The Fleecing of California

Wow.  Saw on the news last night (as I write this) that PG&E is planning to raise rates here in California yet again, for "technological upgrades."  Really?  What sort of
upgrades are we talking about, PG&E?  You guys need bigger flat screen LED TVs?  Or maybe bigger stereos?  Perhaps you'd like some brand new computers so you can play the
latest games on them?  Or maybe an X-Box with a Kinect or a PS3? Or are your old nipple clamps and electrodes finally worn out?
Because it's a damned cinch you're not talking about upgrading anything to do with our service.   Or are you going to trot out those fucking smartmeters again?  I seem to recall
this last year was definitely a banner year for pimping those things out.  You bragged about how it would keep prices down, the consumer would be able to watch their own
power usage and act accordingly, and you'd be able to detect and fix problems quicker.  Unfortunately for the consumer, the "keep prices down" bit has been shown to be pretty
much untrue.  Witness the number of people who suddenly had a marked increase in their monthly bills after installing the fucking things, without a commensurate increase in
their own power usage.  Good Job, fellows.  That's just the sort of forward looking service we're looking for in a power company.  What's next, are you going to come over and
fuck us in the ass and then charge us for the lube?

Now, let's assume the "technological upgrades" bit is true.  What upgrades would they be referring to?  Might it not be a good idea to distribute something (a letter, pamphlet, ANYTHING) listing the planned improvements to our services?  After all, if I know that I'm actually going to be getting better service for a higher rate, I might not be as
utterly pissed off over the increase.  But charging me extra and listing it as something as opaque as "technological upgrades" isn't good enough.  If you're going to jack the state's rates up, then at least have the balls to tell us why.  Even if it's profiteering, I'm more inclined to respect an honest crook than a dishonest one.  It's not like
we of this state have a fucking choice, now is it?

Pirates of the Somali Coast

So, apparently another American ship has been taken by these douchenozzle pirates.  It's a yacht that had 4 people on board, and it has vanished as of this posting.

Folks, why the fuck is anyone paying these somali fuckers any money for ransom?  Why aren't we just blowing the shit out of anything that looks like it can hold water anywhere near a somali port or dock?

We really need to either issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal or go back to the way piracy was originally handled.  Do you know why it stopped? It stopped because it became too expensive in lives and material for the pirates to continue, not to mention the fact that if you got caught with pirate booty, you could pretty much expect the noose for your trouble.

When we find this yacht, if the folks on board are still alive, send in the SEALS, kill every pirate on board, and dump the fucking corpses out of a plane over Mogadishu along with flyers explaining  what happened and why.

I'm tired of hearing about how "they have no choice but to commit piracy / torture hostages / threaten lives."

Bullshit.  It's easier to steal than it is to build your own.  Enough paying Danegeld to the Danes.

Cutting to the quick

...or so our government seems to be attempting.  It's a pity that all the bullshit they've preached about cutting taxes and entitlements is just that: Bullshit.  What's going to happen is a bunch of fairly worthy programs are going to get the fuck cut out of them, some not-so-worthy programs will get the same treatment, and complete bullshit programs are going to remain going stronger than ever.

If you look too closely, you'll see the bullshit programs are those that are closest linked to the congresscritter of a given state in most cases.  They'll do some stuff to make most of the voting public think they're trying to do what's right, but in the end they're just lining their own pockets.

Anyone who thinks different is pretty much deluding themselves at this point.

Domestic Dumbassery

Folks, if you're having a bit of a tiff with your significant other, the inside of a McDonalds alleged restaurant isn't the place to have it, especially when weapon use is threatened....

Just sayin'.

Every American Reading this...

.....Got your butter/AstroGlide/KY/Axle grease out?  Yup, it's that time of year again, TAX season.


God, I hate this shit.

XKCD slaps this right outta the park.

Read it here

SCIENCE, bitches!

Pop Culturitis

Oh god, when will the hurting stop?  Who the HELL decided bringing in 40 million Japanese Anime shows which are virtual carbon copies of each other was a good idea?

Seriously, do we really need more shit like Yu Gi Oh: Dueling off a Walker-mounted Dueling disk?  Or Bleach:  More exposition about bullshit attacks while wearing wildly unlikely clothing or hairstyles?

I was just sitting here at home when I saw a commercial for yet another stupid Anime TV show to be shown on saturday morning cartoons.  There's pretty much no difference from the last show they advertised some time back, just different character names and different collectible gadgets they're marketing using the show.  When I was a kid, we did have this sort of thing going on (because seriously, can anyone *really* call Transformers and GI Joe art? ) but it wasn't quite the flood we have these days.  It's like they just stopped trying over there in Japan.  They might as well just stamp "Generic collectible Japanese poo" on the show & on whatever doodad they're offering and have done with it.

Then there's the usual spate of pop singers (Katy Perry, et al. )  Now the big thing is Christina Aguilera (sp?) fucking up on the national anthem.  While it was mildly surprising to me that she fucked it up (isn't she supposed to, I don't know, practice the fucking song first???) I am kinda surprised people are making such a huge deal out of it and getting all offended.  So, she's kinda a fucktard who can't be bothered to do her job correctly.  You folks who are getting all raged out over it should count your blessings, she could have autotuned the fucking thing.

While we're on the subject, what the fuck is the big deal about the superbowl?  The only reason I ever went to any superbowl parties was for the booze and junkfood, I really didn't give a fuck about the game.  I'm fairly sure that's the main attraction for most other folks, but I could be wrong.  Some will say "Oh, it's the big game," but they'll look at you stupidly when you point out that sports like baseball and basketball exist as well. 

Speaking of wrong, anyone reading this actually like that Twilight faggotry?  Seriously, what the hell is the attraction here?  Some dumbass shit-for-brains teeny bopper getting her ass tapped by some 200 year old pedo vampire who happens to look like he's 17?  Other than the logistical questions posed by sex with a vampire, (How does that work, anyway?  His heart isn't beating, so how does his dick get hard?  Does he splint that puppy with an ice cream stick or something? ) why the hell would some teeny bopper girl want to have sex with what is essentially a monster? What happens when she gets a little older and gains a little more perspective?  Oh wait, I forgot, it's written by some dimwitted hack of a writer with less talent than I have in the tip of my cock, so actually trying to apply logic and known human behavior to these characters is pointless.  My bad.

The really creepy thing for me is all these TwiMoms.  The ones who are all batshit crazy for the character Edward(?) .. the fuckin' vampire pedo dude.  Anyhoo, they're virtually ready to bone down on the actor and they seem to see nothing wrong with it.  I wonder if they'd see it that way if it were a bunch of 40 something year old guys wanting to screw a young teenage girl?

And finally, to wrap up this rant, I'd just like to send out a big FUCK YOU to KRZR.  Thanks, guys, for being the only metal station in the valley for like 20 years.  It's too bad you guys pussied out and went totally subscriber based.  Yea, I know, it's probably a business decision, but KRZR never has been any good at adopting newer technologies (witness their website... oh wait, you CAN'T, they fucked that up too. )

Now, I'm stuck listening to a fucking alternative station which is making some sorry ass attempt to play metal music once in a while to offset the complete fail that is modern alternative music.  Jesus fucking christ, people actually pay money for this bullshit?

Ancient Databases

I can't speak too heavily of what my current "project" is, but I can say this:

It's granddaddy is from 1988, the last serious revision was 1991, and I am tasked to convert it to a modern SQL database.  Did I mention a huge chunk of the database file appears to be corrupt?


I got a week to see if this task is do-able by me.  Wish me luck, folks.