. If that doesn't stop them, then tell the hard headed busy bodies to SCREW YOU!!! and go away.
3. If a family is in a restaurant and you don't like it, or don't think it's an appropriate place for the "Breeders and their Brood" then leave. Complain to the Manager/Owner (5 bucks says he will tell you "cya" because he's going to get more cash out of the family than you).
4. Don't like to censor yourself in public? Get pissed when people ask you to watch your language because there are children about? Too freaking bad. You should watch your language regardless of children being present or not while in public. Some people don't like swearing, and in a Civilized Society like ours tries to be it's not polite.
5. Single people pay more taxes. They always have and they always will. What the Hell do you care for anyway? If you do it right, you get a huge refund check that you can spend on chicks/guys, beer/booze and partying all night. STFU already!!!
6. I'm not special and you aren't special. Nobody but you, your parents and family and maybe your spouse/partner cares about you. You are nobody to me and I am nobody to you. Get over it. You want to be special; cure a diesease, stop poverty and World hunger. Bring peace to the Middle East: then you will be special. Choosing to not have children is not special. Choosing to have children is not special. Just because you are you doesn't mean we care.
7. You want to get up in arms and start a "cause"? There are more legitimate and pressing problems in the world than Great Aunt Martha thinking you are a freak because you don't want to have kids. Stop the whining. NOW!!!!

Rant button off.

Home Improvement: With New Tile Goodness!!

It's done finally. The tile is down. The new blade I bought apparently wasn't the right one so it took bloody forever to cut a half circle!!! Oh well, it's done. Now Cathy and Olivia are going to do the grout tomorrow and then after it sets for 24 hours, it's baseboard and caulk then we put the toilet back. More when it's completed.

Home Improvement: Almost Done....

We started yesterday at 11:30 ish in the AM...finished around 7:20 in the PM. Started laying out tile when we noticed....they just aren't flat.......damn the plywood is crooked because part of the floor is higher than the other.....we were almost there....made some cuts...broke the "edge" jigsaw blade.....ran to Lowes and got another......then had to rip up the plywood and see what we could shim it with....hey.....that old linoleum floor is just thick enough. Shimmed it, it worked!!! Hammered down sections of the plywood (yes we wanted it down....) and relayed the tile. Had to recut one.....then we measured out the hole for the toilet drain.....started cutting it....

"Damn!!!" my usually non-cursing Wife said as she broke the replacement jigsaw blade at 7:20 at night.......well I got two more from Home Depot today (not edge one's, but diamond edge blades nonetheless that aren't as cheap feeling as the edge one.....) and we will finish cutting that toilet hole and we should be done by today!!!! We have some more cuts to make, but they are all straight cuts that can be done by the circular saw (a much more resilient blade). Yay!!!!! And to think, we want to put this same stuff in the kitchen and hall........just slap us now....

Home Improvement: Final days of the Bathroom

Well my wonderful and industrious Wife caulked and fastened down the rest of the plywood floor, then laid the Edge flooring underlay padding down before I got home so I couldn't take pics of the plywood goodness. I love her. We did some more prep work last night. Put down the track for the transition, cut the door molding off to make room for the tile to go underneath it. Laid the tile out in the places we are wanting to install it at, then called it a night. Looks like we will really only need two boxes of tile, with one or two pieces from the third. Tonight's the night.

New floor: Now with Plywood Goodness!!!!

Yay!!! Yipee Skippy!!! The new bathroom floor is in. Nice, lovely, durable 3/4 inch plywood......not crappy, rots and breaks easy, not load bearing, Particle board......Didn't get a chance to take pics (I'll post some later). Tonight we will finish securing the plywood, the it's finally tile time. I will definitely take pictures of that.

From my Wife Cathy's Blog

I figure I'd add my answers...hee hee

Today’s Challenge
1. FIRST NAME? Steve
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Two someone's actually
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? When my Godmother Carol passed away a couple of months ago
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It's messy and chaotic like me...
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ham
6. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? They are Step kids. Two girls and a boy.
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Hell yes!
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Your reading it
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? What do you think!!!
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No. Attempted suicide is not a sport.
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? NO.
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I can be emotionally and sometimes physically.
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Gold medal ribbon
16. SHOE SIZE? 8.5
17. RED OR PINK? Neither...Blue
18. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm impatient
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Family in Cali and my friends.
20. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? August 2, 1965 in Presbyterian Hosptial in San Francisco at 7:40 pm
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Grey.
22. WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? PB&J
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Various office soungs
24 IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Blue
25. FAVORITE SMELL? My Wife when she gets out of the shower..
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED WITH ON THE PHONE? Cathy, my Wife.
27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU MEET? If they make eye contact and are genuinely friendly.
28. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Yes. I can find a bathroom wherever I am.
29. FAVORITE DRINK? Diet Coke
30. FAVORITE SPORT? Football....Da Raiders Rule.
31. HAIR COLOR? Black with speckles of grey
32. EYE COLOR? Brown
.33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? on occassion.
.34. FAVORITE FOOD? Italian, Meat....dead animal flesh...did I say meat?
35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Yes
36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Pirates 2
37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Black
38. SUMMER OR WINTER? summer
39. HUGS OR KISSES? Yes
40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Don't really have one
41. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
42. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Ad for Spherion
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Laughter and good conversation
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Rush (I'll take the Beatles though)
45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME Nashville, TN
46. IF YOU COULD PICK ANY TWO PEOPLE TO HAVE DINNER WITH, WHO WOULDTHEY BE? Neil Peart and Ben Franklin

Home Improvement: The Saga Continues

Painting time!!! Can't see the color real well, but it's similar to the tile color. Looks alot better now. Had to go grab Plywood. Seems the Morans who used to live here liked to let water drip without fixing it!! Apparently my flooring in a lot of places is particle board!!!! Parts of my bathroom floor are literally rotting through. Ah well. One sheet of 3/4 inch ply will floor that whole bathroom. After that; it's tile time....more later

Home Improvement: Part Deux

Yeah I know...a funny place for a toilet. Well this is what the bathroom looks like sans sink and toilet. Now we shall paint tomorrow, and then it's Tile Time..........as you can see, we have a small Master Bath (about 5x5) and we have decided that the vanity will not be going back in. We both like a pedastool sink alot better. Ah what fun....more later...

California to WalMart: Take your Supercenters and shove 'em

When I was living in California, we had few WalMarts. Who needed them when you had an abundance of Target's for home, garden, etc.....and Mervyn's for low priced but decent clothing. Needed Groceries? You just went to Safeway, Lucky's(Albertsons later), Trader Joes, Mollie Stone's, etc...... The few WalMarts that are in California are the small box version. Think Target w/o the Garden center. It seems that more and more every year Wally World has been trying to bring their "run-everyone-out-of-business" SuperCenters to the State of California; without any luck. Their reputation as the "sweat shop" employeers that they are tend to pose the most problems. The fact that California is a big union State is also a problem for them. Safeway is the WalMart of the supermarket chains in California. When I lived in Belmont, there were three of them in the same City. Safeway has good prices and good products. They are also a big union store. WalMart isn't; not even remotely union. Doesn't fit in the California scheme of things. Now I live in Tennesee; WalMart is huge out here. Most of them are the SuperCenters......basically a regular WalMart with a grocery store and an automotive department as well as a garden and home center. Nothing wrong with a store wanting to keep you buying everything from them, it's that they treat their employees like slaves. They also pay them like they are as well. I personally only shop there if I can get a great deal; we found out yesterday that the WalMart in Lebanon (the City in Tennessee not the Country) would be willing to match the paint colors we wanted for the living room and kitchen/dining room for 10 bucks a gallon. Hugely different than what Lowes/Home Despot would charge. You see, we got the color swatches from Lowes. Yes I know; hypocritical. But hey, who isn't now a days?

Home Ownership: The Fun Never Ends.

This is the color tile we are putting in the Master Bathroom in the house. Nice huh? Super easy too. Click on the title for the link to the product site. This stuff is like Pergo; tongue and groove tiles already mounted on a backer board with color coordinated grout. We've stripped the wallpaper (actually Cathy stripped the wallpaper) and need to paint then it's tile time. Which means I have to remove the toilet and sink...oh what fun!!! I'm actually excited to get this tile laid down. It looks like fun. Thank God Cathy loves doing this stuff as much as I do or it would take a good long while.

"I Will Destroy Da Woorll!!!!"

Ah Kim Jong Il, you crazy little 70's reject what are we to do with you??? I know we should take this nutjob seriously, but just look at him......a Neiru Suit?!?!?!?! Who do you think you are, Dr. No? I guess KJI was jealous of the 4th of July celebrations in our country so he decided to launch some fireworks of his own. Too bad his Missiles seem to need Viagra....they go up, then right back down. Instead of these "Six" Country talks, we should have a combined Army of the US, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea go walk to his palace and shove the missiles up his butt. Silly silly little Dictator Man.....Nukes are for Big Kids.

Office Poop Survival Guide

Office Poop survival guide
We've all been there but don't like to admit it. As much as we try to convince ourselves otherwise, the WORK POOP is inevitable. For those who hate pooping at work, following is the Survival Guide for taking a dump at work.

CROP DUSTING: When farting, you walk briskly around the office so the smell is not in your area and everyone else gets a whiff but doesn't know where it came from. Be careful when you do this. Do not stop until the full fart has been expelled. Walk an extra 30 feet to make sure the smell has left your pants.

FLY BY: This is the act of scouting out a bathroom before pooping. Walk in and check for other poopers. If there are others in the bathroom, leave and come back again. Be careful not to become a FREQUENT FLYER. People may become suspicious if they catch you constantly going into the bathroom.

ESCAPEE: This is a fart that slips out while taking a leak at the urinal or forcing a poop in a stall. This is usually accompanied by a sudden wave of embarrassment. If you release an escapee, do not acknowledge it. Pretend it did not happen. If you are standing next to the farter in the urinal, pretend you did not hear it. No one likes an escapee. It is uncomfortable for all involved. Making a joke or laughing makes both parties feel uneasy.

JAILBREAK: When forcing a poop, several farts slip out at a machine gun pace. This is usually a side effect of diarrhea or a hangover. If this should happen, do not panic. Remain in the stall until everyone has left the bathroom to spare everyone the awkwardness of what just occurred.

COURTESY FLUSH: The act of flushing the toilet the instant the poop hits the water. This reduces the amount of air time the poop has to stink up the bathroom. This can help you avoid being caught doing the WALK OF SHAME.

WALK OF SHAME: Walking from the stall, to the sink, to the door after you have just stunk the bathroom. This can be a very uncomfortable moment if someone walks in and busts you. As with farts, it is best to pretend that the smell does not exist. This very uncomfortable walk can be avoided with the use of the COURTESY FLUSH.

OUT OF THE CLOSET POOPER: This is a colleague who poops at work and is damn proud of it. You will often see an Out Of The Closet Pooper enter the bathroom with a newspaper or magazine under his or her arm. Always look around the office for the Out Of The Closet Pooper before entering the bathroom.

THE POOPING FRIENDS NETWORK (P.F.N): A group of co-workers who band together to ensure emergency pooping goes off without incident. This group can help you to monitor the hereabouts of Out Of The Closet Poopers, and identify SAFE HAVENS.

SAFE HAVENS: A Safe Haven is a seldom-used bathroom somewhere in the building where you can least expect visitors. Try floors that are predominantly of the opposite sex. This will reduce the odds of a pooper of your sex entering the bathroom.

TURD BURGLAR: This is someone who does not realize that you are in the stall and tries to force the door open. This is one of the most shocking and vulnerable moments that can occur when taking a poop at work If this occurs, remain in the stall until the Turd Burglar leaves. This way you will avoid all uncomfortable eye contact.

CAMO-COUGH: A phony cough that alerts all new entrants into the bathroom that you are in a stall is called a Camo-Cough. This can be used to cover-up a WATERMELON, or to alert potential Turd Burglars. The Camo-Cough is very effective when used in conjunction with an ASTAIRE.

ASTAIRE: A subtle toe-tap that is used to alert potential Turd Burglars that you are occupying a stall. This will remove all doubt that the stall is occupied. If you hear an Astaire, leave the bathroom immediately so the pooper can poop in peace.

WATERMELON: A watermelon is a big poop that creates a loud splash when hitting the toilet water. This is also an embarrassing incident. If you feel a Watermelon coming on, create a diversion. See CAMO-COUGH.

HAVANA OMELET: A case of diarrhea that creates a series of loud splashes in the toilet water. Often accompanied by an Escapee. Try using a Camo-Cough with an Astaire.

UNCLE TODD: An Uncle Todd is a bathroom user who seems to linger around forever. This person could spend extended lengths of time in front of the mirror or sitting on the pot. An Uncle Todd makes it difficult to relax while on the crapper, as you should always wait to poop when the bathroom is empty. This benefits you as well as other bathroom attendees

Grammar and Spelling: The Scourge of America's Youth

The internet has been blamed for many things, but the thing I see it being blamed for the most is bad Grammar and horrible spelling. I belong to a few messageboards, and I've chatted in many a chat room; Hell I've sent the occassional text message or two. When I post, I always try to spell something correctly and I always try to use proper grammar. At the risk of sounding like an Old Guy (which I am), what I have noticed is that these kids today don't give a crap about spelling or grammar; at all. Teh is internet speak for the.....I guess it is easier to type teh than the????? Abbreviations are useful, but they get to be way too much at times. OMG IMHO LOL...... too much. It's like these kids have never heard of Proofreading.....at the airsoft board I post on alot, us Old Guys give the kids with horrible spelling and grammar major rations of crap. Some kid tried to type the word feel.....it came out Flet......???? Hello??? Proofreading is your friend. Or then they type a really long sentence like this that has no punctuation whatsoever even though they have finished the sentence and have gone on to another topic.........wow!!!! Punctuation is your friend too. They are also lazy when it comes to message boards. We get "Hey can you tell me when the next game is?" This is under General Discussion on the board. Right below General Discussion is a thread that says "Upcoming Games/Events". Hmmmm.....maybe the answer to the question is under there???? There is also a FAQ section entitled "Hey Numnuts, the information you are looking for but are too lazy to search for is Right Here". I love it. Guess what though, they still ask!?!?!?!?! Instead of searching to see if there is a thread for a particular topic, they post another one......multiple times!!!!! I would love to see these kids grades in school. Then they ask how do I do a spell check while posting. We have suggested to type your message board response in Word and spell check it there. I have also suggested two very important published documents that the internet is quickly making obsolete: The Dictionary and a Thesaurus. I remember in school being told "look it up" and being handed a dictionary. Hell you can go to dictionary.com and look up a word. I worry for myself and those I care about in our Old Age. We are cranking out a future generation of lazy, spoiled, illiterate, non-reading, can't spell morons who will be running our Country in 10 years or so. God help us......we will need it.


As if someone had heard me.....we get these morons who want to help perpetuate this spelling laziness....click on the blog title for the link.

Independence Day

No, not the Will Smith movie.....the Holiday we just celebrated. Also known as the 4th of July. A Holiday where we celebrate our right to have a say in our taxation that led to us becoming our own Nation. Now it seems like we don't really have a say in our taxation, even though we have representation..... anyway, the point I was trying to make is this: why can't they just change the Holiday to fall on the first Monday of July???? Why wait for the 4th? Take this past Holiday for example. I worked on Monday, but it was a useless gesture because half of the office was out. I got Tuesday off, and now I'm back at work until Friday. If Independence Day (which is what we call the Holiday anyway) was on say the 3rd.....then I'd have had a long weekend, as would everyone else. Look, if we can take two President's Birthdays who were born in February and combine them into one, why can't we make Independence Day fall on the first Monday????

Movie Recommendations

First off whatever you do Don't see the Pink Panther. Oh my God it sucked!!! We watched like 10 minutes and that was it. Really disappointed in Steve Martin lately....it's like he's just taking whatever crosses his path. For kids, rent 8 Degrees....the movie about Snow Dogs and Antarctic guides......my Daughter loved it. Also for Tween girls is a movie called Aquamarine, about two 11-12 year old girls who find a Mermaid in a pool after a big storm. I couldn't sit through it, but my Daughter loved it. Ultraviolet.....Milla Jojovich has become the next action star......she is just great at ass kicking action....the movie has an interesting premise. If you like Sci Fi rent it. Night Watch. A Russian Horror/Occult movie. Interesting story and a strange movie. Very different, worth the price of rental. Syriana. Hard to follow, kind of convoluted story line but a good movie. Like Traffic with the different story lines going on simultaneously but not as easy to follow as Traffic.