The Broken Laptop I Sold on Ebay

Great article about this guy who gets ripped off by buying a broken laptop on ebay, so he exacts his revenge on the seller by posting photos and facts (like from his resume), on his own blog for the world to see. Priceless!

read more | digg story

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! It's too often that people forget meanings of Holidays, and we arrogantly associate them with what affects us most. In the case of Memorial Day, we often think of Bar-b-ques, beaches and picnics, the "unofficial" start of summer. That's all great, but we shouldn't forget the true meaning of this holiday - remembering the heroes past (and present) that allow us to have these celebrations, and live the free life that we do in this great nation of ours.

So today, I wish you all a safe and happy holiday, hopefully as you spend it with family and loved ones. Also take a moment to reflect on those great men and women who've sacrificed so much so for us all.

First Dance

First dance as husband and wife! Unforgetable night.

The Reception

Look our names on the Marquee! This is the Ambassador Hotel, where we had our reception. It's a beautiful hotel, and we got a very good deal on the Sala Thai room. It looked amazing!

Receiving prayers

Receiving our blessings from the monks.

Ceremony

Here we are in our traditional Thai outfits. They are hand made from thai silk. I like the way this looks and amazingly, you stay pretty cool in this garb.

I'm Back!

Ok, I know I've been real bad about keeping up to date on my posts. For that I apologize. I attempted to upload photos a couple of times last week and the server kept booting me off. I guess, there were just too many people trying to do the same thing. I'll post more pics as time goes on, or maybe I'll post em on flickr and the have a link.

I've been back in the States for about a week now and everything in Thailand went great. The weather was very hot, and humid, but the sun was out most of the time. The ceremony, and the reception were all terrific. I know that I'll have to make it back to Thailand a lot sooner then 10 years next time.

The flight really wasn't that bad. Yes, 17 hours is a very long time, especially when you stay awake for the entire duration, but I was able to keep myself entertained. Each seat comes equipped with it's own video player and you can watch movies, play games, read news and listen to music. On the return trip, I didn't even boot up my laptop as the inflight movies were enough.

Movies I watched -
Aeon Flux. Charlize Theron was so, so hot, but the movie, so so sucked. I didn't really get what was going on, other then some sort of creep, shitty future society where the government controls everyone and the rebels are getting restless and want to overthrow the current regime and blah, blah, blah. Oh, Charlize Theron is so hot!

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 -
It was a cheesy, campy movie, yet I was entertained by it and enjoyed this movie. I love Steve Martin and he doesn't disappoint in this movie. At least I didn't fall asleep in this movie!

Tom Yum Goong -
Yeah, said what? I've never heard of this movie either, but it stars Tony Jaa that really kick ass Thai kick-boxer that really rocked in Ong Bak. It's a Thai movie, which gives it a special place in my heart. Tony Jaa has more spectacular moves that makes you think of Jet Li and Jackie Chan all rolled into one. I have to buy this movie and add it to my collection.

Memoirs of a Geisha -
Stupid chick flick. Had to check it out to see if Zhang Ziyi was really going to play a Japanese prostitute, but I never got that far. Too much blah, blah, blah, so I got impatient and watched Charlize Theron some more.

Some travel tips. Pack some snacks, 17 hours and 3 paltry meals makes you pretty hungry. Pack some extra food for those long spells in between meals. Also you can request instant noodles free of charge. Get noise-cancelling headphones. My brother had the Bose model and it completely cancels out the drones from the engine making a much more peacefull flight. Unfortunately he only let me check em out, I had to promptly hand them back after getting a taste of silent, ear nirvana. Wear comfy clothes, or bring some you can change into. Make sure you dress appropriately for your destination. It was surprisingly chilly when we arrived in New York. A light jacket would have been suitable.

Anyway, I'm back in NYC and I'm trying to get readjusted. I can't believe that it was only the beginning of this month that my adventures began. It's also reawoke the traveling bug in me, so we intend on doing a lot more traveling from this point on, all of which I'll document here!

Floating Market

Although it's late, and low tide, the floating market here runs pretty much dawn to dusk. As, you can see in the picture, there are always a lot of people interested in visiting the market. It was a 1 hour boat ride there (and another one back), so due to the time constraints, we really couldn't fully enjoy the floating market. In the morning, with the tide high, it's a busling market with boat ladies selling everything from food, flowers and every kind of trinket imaginable. Along with the floating market, Samut Songkran (this area) is also known for it's salt farms and coconut sugar. Very yummy!

My Temple

This is where I was a Monk nearly 10 years ago. The temple is a lot bigger, but the head abbot remembers me well. Here he is, giving us a blessing for good luck as well as some amulets. I wish I had more time to spend here and see the temple fully again, but it's a full day for us.

Wat Po

Here's a shot of the reclining Buddha. This temple is also regarded as the first real school or univeristy of Bangkok, with studies in medicine, massage and other holistic disciplines. It's a beautiful temple and very low key compared to the other temples.

The Grand Palace.

We got off to a great start, with a trip to Wat Phra Khew. Unfortunately, it was closed do to a visit by the Prince and some sort of Religious ceremony. In fact, while we were in Thailand, there were an awful lot of holidays. The temple is also known as the Grand Palace, with one of the main attractions being the Emerald Buddha. As I mentioned, we weren't able to enter Wat Phra Khew, but we did go to Wat Po, another historical temple, with the largest reclining Buddha. This however is a picture of the Grand Palance from outside the walls.

Here's Lek showing off some exotic fruit. It's called dragon fruit and actually tastes very much like a bland kiwi.

A late night dinner

First night in, and we took a leisurely stroll down Silom Road to enjoy a late night meal. It's really hot here, like 98 degrees and very, very humid. We decided to go to a noodle shop and grab a late night meal. It's great to be here with everyone.

We've made it!

Here we are at Don Mueng airport in Thailand. It was a long flight and we're really tired, sweaty and grumpy, but it's great toall be here!

And away we go!

I can't believe this day has arrived so quickly! These past weeks have really flown by. The last night before the flight was especially hectic with me making last minute preparations, then realizing that my suitcase is too small, so I had to borrow my brothers. Of course I'd forgotton my dress shoes at work, so had to swing by there as well. Even though we were hectic to the very end, there was still a lot of excitement and a great feeling of adventure! Here we are with tickets and passports ready to fly!

NYC Homicides since 2003 on Google Maps -- Where not to live!

Very cool. Follow the link and you can see where all the homicides are. It's interesting to see all the different boroughs. I see a lot of buildings and addresses that I've responded to, and the jobs I've handled.

read more | digg story

Vatican: "Boycott Da Vinci Code film"

Vatican officals urged Catholics to boycott the film. I thought it was a good book. It's fiction and not meant to be "real". Besides, the Vatican and the Church by causing all this sensationalism just ensured that the movie will be a blockbuster, just like the book.

read more | digg story

NYC School Raids Begin; iPods and Cell Phones confiscated

So the NYPD has started to crack down on weapons in schools by doing random searches at schools that do not have permanent metal detectors. Although electronic communications devices have been banned since 1988, students are protesting that schools are also confiscating their ipods and cell phones. Give me a break, there's a time for play and a time for work, school is a time for work, these have no business being there anyway...

read more | digg story

Count Down

Time is flying now. In just a little less then a week, I'll be on my way over to Thailand. Some of my friends are leaving even sooner. I'm very excited about the entire trip, especially more so about getting married. I remember thinking I'll have a lot of alone time to do my stuff and stuff that I normally don't have enough time to myself to do. Instead, I find myself missing Lek a lot and that I really don't like being too long. I'm looking forward to seeing her again and I'm looking forward to our wedding, and to finally having all this behind us. I'm excited to finally move on. To everyone that's been with me throughout, thanks a lot for all your support and for being a good friend!

40% off Desktops and $750 off Notebooks- Dell coupon codes

Some great deals if you are interested in buying a computer. $750.00 off a laptop of $1999.00 or higher, and $300 off a laptop of $999.00 or higher. Great bargains and Dell makes very good computers!

read more | digg story

UFC 59

I broke down and ordered the UFC fight last night. Some of the fights were a little slow, but over all it was a great time. We had a few people over, made some spaghetti, had some beers and watched the fights. Afterwards we topped it off with a little HALO, and killed the crap out of each other. Just like old times.

If you watch UFC at all heres a brief recap -
Arlovski Vs Silvia
Arlovski was the heavy favorite and in fact has gotten so terrifyingly good that he seemed invincible. He comes out and after trading some jabs with Silvia lands a huge right hand sending Silvia to the ground. Silvia is very hurt and you think "oh shit, this is going to end just like last time". Silvia is able to defend himself and actually bounces back up and starts swinging too. Somehow Arlovski smelling blood steps in and swings again, misses and catches a short strong uppercut to the chin, sending him to the ground. Silvia pounces on him raining shots on his head. Arlovski looks more stunned then hurt, but he's not defending himself, so the ref stops it. Unfriggan believable. You know this is going to a third match.

Tito Ortiz Vs. Forrest Griffin
First round, Tito takes down Griffin and classic Tito grounds and pounds him. Landing elbow after elbow down on Forrest. Looks like it's going to be a quick first rounder. Somehow late in the round Forrest gets out and stands up and now he's hurt and angry and the fight is on. The rest of the fight they trade blows, with Forrest being the main aggressor. Tito shoots often, but is only able to take Forrest down again in the last round, but Forrest is able to defend and get up quickly. It went to split decision, with Tito barely winning. In my opinion, he deserved it, but boy does that kid Forrest have some heart.

Evans Vs Some guy
Don't know who Evans fought, but Evans won by submission.

Parrisyan also beat his unknown by submission

Nick Diaz and Sherk had a long boring fight, but whenever they went to the ground it was very interesting as they both have awesome ground game. Sherk won that one by decision

2 other guys fought, but I don't know who they were, the short guy won.

Anyway, next fight is May 27th and one of my favorite fighters is going to be fighting one of the UFC's greatest legends. I may have to buy another fight when Matt Hughes fights Royce Gracie. That's going to be a battle.

Thai New Years!

Today begins the first day of the Thai New Year. It's a fun time in Thailand, with April being the hottest time of the year and people celebrating in the streets with the water festival. It's a great time to be young and single where people spray each other with water guns, and cups and buckets of water. Obviously, young women are favorite targets. As explained in Wikipedia -

The Thai New Year (Southeast Asian New Year) (สงกรานต์ = Songkran in Thai language) is celebrated every year on April 13 to April 15. It is also celebrated in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma). Sri Lanka also celebrates a similar festival called Sinhalese and Tamil new year on the same dates.
The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed . If these days fall on a weekend, the missed days off will be taken on the days immediately following (But Sri Lanka still uses an astrological calculation to set the dates and times based on the sun's positional change and those dates and times are used to start the festival events). Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. Until 1888 the Thai New Year was the beginning of the year in Thailand; thereafter April 1 was used until 1940. January 1 is now the beginning of the year. The traditional Thai New Year has been a national holiday since then.

The water festival is also representative of cleansing, and making good karma. You can read more about it on wikipedia

Atlantic City

For those of you that were able to join me for my bachelor party in Atlantic City, I thank you, I had a great time out there. We had a very good turn out from co-workers and past co-workers and a even a good friend from Westchester who lives in AC now. The dinner was good, I know it was only a buffet, but I really love buffets. I got to gamble and didn't lose too much money, which is always a win in my book. Much more happened, and like the commercial says what happens in AC (ok Vegas) stays in AC. I will tell you one thing though, I will never, ever drink again....and this time I mean it! Really!

Mayhem in Brooklyn

Mayhem and chaos breaks out in the streets in front of the 66th NYPD precinct as hundreds of Hasidic Jews protest the arrest of a 75 year old man. It looks like the elderly man was driving while using a cell phone, officers subsequently pulled him over. The driver was uncooperative, leading to the officers arresting the man. The Hasidic community claim that the NYPD were overly aggressive, sending hundreds out into the streets. A police car was destroyed and fires were set, yet this was supposedly a "peacefull, non-violent" demonstration and therefore not a riot. I don't know man, you put whipped cream on a turd, it's not cake, it's still whipped cream covered shit.

A cop is trying to do their jobs, a simple summons would have been issued. Instead the man decides he doesn't want to cooperate so the police have no option but to place him under arrest. Now the community is mad? I'd bet if he was a different type of minority, perhaps one with darker skin tone, the community wouldn't have been as outspoken? This is the nasty side of politics, where people are so scared of losing the votes of this community (since these people actually vote) and are worried about percieved biases against a very vocal minority. This is a politcal shitstorm, and the powers that be want more then anything for this to go away. This is horse-shit and more people should have gotten arrested.

Thai Prime Minister steps down

I was concerned about this growing problem in Thailand. The Prime Minister has been tainted with claims of corruption, ever since he sold his multi-billion dollar company to Singapore. It has been claimed that he used his political powers to unfairly grow his company, and then the sale being tax-free incensed educated Thai people. It's also very upsetting to have sold so important a piece of the Thai economy to a foreign nation. Now it appears he's finally resigned, which is also good for me on a personal level, since until recently protestors were organizing in Bangkok by the thousands and i was worried it would interfere with my wedding.

BANGKOK, April 4 — Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire turned populist politician, said Tuesday that he would step down as Thailand's prime minister, ending five years of increasingly tumultuous rule and breaking a political stalemate over demands for his resignation that had gripped the country for the past two months.

Read the rest of the article here NYTimes article here (registration required)

Spiderman 3 Plot Revealed

IMDB has an article claiming they have the skinny on the next Spiderman movie. Now, you know how I get with good comic book movies, this is like a second Christmas to me! Basically, it looks like we're going to have 2, maybe 3 badguys. Spidey is going to be introduced to his black symbiote suit, and Edie Brock. It's not clear whether Venom is going to be an enemy to deal with in this movie, or maybe he'll just be introduced here, and dealt with in the next movie. Sandman, the dude whose molecules are fused with that of Sand, and Harry (Green Goblins son) will take on the role of the Hobgoblin and duke it out with Spiderman. Gwen Stacey, a character from the comics is going to make an appearance.

It all sounds so exciting, but my biggest concern is, how are they going to squeeze all this plot into a 2 hour movie? Please don't suck, the last 2 have been great so far. I'm having deja vu of Superman 3, which really blew, after an excellent Superman's I and II! Lets not have a repeat.

read more | digg story

New NYPD Police Cars

In police jargon, the police car is known as an RMP (or Radio Motor Patrol). The NYPD now has a few of these Chargers, and are testing them. If they work out, you could soon see your neighborhood patrol car in one of these babies. They look sweet!

30% off Foot Locker

This very generous offer has been sent to us by Seth. Note the dates on the promo Friday 3/21 - Sunday 4/2, so basically, it's good for this weekend only. The good part is that it appears to be good online, so we don't even have to drag our lazy asses out to the store to buy....er work-out gear. Anyway, thank you Seth! Enjoy it all.

Homemade Lasgana

Lek has been on a tear lately. This a a shot of Lek's latest masterpiece, homemade lasagna. I have to admit I was very skeptical as to the abilities of Lek in cooking italian food. She's pleasantly surprised me (and I think herself as well). The lasagna was delicious, hearty and served with a perfectly toasted loaf of garlic bread.

Lek makes awesome sushi and now lasagna. If only there was some way to fuse the two into something tasty!

My Bachelors Party

Ok, it's getting close to crunch time. Very shortly, I will leave the joy and freedom of being a single man, for the comfort and stability (smirk) of a married man. Before that time should happen however, we have one last hurdle, one last sacred rite that all men should comsumate. That event that we speak of is none other then the bachelor party.

Some guys from work (god bless em miscreants), have booked many a room in the fair city that is Atlantic City, and plan on a fun filled night of drinking, gambling and pure debauchery. I invite all of you that are free to attend. Details are as follows -

Date - April 6, 2006
Time - Leaving NY at approx 1pm
From - Leaving from the Bronx (good central location)

Some people are coming just for the day, no need to spend the night, if you don't want to. I know that it's a Thursday, and that makes it very difficult for a lot of people. I understand if you can't make it that day, but be forewarned, it's going to be a blast! Please let me know if you are interested, so I'll know approx how many people we'll need rooms for (the rooms are comp'd by the hotels, by the way).

Trader Joe's opens first NYC store.

NY1.com has an article about Trader Joe's opening up their first NYC city store in Union Square. Read the article Here.

I love Trader Joe's, and I make it a point to shop there every time I go up to Westchester. It's true that not every thing is cheaper, but a lot of the food there is reasonable. The food, you buy is usually excellent in quality and quantity. I love the exotic and eclectic mix, and the huge variety there. I have to admit though, chances are I'm still going to shop in the Westchester store, rather then the Union Square store.

MySpace Assholes desecrate a Hero

A NYPD cop, shot and killed in the line of duty deserves much better then this. These punks on MySpace.com took his photo and made up a phony posting pretending to be him. They put up offensive profile settings such as "people I'd like to meet - God...oh wait, I already have" This is so disgusting, it makes me sick. I don't like giving Myspace any time on my blog, because from what I know if it, it seems to be a creepy, scary hangout place, ripe for oppurnistic pedophiles or people who prey on younger, more naive people. It's no surprise that off all places to find something like this would be upon the webpages of this website. I will never use their site, nor become a member, and I hope you all feel the same way.

Article from the "Post"

March 18, 2006 -- An idiotic and mean-spirited profile that made fun of the brave cop gunned down in a firefight involving disgraced actor Lillo Brancato Jr. last year was removed from the MySpace Web site yesterday after angry police bombarded the operators with complaints.
The mindless ghouls who desecrated the memory of fallen hero Daniel Enchautegui could now face prosecution as the NYPD hunts down the creators of the beyond-the-grave profile on the popular Internet meeting spot.

The fiends, who appeared to be linked to a bunch of young gangsta-wannabes in The Bronx, included a photograph of the beloved officer in uniform besides the words, "No! Don't Shoot!"

"HaHa! You got bodied Wiz! Where you at? You got moked out!" the despicable pranksters wrote on the fake Enchautegui profile, which has enraged friends and colleagues.

"Ain't nobody tell you to become a cop papachuco, should worn ya body armor."

Read full article Here

I hope they get jail time.

BadBlueBoy now availible with RSS

RSS is "Really Simple Syndication" and basically, it's a good place where news sites and blogs can send posts, or articles to readers. This blog has a working RSS feed, so you can subscribe to it as well. If you have a mac, SAFARI has a built in reader (another reason why macs are better). Just click on the RSS in the address bar to be taken to the feed, and to add, click on the "plus" (+) sign to add BadBlueBoy.blogspot.com RSS. If you don't have a mac, you can istall a reader. Here is a list of readers

The link on the right side of this Blog also has a link that will take you to the RSS site.

Leaked Photos of the 700P?

Engadget.com and treocentral have posts about how some Sprint Customer service rep may have leaked some info involving the new 700P. For those not in the know, the 700P is the latest Treo smartphone running the Palm OS (not the windows OS) I've been waiting a long time for this, and I may have to leave verizon for Sprint just to get this phone!

Link here -
Engadget Post

Happy Saint Paddy's Day!

This has always been a favorite of mine. Parade, party and lot's of corned beef and cabbage. My father used to make the best corned beef and cabbage, complete with boiled potatoes and carrots and irish soda bread, yummy! Lot's of people in the city today for the Parade. Weather was great, a little chilly, but otherwise beautiful.

Like father like son!

Caption says it all. Keep in mind that this baby is premature!!! He's huge!

Cop tasers dog.

This is another reason why all cops should carry one. Give it a few seconds and it should play by itself. Click the play button to play again.


As seen on Wimp.com

Bill Gates to give you $12, if you live in New York.

$350 million antitrust lawsuit filed in New York will entitle anyone who bought a computer using microsoft software between 1994-2004 to a $12 coupon for each computer purchased.

Woo-hoo! Money for me!!

read more | digg story

Giftcertificates.com

In another life I used to work for Giftcertificates.com. That company is still around, and well, and I'm proud to have had a part in the company in it's infancy. I was there during that time, pre- 911 where there was a lot of optimism, and hope, and dot.coms were popping up all over the place. Venture Capital was giving out funds to nearly any company with a half-way decent idea. We were paid relatively low wages, but were promised huge shares in a company that would (could) make millions upon the IPO. Thought of millionaires like those Yahoo and Ebay employees tantalized us all. I never did make those millions, but we sure did have a good time. I miss working in the city at an exciting new company, and going out for drinks and parties and all that jazz. I even miss the new office when we moved to the NJ office. Although it was the beggining of the end, it was the journey, not the destination that was important. These are the people that made that journey with them, and we all got together again at Porky's in Manhattan, and it was a really good time.

Sally's Birthday Bash!

Sally's Birthday Bash!
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

From left to right, we have Nancy, Sally (the birthday girl), Lek, Pat, Me and Angelica. We partied at Plan B located in the east village, and it was a pretty good time.

Sally is celebrating her 25th birthday, and by the time I got there after work, it seemed like everyone already had a few in them (especially Sally!) Well, one only hit's the quarter century mark once in their lives! Plan B was a fun spot, not too big and pretty good dance music (yes I did actually dance, though I am ashamed to admit it). Happy Birthday Sally!

Daniel James Hagan

I tried to get pics earlier, but here's one of Daniel James Hagan, born 8 lbs, 6 ounces on March 1, 2006. Scott and Audrey both doing well. Here is Auntie Kristy holding little DS. Scottie has to keep reminding himself that DS is his son, not his DUAL SCREEN gameboy. Or maybe he picked these initials for a reason? Anyway congrats to the Hagan's (and Terrillis) and their new kin!

Edit - My bad, Daniel James Hagan. Not DS.

BT and Lek

Such a gorgeous day today. Here's a pic of BT and Lek hanging out at Strawberry Fields in Central Park. it was so nice out we just had to take a little break, and just sit around and people watch for a bit. Hope you had some time today to go out and do the same!

Sent from my Treo600
www.badblueboy.blogspot.com

X-Men trailer

Yes, as spring time nears, so does the lure of Summer block-busters! Here, from youtube.com, a trailer for X-Men 3. It looks good, but then again, I love the X-Men so much, as long as they do a decent job, I'm pretty happy. Enjoy!

Spring around the corner?

Well it seems to be getting warmer everyday, but who knows with the way the weather has been so kooky lately. It's been over a week since I've had my teeth yanked and I still feel a little weak and feverish. I'm not sure what's going on. I am feeling slightly better each day, which is what's keeping me from seeing the doctor. I am tired and drowsy and am on nothing more then extra strength tylenol now. My teeth feel fine, I'm almost eating normally now, just can't shake off this fever...

BT has sent out a link with photos from Christmas and other events Click on link Here

Other news - Scott and Audrey have successfully given birth to a big bundle of joy! Congratualtions to the mother and father of Daniel James Hagan - pics to come shortly. Sidenote, kudos to Audrey for managing to deliver an 8 pound 7 ounce baby. Holy smokes!!!

Still feeling shitty

I had my teeth out on Tuesday and I'm still weak and I'm running a little temperature. I've been trying to sleep it off. Last night I was in real bad form with a fever and aches and all that. Today I'm feeling better, but still real tired.

One thing that's kept me entertained is my trusty old computer. Check out this video - The Simpsons Live

http://youtube.com/watch?v=brh6KRvQHBc

My wisdome teeth got yank!

Ok, I've been out of comission since yesterday, when I had all four wisdom teeth removed. I have to tell you that I feel absolutely miserable. I got there at 9:30 am on the dot, but the Doctor was since busy with another patient, so I had to wait anxiously until he was done. Nearly an hour later, he was finally ready for me. He starts off by drawing an IV into my left arm, and although I hate needles, it wasn't too bad. He then tells me, he is going to add the sedative through the IV. It felt like he literally flipped a switch, cause I was out like a light.

Next time I remember waking up and my jaw are in excruciating pain and my throat was extrememly sore. I remember the dental tech asking me if I wanted to keep my extracted teeth, I numbly shook my head "no", but in retrospect I wish I had said yes. Why do they ask you questions when you're in this state? My teeth hurt, but they didn't hurt as much as my jaw, which they must have really cranked up to get at my teeth. I was prescribed antibiotics and Vicoden and off to home we went.

The Vicoden makes me nauseous, but does little to stop the pain. I had to pop a couple of advil last night to keep the pain away. I've also developed a slight fever making me achy. I haven't really been able to eat anything the first day. I had some tea and some icecream. I've also had difficulty sleeping which is very frustrating.

Today is the second day and I'm feeling a little bit better. Still achy and dizzy, but not as much pain in my jaw. My teeth still hurt and I was able to eat some rice porridge today. I'm so glad that I decided to do all 4 in one shot, cause there is no way I'm going back there again....

On other news, I brought my Jeep back cause the check engine light came on. They fixed it again and charged me nothing for the repairs. Next time, I'll bring in the paneling that broke off and have that fixed too. Only 3 more payments to go!

Free USB Drive - Microsoft

Get a free USB Drive from Microsoft. Click on the image of the USB drive "Valuable Information - Get Yours".

You'll need a hotmal, or MSN account as they will send you a confirmation email. It's worth it though, free is free (probably a 32 meg flashdrive)

As posted by "bakerboy" here are the answers to the questions -

Q1. How many ways are there to obtain a full Microsoft® Windows® Desktop license?
Answer:: 2

Q2: Volume License Agreements cover Windows Desktop operating system upgrades only.
Answer: True

Q3: OEM operating system licenses are non-transferable.
Answer: True

Q4: The most cost-effective way to acquire an initial, full underlying Windows Desktop license is preinstalled.
Answer: True

read more | digg story

Engagement Party

ENG55
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

Burin threw me an Engagement Party on Saturday. We had a great time, and it was great to see everyone. Although the actual wedding will be in Thailand, when we return, we intend on having a little party here in the States, probably in Westchester.

I'll have the link up as well and email this to people. You can click on the Photo as well to be taken to the Flickr site, where I've uploaded all the photos! To everyone that came, thank you so much. For those that were unable to attend, I know you're with us at heart!

I can't believe it! Don Knots has passed away at 81 years old. Here's the link from CNN I remember Knots from Three's Company (with John Ritter, who's also passed away) and even long ago, when he was a guest cartoon dude on Scoobly-Doo commercials. Man I can't believe how old this is making me feel.

Party Hardy!

Pat went out and partied with some friends. Sally went out and managed to drag Pat back home, but he didnt' quite make it. It was a valiant try, but after ringing my doorbell, he passed out on the welcome mat (well he would have if I had a welcome mat). Guess he's out of pratice, boy is watching drunk people fun!

Check Engine

I just got my car back, paid about $1200 in repairs, and today after running around, doing errands, the stupid "check engine" light is on again. This is the most annoying and aggravating part of owning a car. I cringe everytime that evil yellow mini-engine lights up. Now I have to bring it back, demand that they fix it and start all over again!

Milk does a body good?

So I read somewhere that Milk is good for losing weight. So for the past few days I've been drinking lots and lots of milk. I think I've actually gotten fatter. Next time I'll try regular milk instead of chocolate milk. That might work better.

I made it to the post office today. So they want 30 extra dollars to do your form with you. I decided to do it myself instead. Then I went down the street to take my passport photo, which did a great job of making me look like a thug. After paying $10 for 2 teeny pictures I realized that I could have taken the pictures myself, printed them on photo paper then cut out my head with a pair of scissors and that would have only cost me about 50 cents. Damn rip off photo shop.

I got my car back. It drives really well, which is funny cause I didn't realize it was driving shitty. Jeep does a great job of fixing your car quickly and you can pretty much drop off your car whenever you please. I used to make reservations, but they used to make me wait. Now I just go when I feel like it and they take it! That's right! Take it!

This isn't my week...

Even though I'm on vacation this week, it's not looking to be a fun break. I've had to bring my car in for the stupid "check engine" light. Now they are telling me that it's going to cost me $1200.00 in repairs. The upside is that I've only got 3 more payments on that thing, then I'll be saving $400 a month. So if there aren't any more repairs for a while, maybe I can actually save some money.

Secondly my damn wisdom teeth are coming in. Actually, they've been coming in for a while, but I've been procrastinating getting them yanked (seems like a real blast). I can't hold off any more since they are starting to push their way through and it's starting to hurt, making that difficult to eat. You know that me and not eating don't go together too well. It took all day yesterday to call around and try to find an oral surgeon that accepts my insurance. The one that was referred to me is "out of network" which would mean I'd have to pay out of pocket ($2500) then wait for them to reimburse me (and we know how speedy that would have been!)

All this while I'm trying to prepare for my engagement party. Thank goodness BT is helping me with the party, without him, this wouldn't have happened.

Pics from the Blizzard

The last post was supposed to have pics, but they didn't upload. Anyway one's from the confort of my 4x4 jeep and the other is a picture of the Patrol Car. The chains worked really well, but you really can't go all that fast.

Blizzard of 2006

Lots of snow! Good thing we had chains on our crown vic! On my Jeep, 4x4 works awesome. While everyone was digging their cars out, all it took was a little scraping on the windshield and I was good to go! If you are digging snow, be careful, that's a great way to give yourself a heart attack.

A romantic restaurant for Valentine's day!

If you've procrstinated and don't yet have a restaurant to take your sweetie for Valentine's day, do not fret! There's still hope! It may be hard to see, but the flyer above is an add for a romantic dinner at White Castles! You heard right. This is from the White Castles located in the South Bronx! You can take your boo, or your baby momma or maybe both of em, for a night of fine dining! Hurry though, even here reservations are required! Bon Appettite!

Lord of War

I was excited to see this movie, but I was a little disappointed. There were plenty of action scenes and although they try to make a big deal about the firearms, they don't really talk about them that much. The lead actress is smoking hot and thats about it. I've seen better from Cage. I give this a 3 out of 5 stars. Definately worth a Netflix view, but not a full theatre ticket.

Meanwhile I've been watching the Shield on DVD, and I forgot how great that show is. I've gone through seasons 1-3 and am about to start season 4. I'm getting sad, cause season 5 isn't out on DVD yet, so I'll have to find another series to sink my teeth into. I'm thinking about either 24, or Lost. Maybe I'll do both.

See SuperBowl Ads.

This guy went through all the trouble of converting the ads into Quicktime movies so you can see them on your home computer. I think he meant for them to be viewed on the video Ipod, but they work just fine on your PC. I used the .mov files and they worked ok for me. My favorite is the Sprint/Nextel commercial with the "crime deterrent" feature. Very funny.

Cut and paste this link- http://www.devlib.org/blog/2006/01/30/2006-super-bowl-commercials/

or just clink HERE. Note: Looks like he's getting a lot of traffic on his website now, since Google searches put him at the front of the list. You may not get on, just try again latter on. Enjoy.

Don't support drug dealers. Boycott Vitamin water.

50 cent the Rapper and "former" drug dealer that proudly brags about the times he was shot while being a gang member, dealing drugs has invested a large amount of money, and is basically part owner in Glaceau, the company that manufacturs Vitamin Water. It's too bad, cause I used to drink this on a regular basis, and it tastes better than Gatorade. No more though, I'm not giving another penny to this thug. You can read the article Use HERE

Just this weekend in Brooklyn during a rap video shoot by Busta Rhymes a shootout killing a security guard took place. Among the guests, Missy Elliot and 50 cent. I'm tired of people glamorizing these idiots. They make a living out of sensationalizing drugs, violence and the all around shitty life. Don't give them another dime.

My Oven

So I finally got a working oven after complaining and calling for only 4 months. It's worse then pulling teeth with these people. Now that they finally replaced the oven the old one (pictured) is still sitting in the hallway. These people suck.

McDonalds Response

This is what McDonalds responded with. Although, it's a horseshit answer, at least they did respond. KFC never sent me a reply when I sent them a complaining email (no I don't write everyone, just the ones that piss me off).

Hello John:

Thank you for contacting McDonald's and sharing your comments with us. We greatly appreciate this opportunity to address your concerns.

You may be interested to know that approximately 85 percent of our restaurants are locally owned and operated. As independent business people, decisions to participate in promotions are made by the owners of each restaurant. In addition, our advertising always states "at participating restaurants only." It is also important to mention that sometimes advertising spills over into a market that is not participating in the promotion. Regardless, please accept our sincere apology for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Please be assured, we would never want any of our promotions to disappoint our customers. Because you are a valued customer, your comments are important to us and have been shared with our Restaurant Operations staff for their on-going review.

Again, thank you for contacting McDonald's. We look forward to serving you again soon under the Golden Arches.

Tim
McDonald's USA Customer Satisfaction Department

ref#:3367028

Email to McDonalds

This is an email I sent to McDonalds the other night, after feeling ripped off. The punctuation and grammer is off, because of the email program they use, it strips it down I guess.

I have always associated McDonalds with fond memories, as well as great tasting food. Since I was young, my father and I would often visit McDonalds whenever you ran any of your specials, such
as the McRibb. Our favorite however would be your Chicken McNugget deals. My family has owned a restaurant since I was just a little boy, and even with near limitless access to our own food, we would
run out and buy sacks of McNuggets during your specials.

I was very happy to see your new commercial for the 6 piece chicken McNuggets move to the dollar menu! What a fantastic bargain. So I walked down the street a couple of blocks to the McDonalds (listed above), and imagine
my shock and dismay when I found out they don't honor that deal there!!!!

I asked the distinterested gentleman behind the counter why they didnt have the 6 piece nuggets on the menu (they had a 4 piece for $1), and his explaination was simply 6 piece is $1.65 thats it. No not
every store honors every special no Im sorry sir, but we arent running that promotion at this store only its $1.65

I was very, very disappointed in your lies. Im upset at your employees lack of concern about being caught in a lie, and Im frankly pissed off at being lied too.

Im going to Wendys as they have 5 piece nuggets on their dollar menu. Although I like McDonalds better, as they taste better and for the nostalgia alone, but at least Wendys doesnt lie to me. I was so
upset that my first response was to chronicle this on my blog and then link it to as many other blogs as I can. I decided to write to you instead, and hopefully you can shed some light as to why McDonalds
thinks its a good practice to lie to customers, and practice false advertising.

Your fine print where all stores may not honor all promos isnt going to fly either - I watched your commercial in my apt then walked down the street to your McDonalds....

I would appreciate a response.
Thank You
John

McDonalds lied to me!

I admit I don't eat at McDonalds nearly as much as I used to as a kid. Every now and then however, especially when they are running some sort of promo, I'll find my self greedily munching on Micky Dee's. I love their shoestring fries and I love their Chicken McNuggets. In fact I actually liked the old version with it's dark, grissly meat better then the boring white meat ones they have now. My favorite promo was the $2.99 20 piece nuggets special! That's a bargain!

Well, as you may or may not know, McDonalds has been running commercials where the 6 piece chicken mcnugget is now on the dollar menu! Yippeee! Well, ok, not so yippee, as unbeknownest to me, the special doesn't apply here in Manhattan. Even though they air the commerical pretty frequently in Manhattan (on Time Warner), they have the nuggets on the dollar menu, but it's for a paltry 4 pieces.

I schleped my way down the 2 blocks to my nearest McDonalds "restaurant" (so funny that they call em restaurants. So, where's my waiter?" and excitedly ordered the 6 piece nuggets. The guy behind the counter, who obviously couldn't be bothered replied "it's 1.63 for six". What?? No dollar menu? "it's $1.63" was the only answer I'd get. I angrily paid him, my mood now ruined. I rushed home and set them an email chronicling my experiance with them and requesting a response. That Monday night. As of today (Thursday) I haven't heard a peep from them. This is a company that prides itself on public relations. Well they are doing a very poor job of it... It's back to Wendy's for me.

Mayor Ray Naggin is a dumbass

How in the world did this guy get voted to mayor? He is one huge jackass. His comments about New Orleans being returned to a "chocolate city" and that god is mad at Bush for his foreign policy? Are you shitting me? Oprah Winfrey had this asshole on her show. I hope she burns in flames too, cause of this dick. This about what he said, if it were in any other context ie, a white guy (Bloomberg) saying we should bring Brooklyn back to it's "vanillaness" people would be rioting in the streets. Naggin is a "pass the buck" leader and he's just about done.

That perp that shot at cops after being kicked out by the bouncers at a night club had his willie and a finger shot off. Great shooting guys! There really is Karma!

My apartment sucks. Still no oven.

Underworld Evolution

79m
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

Don't you hate it when a movie comes out that just rocks, and you know the sequel is going to suck? I was hoping against all hope that this wasn't the case here. No luck. I really enjoyed the first movie a lot and I thought the way it left off, the sequel had great potential to be good too.

The second movie starts off right where the first one ends. I don't remember them being in an eastern block nation though, and the story is very convoluted and makes no sense at all. They shift the focus from Michael Corvine (Corvinus) to Selene, the death dealer. Everyone wears blue contacts and there's now a flying bat vampire, who is also supposedly a hybrid like Michael Corvine, but not like Corvine, cause he's an original and "there's never been anything like you" which we hear over and over again.

I remember watching the sequel to the Matrix where all of a sudden Morpheus can take out agents by himself (even though they are upgrades), and they don't really explain why. Or why Neo has to actually fight them, when in the first one he obliterates them at will. You get that in this movie as well, where Selene can take out multiple werewolves pretty much barehanded now.

Although Kate Beckinsale is an uberhottie, and they throw in a gratuitous half naked scene, her hotness is not enough to keep this movie afloat. Do not pay for this movie. Netflix it or wait for it on cable.

US high court refuses to review RIM ruling

Uh-ohhh. Looks like if you have one of those blackberry (crackberry) devices, it could soon be nothing more then a heavy paperweight. If they lose this patent ruling, the 'push' email function of the blackberries will no longer function, making these devices useless. The Palm Treo however will continue to work as usual.

The palm just released a new model too the Treo 700. It's pretty much the same form factor, but with windows mobile 5 as the operating system. Thanks but no thanks, I'll wait until the next Palm version is released.

read more | digg story

Lobster night 1/09/06

Lobster night 1/09/06
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

Judging from how many times you see me at Mo's Carribean, you'd start to think I live at this place. It's not true! I've only been there a few times, but every time, it's a lot of fun.

This time we got a good crew from work, eight of us all together. I have a lot of good pics, and Jimmy even has a really funny video, none of which I'm going to post here, I think if you want the pics, you're better off me sending them to you via email.

The Heather, our hostess took great care of us, as did Lindsey our waitress. We did many shots and raised many a glass that night. Some highlights -
(I'm making this family friendly, I don't want any divorces on my head).

*Luke ate 5 lobsters! Each one is 1 and 1/4 lbs.
*Somehow our total tab was still under $500 (not counting the bar tab Seth picked up).
*We made lots of friends, including neighboring tables.
*Danny invented a new sport called "tree rolling"
*Danny's sustained the first ever injury of anyone participating in "tree rolling"
*Eugene's face is immune to lots of slapping when he's drink
*The 19th precinct takes disorderly group calls seriously, take my word on that.
*When you eat lots of lobster, you have stinky fingers all night.
*We are definately doing this again.

Amazon Rocks

Amazon.com really does rock. I love them, and I've never had a bad experiance with em. I ordered a new adapter for my iBook on Sunday, and they tried to deliver it yesterday (3 business days!). I didn't actually get it until today, cause I wasn't here to sign for it, but I'm not complaining since I chose the 5-10 day (free) delivery. So I paid nothing for delivery and no tax and it arrived a few days later, not too shabby. I ordered a flashlight holder from SUREFIRE flashlights on Saturday, and although, they've sent me a confirmation email about my order, I still haven't received it yet. Boooo!

My super/maintence guy really, really sucks. After writing the mean letter, he finally showed to look at the over...just like the last 3 guys did. Again, he's "going to need approval from management" and will call me tomorrow. That was on Monday. It's now Friday. Mean letter did absolutely nothing. Oh wait, I did get a key to the trash area. Yippee, I'm so happy.

Having one of them weeks.

So far, this week has started off really crappy. I've been working overtime for nearly every weekend I've had off for the past 6 weeks, with the lucky exception of Christmas weekend off. Because of the transit strike, that actually put me at the OT cap. Although, the money is great, and it comes at a perfect time, I know I'm feeling pretty fried, and I desperately need some downtime. Luckily a boss stepped in for me and I managed to get out of the overtime detail for this past week. It works out perfectly as this is my last Saturday off for quite some time, and Lek and I were able to use that time productively for our wedding planning. This is turning out to be such a headache, I can't believe how much planning goes into this. Invites for the wedding, here and abroad, the hotel, the band, the placecards, wedding favors, airline tickets, passports, ceremonies, traditions, DOWERY!!! Holyshit, I gotta take a breath here!

Well at least that night, we had a little "family night" at the apt and it was a real blast. The game "Scene It" was a big bust, nobody really enjoyed it. Maybe my buddy Scotty from Westchester would have liked it, he's a huge movie, and TV buff. We moved on to Pictionary and that was great! The more you drink, the funnier the drawings look, woooo-hooo!

Now, my Apple iBooks power cable is starting to fray, which really sucks, cause I've been using my computer alot lately. I had to order another one from Amazon, and it's gonna take about a week to get here (of course I took the free, long wait, shipping. It's free.) I wrote a mean letter to my landlord about not having an oven for 3 months. Now I'm no Martha Stewart, but I'm tired of making my pizza bagels in the toaster. I can only do 1 bagel at a time there. I also don't have a key to the trash area, forcing me to leave my trash piled up outside the locked door. I have to really rip and shred all my documents real good so the hobos don't go shifting around in there. I guess my letter finally worked (I sent it wrapped in the the rent check), cause the super called me today and he's coming over at 5pm to finally fix it. I don't understand how calling for 3 months doesn't work, but one mean letter always seem to do the trick. Maybe it's cause it's in writting and is now on record? I don't know, I'm looking forward to making a big batch of pizza bagels. PS. Right now, since my laptop has no juice, I'm at the library typing this up and this really goofy guy next to me, is giggling and snorting as he's reading his email. I can't get a good look at what he's reading, but it's getting really annoying.

NYC Monopolies

One thing I've hated about moving to the city is the choice of 2 things, #1 the cable company and #2 the phone company.

Time Warner is pretty much the only option I have as far as Cable TV goes. I see now why some people venture into satellite tv, if only to not give Time Warner any more money. In Westchester, I had Cablevision and they were great. I could buy "basic" cable and watch tv anywhere in my house where I had a tv. Here, you need a digital decoder box, so basically I can only watch tv in my living room. In my bedroom I can either spend another $5 a month for another box, or I can watch the prime time channels (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11) TBS and the Food Network, that's it (why I also get TBS and Food Channel? I have no idea). So everynight, the Iron Chef's serenade me to sleep. The internet sucks, as they keep changing the IP address forcing me to constantly reset my router. This is because they want me to buy their router and wi-fi service, rather then setup my own. I have my own digital video recorder on my laptop (basically a Tivo), only it doesn't work here, as I have to manual change the channel on the decoder box. Again, because TWC would rather you subscribe to their DVR service. Fuck you Time Warner.

Verizon is a nickle and diming, blood sucking, corporate vampire. They will do anything to woo over a new customer, but once you're on their service that's it, they are sucking you for what your worth. "but they have great customer service" is what most people will say. What that means is that they are really polite and smile alot as they fuck you in the ass. Hand over the vaseline please. Some examples you may not even realize - If you have a phone or a device that supports bluetooth (wireless technology in newer devices), you're supposed to be able to take pictures on your phone then use the bluetooth to transfer them to your computer. Verizon has 'crippled' the bluetooth on all their phones, making you use their service to transfer pics (charging 25cents a pic). Music is the same way, think about it, itunes charges you $1 per song. Now they have these new phones that support music, but Verizon charges you $2.50 a song! Also, I pay for the internet on my cellphone, so I should be able to use my cellphone as a modem and access the internet with my laptop hooked up to my cellphone, but again no can do with verizon. Maybe I'll switch to T-mobile (once my 2 year contract finally expires), after all Katherine Zeta-Jones is much easier on the eyes then that "can you hear me now" dude.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas Dinner
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

It was great to have everyone together again for the holidays. With all of our schedules so hectic, it seems harder and harder for all of us to get together. This year, I had both Christmas Eve and Christmas off. Here we are on Christmas Eve at my second family's house. We're at the Kiddie's table. Chris and Andy came in from Utah and Lorraine made it down from Boston, and in fact this picture is courtesy of Lorraine! Food was delicious and company was great, this is what the holidays are all about!

Happy New Years!

I forgot how much fun it is to get drunk in your own house! You can just pass out anywhere you want when you feel like it, and it's a lot cheaper! I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years celebration! Any good New Years resolutions out there? Mine is, I promise to not be as mean to those scumbag, shithead, one-way mo-fo's I deal with at work!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I always smirk when I hear the lousy liberals scoff at Christmas and say, "that's not politically correct". Hey, Christmas as far as I'm concerned is a cultural observance, not a religious one. Although I know that many Christians do celebrate the religious aspects of it as well, that doesn't mean those of us that are not Christian don't appreciate the Christmas holiday and the season in general. Growing up in a culture where Christmas was as American as, well apple pie, everyone is exposed to it. Just like I'm sure on St.Patricks day, not everyone who is drinking and celebrating is Irish! Anyway. Merry Christmas and if it's a "Bah Humbug" from you then Happy Holidays!

Lot's of toys and gadgets out there this year! I was thinking if I could buy any gadget I wanted and it was just a luxury item, nothing I needed like a car or funiture, just grown up toys I'd want the following from Santa this year.

1. An in dash DVD player for my car. I know I don't spend enough time in it to watch a full movie anyway, but hey it's really cool.
2. PSP, so I can play video games on the road.
3. The Treo 650. It's the next phone up from my model. Mine is getting a little long in the tooth, but the word is there is a crop of new models coming out.
4. Apple's 12 inch Powerbook. Again, it's better to wait, Apple has a new line up coming out.
5. Harley Davidson Motorcycle. Ok, I know it's a little extreme, but think about all the savings I'd make it commuting!

Maybe I'll celebrate Hanukah too this year, they get presents for like 12 days!

No more strike!

Whew, no more strike. No more 12 hour tours, wacky commutes and press conferences by Toussaint! Hello again Christmas. I am very disappointed with the strike. I had much more respect for the TWU at the onset of the strike, they showed moxy in fighting for what they felt was fair, but apparently not enough
to go to jail for it. The way the union folded makes the entire strike
worthless. Good job guys.

Any way I have my days off again, just in time to, yippee, sleep off this cold I somehow picked up - probably from lack of sleep. I'll take a brief nap, lots of medicine then try to finish (start?) my xmas shopping. I only have 15 more people to buy for!

Strike2005

Strike2005
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

I just finished another 12 hour tour. It's actually 13 hours, if you consider the time it takes to get in, change and get your assignments. I can tell that too many more days of this and we're going to be very ragged.

I don't want to take a political stance on this, because I think these actions may pave the way for future negotiations between the city and other labor unions, including my own, so this strike is closely watched for many reasons.

The hours are monotonous and grinding and we're all a little down considering this strike is pretty much squashing any hope of spending the holidays with our families. I don't get the oppurtunity very often to spend holidays with my friends and family, and was looking forward to it this year. I was scheduled to have Christmas eve and Christmas off this year, and very excited about it too, but now, that looks like it probably won't happen. I'll spend it working 12 hours shifts at work. At this point I'm spending more time with my co-workers then with anyone else I know, including my live in girlfriend! Another lesson, don't procrastinate - I did, and now, I won't have the time to complete my Christmas shopping! You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch!

2005 Transit Strike

So the threat of a strike seems to be worse then the actually strike itself. It's like wincing at the thought of pulling off a band-aid, rather then actually feeling pain at swiftly yanking it off. Last night, everyone was so paranoid about the strike that most people closed shop early, and made their way homes hopefully before the last train shut down. I actually drove 2 of Lek's friends into Queens for fear they'd be stranded in Manhattan.

At 3:00 am or there abouts, the TWU finally came out with their decision to strike. Wow, at least this guy showed some balls. My thoughts on this? Well 3% is just covering basic cost of living increase. Lets face it, your dollar just doesn't carry as far anymore, so this small percentage just makes you hold even while the price of everything else increases. If the MTA had offered 3% raises across the board with no "give backs" then it would be fair, in that it's only a cost of living adjustment, not a raise. If you want more then that, then it is fair for the MTA to ask for something in return or as they call it "productivity gains". Two things to keep in mind. One,once you give something back, it's gone forever, you won't be able to bargain for that again. Two the MTA has been very shady in their book-keeping and in their fiscal management of late, so it's very difficult to believe that they don't have enough funds. The holiday discount, though conveniant for me, is very foolish for them considering they had this contract coming up!

So I woke up this morning to....silence. It's actually a lot quieter. Most of the street vendors must have taken the day off rather then find a quartet to travel into the city with, and deliveries aren't allowed during rush hour. I'm off to start my 12 hour shifts, so the next few days are going to be rough, and I still have a lot of X-mas shopping to do. That's what I get for procrastinating! Well happy commuting all!

Injustice for our lawmen

This is an article written by Michael Daly in the New York Daily News. Great article, and I normally don't like the News, but this is right on.

As we bury a second murdered cop in eight days, let's hope that the most promising young people wishing to follow in the hallowed footsteps of Police Officer Dillon Stewart and Police Officer Daniel Enchautegui are not deterred by the discovery that the starting salary on the NYPD is $14,530 less than that of a city gardener.
This startling fact is set forth on the official Web site of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. The long list of upcoming hiring exams for city jobs begins:

Gardener

Police Officer

A click on "Gardener" produces a job description that includes, "The starting minimum salary is $39,630 per annum."

A click on "Police Officer" also produces a job description, this including, "The current minimum starting salary is $25,100 per annum."

The site adds that after six months the starting cop salary rises to $32,700, still $6,930 less than that of a gardener. The word for this is "outrageous."

A return to the official job description for Gardener states that the applicant need have only two years' practical experience or a certificate from a horticulture or botanical program. The section headed "special working conditions" states:

"Some of the physical activities performed by Gardeners and environmental conditions experienced are: Standing, bending, kneeling and stooping for extended periods of time; climbing around and over various types of terrain; ... and working outdoors in all kinds of weather."

The official job description for Police Officer states that an applicant must have either 60 college credits with at least a 2.0 average or a high school diploma and two years of active duty in the military. A section headed "what the job involves" states:

"Some of the physical activities performed by Police Officers and environmental conditions experienced are: working outdoors in all kinds of weather; walking and/or standing in an assigned area during a tour; driving or sitting in a patrol car during a tour while remaining alert; running after a fleeing suspect; climbing up stairs; carrying an injured adult with assistance; gripping persons to prevent escape; restraining a suspect by use of handcuffs; ... engaging in hand to hand struggles to subdue a suspect resisting arrest."

Among the activities not mentioned is being suddenly fired upon, as Stewart was when he and his partner tried to pull over a man who ran a red light. Stewart was shot in the heart, but still gave chase despite this most mortal of wounds.

At the time of his death, Stewart had been a cop for five years, which means his base pay was $41,952, or just $2,322 more than the starting pay for a gardener. He supplemented his income by moonlighting, every minute of which was a minute away from his wife and two daughters. Those minutes were precious enough before a bullet made the loss of them a loss beyond measure.

The man charged with Stewart's murder was formally arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court yesterday. Allan Cameron sat impassive in a brown jailissue jumpsuit as dozens of police officers sat in silent witness.

Other cops were at the Schuyler Hill Funeral Home in the Bronx, attending Enchautegui's wake. The job description for Police Officer fails to say that a cop might be roused in the night by the sound of breaking glass and step outside to investigate only to be suddenly fired upon. Enchautegui was also shot in the heart. He also kept on beyond human limits, wounding both suspects.

Enchautegui died before he had a chance to have a family of his own. He had been a cop for three years, which means his base pay was $38,541, or $1,089 less than the starting salary for a gardener.

Both Enchautegui and Stewart were too dedicated and courageous to have joined the NYPD for the salary. Money was the last thing that came to mind in the hushed, floral-scented funeral parlor, where Enchautegui's parents and sister sat grieving by his open coffin.

Then you watched cops step away from the second comrade to be murdered in less than a fortnight and head into the city to risk the same fate. Too many of them also are forced to work second jobs once they have families, and then the money translates to precious minutes away from those who need them most.

Originally published on December 14, 2005

NYPD Officer laid to rest.

NYPDEnchautegui
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

I normally try to keep anything related to work, off my blog, as I feel my blog is a place to talk about my personal life and not my professional life. Unfortunately, these past 2 weeks, if anything at all, has shown me that my work is part of my personal life and it is part of who I am.

I didn't have the honor of knowing Officer Dillion Stewart, who was killed while chasing a piece of shit through the streets of Brooklyn. His loss was a severe blow to all of us. I did however have the good fortune to have worked with Officer Enchautegui as I work in the same area. I wouldn't be surprised at all if I called for back-up and he and his partner were the responding Officers to show up. He was just a generally good guy, that I only wish I'd had the chance to know better.

Both these Officers were killed in the early morning, putting to truth the adage, "these men patrol the streets at night, so that good citizens may sleep peacefully in their beds". Officer Danny Enchautegui was laying comfortably in his own bed that night, when he heard the sound of crashing glass, and rose to investigate. He bravely confronted 2 men he suspected of committing a violent crime and commanded "Police, don't move!" twice, when he was fired upon. Officer Enchautegui fired all 8 rounds in his off duty, striking one perp 6 times, the other 2 times. That's a 100% hit rate, showing us the determination he had, even after being fatally wounded.

The picture above (NYtimes)shows Officer's lined up at Officer Enchautegui's Funeral. A sight we've seen too many times in too short a span. My prayers, and hopefully yours go out to the families of both these fine Officers. I choose to spend all my compassion on them, and save none for those that committed these crimes. May they rot in hell.

Officer Needs Assistance

I'm posting this for a friend of mine. This would truly be an amazing Christmas gift, if we could find this Officer a donor.

Officer Jim Colon, an 11-year veteran of the Englewood Cliffs
Police Department, a husband and father of a 6 month old baby boy
has been diagnosed with Fanconi Anemia, which has progressed into Leukemia
Jim is in DESPERATE need of a bone marrow donor for a life-saving transplant.

There Will Be A Blood and Bone Marrow Drive For Jim
Date: December 18, 2005
Time: 9AM to 1PM
Location: Roy W. Brown Middle School
130 South Washington Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ

Please, Jim and His Family Really Need Your Help!
Anyone who cannot donate blood or marrow and still want to help, can do so by making a donation to the "JIMMY COLON FUND" PO Box 384 Edgewater, NJ 07020
If There Are Any Questions, Please Call The Englewood Cliffs Police At 201-569-8300

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS POLICE
10 Kahn Terrace
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
www.officerjimfund.org

First X-Men 3 Photos Revealed!

USA Today has your first look at photos from 20th Century Fox's X-Men 3, coming to theaters on May 26, 2006.

Yippee! Another X-Men movie! They have some shots of The Beast and Angel. The first 2 were really good, lets hope they continue the trend!

read more | digg story

The Super-Dooper Phone List

Cheat Sheet:
Print this out as it will save you from waiting to talk to a human being.

Here are the secret numbers and tips to bypass IVR phone menus to get to a human:
-
Finance phone steps to find a human:
-
American Express 800-528-4800 0
-
ATT Universal 800-950-5114 ##
-
Bank of America 800-900-9000 1 loan; 2 account; 3 investing; 4 info; or 00 to human
-
Bank One 877-226-5663 0 thru the options to get a live person
-
Capital One Visa 800-867-0904 ignore prompts and invalid entry warnings; press #0 five times
-
Charles Schwab 800-435-9050 3 then 0
-
Chase 800-CHASE24 5 pause 14*0
-
CitiBank 800-374-9700 1 online support; 2 billpay; 3 non-online; 4 credit card; or 0 to human
-
Discover 800-347-2683 *****
-
E-Trade 800-387-2331 ####
-
Fidelity 800-544-6666 ignore prompt for social security number, just enter ###
-
MasterCard 800-MC-ASSIST 000 on each menu
-
MBNA 800-421-2110 00 when menu starts
-
Paypal 650 864-8000 cf http://paypalsucks.com/PayPalPhoneNumbers.shtml
-
Sovereign Bank 800-SOV-BANK 1 english; 1 personal; 3 then social#;
passcode, #; then 0 (1-3x)
-
Sun Trust Banks 404-588-7815 Yes
-
US Bank 800-US BANKS 000(0)
-
Visa 800-847-2911 000 (ignore prompts saying that itxml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" / 's an invalid entry)
-
Wachovia 800-922-1800 accounts personal banking
-
Washington Mutual 800-756-8000 At any time after the announcement(s) start 'O'.
-
Wells Fargo 800-869-3557 0,0,0
-
Western Union 800-325-6000 0
-
Government phone steps to find a human :
-
INS 800-375-5283 After selecting English, (with a 2 second delay between) 2 6 2 4
-
Social Security 520-364-1241 At prompt 0
-
Veterans Affairs 800-827-1000 1,0
-
Insurance phone steps to find a human :
-
Aetna 800-537-9384 "2, then say ""operator"" (check this)"
-
Aetna 800-680-3566 * then 0 anytime
-
www.aflac.com/">'t know it"" then ""technician"""
-
Verizon Wireless 800-922-0204 #00 or enter phone # then 0 then 4
-
-
Travel phone steps to find a human:
-
American Airlines 800-433-7300 "00, then say ""agent"""
-
Amtrak 800-872-7245 "0 or say ""agent"""
-
Continental 800-523-3273 "Three
-Delta 800-221-1212 0 then say ""operator"""
-
Delta 800-221-1212 "say ""agent"" four times - every time it asks for a response from you"
-
JetBlue 800 JET-BLUE 1 flight status; 2 reservations; 3 vacation packages
-
Kayak.com 203 899-3120 0
-
Northwest 800-225-2525 Star, 0, after initial greeting
-
Southwest 800-435-9792 Calls answered by operator; during busy times you might have to hold
-
United 800-864-8331 Do nothing, wait for human.
-
US Airways 800-428-4322 4, wait, 1
-
Walt Disney World 407-824-4521 Direct line to Magic Kingdom Guest Relations
-
Tv/satellite phone steps to find a human:
-
Comcast 800-266-2278 Customer service, but an IVR wants your number first. -
Direct TV 800-347-3288 0 repeatedly
-
Dish Network 800-333-3474 0 during menu
-
Sirius (888) 537-SIRIUS 0
-
TiVo 877-367-8486 "Say ""Live Agent"""
-
Xm Radio 800-998-7900 Direct to human!

Sharper Image Chimp Head

Sharper Image Chimp Head
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

This is the creepist toy I've ever seen. It's a life-like, moving programable chimp bust. It looks scarily real and will make hooting, and whooping and other monkey noises at you. It even follows your hand and other motions with it's head.

Why would anyone want a realistic monkey head on their desk? And who would pay $150 for it? I would if I had a lot of disposable income and I had lots of brats I'd enjoy scaring the shit out of!

If for some reason, you do want this go to Sharper Image or click the link here.

Sharper Image

Need a discount on an iPod? Just create your own barcode!

This 19 year old kid came up with a new scheme on the old swap the price tag trick. The old way was to simply peel off a price tag from a less expensive item, then stick it on the pricier one you want.

Now we've progressed o printing out our own barcodes and buying the products for whatever price we want! Kid had a great idea, but is definately not a career crook, he's too greedy to make it work right!

read more | digg story

Mr.Miyagi

Mr.Miyagi
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

Although, I feel that I've been very lucky these past few months, I had one less thing to be thankful for this year. Pat Morita, the actor that played the wise martial arts master, Mr. Miyagi from he "Karate Kid" movies has passed away. He was 73 years old. I can't say I'm not a little sad by this news. The Karate Kid movies, especially the first one, had a great impact on me and I'm sure anyone who was growing up in the 80's and had a love for the martial arts. The Karate Kid came out in 1984 and was a surprise hit for that summer. The 80's were such a great time!

Moving along, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I know I did. I ate a ton and gained back all the weight I'd just lost. It's well worth it though!

I actually went out on "Black Friday" too to see what all the hype was about. I remember this day being a mess in the burbs and the main reason for that is the parking. The lots are always full and you're frustrated before you even get to the store. I decided to shop in Manhattan and it was a breeze. My catch prize was a 20 inch Polaroid flat screen TV for $299! That's more then half off what they normally go for and it's perfect to replace the old 27 inch tube tv that had just got ka-blooey in my room. One last note the guy that sells Christmas trees by my house has set up shop again, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's like the return of an old friend!

Xbox 360s Crashing Like Mad?

There appear to be increasing reports of Xbox 360s crashing even with games running on default settings. Could this be an early sign of serious defects or a problem between the gamepad and chair?

So this is apparently the toy to have this holiday season. Maybe they rolled it out too soon? In related news, people actually stood outside BestBuy stores for hours hoping to get one of these babies.

A kid waited on line (some city in the midwest I think) and got allowed in after midnight to purchase an XBox 360. At approximately 12:08 am, on his way out the store he gets beat up and robbed of his brand new XBox. So this poor kid is out an XBox and $450.00. That really sucks. Another store got robbed at gunpoint and the gunman made off with two of these under his arms.

I don't even think it's not impressive. I'll probably wait and see what the PS3 will bring.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Eats lots of turkey and bundle up. It's finally getting cold!

read more | digg story

SUPERMAN RETURNS

It's finally here! Superman Returns! The trailer is already out, and it looks pretty cool. I don't know how they intend to top the original Christopher Reeve one, that one is a classic. It seems there is a new trend to remake existing movies with newer more advanced technology. At least in Batman Begins, it covers the time period before Bruce Wayne became Batman. The original Superman movies already did that. Anyway enjoy!

read more | digg story

Top Ten Movie Robots

Funny article about 10 best movie robots of all time.

read more | digg story

Holiday Sales

Black Friday's still a week away, but you don't have to wait until then to see all the goodies that await you. These websites have done all the work for you, and allow you to peek into the future to see what these stores are going to offer. Some sites you can check out. BF2005.com, Gottadeal.com, and BlackFridayAds.com. Note that there's a disclaimer on all these sites that state the ads may or may not be true, but mostly they are accurate prices from people who sneak out information! Yay for snitches.

Another great deal, MTA is giving everyone a break during the holiday season since there's apparently one huge surplus. I know the monthly pass where you get a total of 41 days for $79 is going to be a great bargain for us. Just keep in mind though that you have to use cash and purchase from a window, not a machine. Bundle up out there, it's back to being November like, with 40 degree weather!

Turkey Day almost here!

We're almost at Thanksgiving and thus the holiday season, and somehow I don't have that "it's being to look a lot like Christmas" feel. Mainly cause it's still 70 degrees out there and people are walking around in t-shirts and sandels instead of Jackets and earmuffs. Radio City Music Hall and the orchestra have entered a contract dispute so if you decide to go to the show, you'll be hearing canned music, not live. If you look around though, I'm sure you'll be able to take advantage of this and find a good discount, I've seen some clubs and groups giving a buy one get one free on tickets. Not a bad gift idea.

I recently returned 2 movies from Netflix, Bewitched and The Interpreter. I guess was in a Nicole Kidman mood. Bewitched was an ok movie, and if you really, really loved the series, then maybe you'll like this movie. I didn't like the series, but I was familiar with it, so I barely didn't hate Bewitched the movie. Will Farrell and Nicole Kidman, have definately both done better. Nicole Kidman wasn't even hot in this movie, so there was no benefit whatsoever. The Interpreter was a little better (mainly cause Nicole's hot again in this movie), the story is slow and there is a lot of dialoge. Not as much action as they'd have you believe (2 gun scenes and a bus explosion). If you live in NY, you'll like seeing NY first and second avenues, the UN and various other locales.

Here's a contribution from our friend Geoff. This is how we're going to be catching perps that run away from us now!


Watch how we apprehend crooks! Click HERE

Free Wifi!

Right now, I'm at the Gotham Coffee house, and I've been relaxing here for hours. Why? Because they have great coffee? Great snacks? Great people? Well, yes on all that, but that's not why I'm here. It's for the free Wifi! In an ever evolving face of city life, coffee shops that offer free wifi have become wildly popular. As I write this there are at least 5 other people browsing the web and surfing by me at any given time. This is the main reason, I'm here rather then at Starbucks (who charge for wifi). This is a great idea, now we need bookstores and other venues that offer this.

It's getting dark by 5pm. It's still taking me a little while to get used to this. I like the feeling of nostalgia it gives me, I dislike having to rush out the door to get even a little bit of sunlight, so you don't feel like you've missed the day. I had to get out early anyway since the laundry downstairs have been so shitty lately. I know, I know, if I did my own laundry, it'd be cheaper and I don't have to worry about it getting to me on time, but I gotta tell you, the conveniance is well worth it. I walk down the stairs (all five flights) drop it off and the next moring it appears on my doorstep. It's like Christmas every week! Lately, though, there's been a new owner and they've been really bad. I drop off my clothes early now and they ask me if I want it for later. I reply yes, today if possible, and please have it delivered. They smile and say sure no problem, have a nice day. The only problem is the clothes never make it back that day, or the next even, and on the third day (today) I have to run down before they close to demand my clothes back! That is very NOT conveniant. So now I'd like to bring my laundry elsewhere as this is the third time in a row they've done this. Only problem is, I don't want to drag my bag of laundry anywhere that's too far. Shit, I hate being so lazy.

Forrest Grossman

Forrest Grossman
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

Wow! How's this for a Halloween costume! Too funny!

Election Day!

You know, it's a pretty good feeling, this voting business. They do make it real easy too, I'm registered right down the block, so there is no reason not to vote. Schools out and even alternate side parking rules are suspened, what a great day. There sure are a lot of names in that voting booth that I've never seen before. I guess that's why being in a party is so important, cause people will just pick a column and vote all the way down. I used to be a Democrat, but not anymore, but I'm sure as hell not giving my vote blindly all the down Republican either. It'd be nice to know what these other politicians stand for, they are just faceless names most of the time. The other times you see their faces all over the city, but don't know what they stand for, so they are voiceless faces... Anyway, go vote.

Halloween

halloween
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

Hope everyone had a great halloween! I was stuck working, so no costume party for me this year. Send me in some pics and I'll add them to my blog. This year seems like a lot of pranks got out of hand.

In the Bronx, a minivan got egged by a bunch of kids, and the owner of the van took exception to that, stopped the van and gave chase to a couple of the kids. They then turned around and shot the guy. The guy later died at Lincoln Hospital. This is all over the news, don't know if it made it up to Westchester. Can you believe it? A guy got killed over an egging incident.

Then somewhere in Long Island a kid gets egged in the face so hard that he may lose sight in his right eye. That really sucks. The way things are going, people are going to over-react and not know what to do, so they will outlaw eggs!

In the Halloween spirit, I watched a horror movie the other night (night after Halloween, since I had to work a 12 hour shift that night). The movie was "The House of Wax" with Paris Hilton and a bunch of other unknowns. That movie was so bad. I give it a 1/2 pumpkin out of 4 pumpkins. There was no t or a in it at all, Paris does a little strip tease, then ends it abruptly. The other hottie girl is just as prudish the entire movie. You see a little bit of Paris's head bobbing up and down in the car as they are driving and that's about it. The story makes no sense and it's about as scary as it's plausible. If you are having a slow netflix week, then maybe you can add it to your list.

Other movie news, Batman Begins, Star Wars Episode III, and Office Space are all out on DVD now. I'd like to buy all of em. I say Star Wars on sale at Best Buy for $14.99! No that's a bargain!