The true measure of how a man is how...

The true measure of how a man is how..., originally uploaded by -SPK.

...he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

-Samuel Johnson

Exxon-Mobile: I hate you

"Daggle, who has been an Exxon dealer for two decades after working his way up from pumping gas, said he has done well. But he still cannot fathom how the oil company can charge him different wholesale gasoline prices for each of the five Northern Virginia stations he owns. The stations all sell the same Exxon-branded gasoline, delivered from the same terminal in Newington, where it arrives via the same pipeline. Sometimes, Daggle said, it's even dropped off by the same truck and driver hours apart on the same day.

The only thing that's different is the price, which can vary by 35 cents per gallon, Daggle said. "If I could have driven a truck to Gainesville and drive the gas from there to Shirlington, I could have made 50 cents a gallon."

Complete and disgusting story of greed here.

Calculator with a virtual tape!

If there's one thing I love it's FREE stuff that just works.

Here is a free calculator from Moffsoft better than your windows calculator and probably better than the RadioShack 1067a in your desk drawer. Why? It has a virtual running tape on it.

I can't tell you how many times I have added, then re-added figures. No more, Joe, no more!

Double Rainbow

Living in PA, it's pretty uncommon to see a real live rainbow - let alone a double. While on the way to the Cole Brother's Circus in Tannersville, Becky noticed this scene appearing from the storm clouds.

It was sunny in the west and the storm moved quickly to the east and produced this brilliant sight! We were lucky to see it.

Early adapter series: PhoneTag

The techies of the world have a word for people like me: Early Adapter. While I wasn't the first to use the wheel or the cotton gin, I am generally the first (among people I know in real life) to adapt to a new technology.

A few examples are: This blog (been here since May 2004 with 800+ posts), using a Treo, GMail, LogMeIn, Jott, Picasa, Google Reader. To most of the tech world, these are not earth shatteringly wild advances, rather the way of the geek: adopt early, adopt often.

Today, I'd like to share with you a new service I've been using daily for about 2 months and am really enjoying: PhoneTag™.

Here's a video of it in action:



I get a decent amount of voice mail probably because I was in a meeting with a client or co-worker or just in a place that I couldn't talk. When I check the email on my Treo, all of the voice mails left for me are waiting there and were transcribed (well mostly "Gown a melt?") into text with the audio attached so I can listen to it, read it or both. The same message is also stored on my Outlook, GMail, and on the PhoneTag™ website. (If you don't have a Treo/Blackberry type phone, PhoneTag™ can SMS those transcriptions to you instead)

Did you notice it read: PhoneTag from Becky Kaine in the video? I can upload my contacts to the site and when one of them leaves me a message, the email notifying me of their message will come from THEM so I can just reply to the message like it was an email. Cool, huh?

Have you ever archived a voice mail that needed action only to listen to it 2 weeks later and scream: SHIIIIIIT!? OK, just me then. Well, because a copy of the message goes to my inbox, it remains there as a reminder to act on the task.

The price plans are pretty reasonable, and since I love the service I'm more than happy to shell out the $9.95 a month (plus .25 each additional message beyond 40 a month).

Oh, if you decide to sign up - you'll get a week for free to try it and I'll get a month for free! Thanks in advance :0-)

Let me know what you think in the comments, I love what you have to say, well.... type.

Cole Brothers Circus @ Camelback Mountain

To see all the circus fun, go here.

Google is Googling my blog?

Google is Googling my blog?, originally uploaded by -SPK.

What could it mean, man?

Ahh, golf with the boys

I've been playing golf since I graduated high school back the summer of '69. (OK, it was '92.) I was working for the Watchung Police Department as a police aide (dispatcher), and the folks at Twin Brooks Country Club would let the police department employees play on Monday when it was closed to members.

Now, I sucked. It didn't matter, I just kept on going out there a playing and playing and playing. After a while I sucked less and became the golfer that I am today: Totally below average. Lately, I have been playing more consistently and starting to improve and as with most things I do, I am totally and utterly addicted. This year I have broken 100 three of the four times my feet hit the course.

My Canon PowerShot SD870 IS takes awesome video(as long I don't zoom), so I've been playing around more and more with it. Below is a video of a recent outing with some friends, it was created using the Vista built-in Windows Movie Maker.

Wow. Really wow.

AghrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

We went to this park by my mother and sister's house and my brother Joey decided to see how far he could jump standing long jump style.

Needless to say - hilarity ensued.

See the whole Jump! set here.

Kaitlyn's 3rd Birthday

Clickjack on over to Flickr to see all the fun.

bicycle elevator

Check this out:

http://www.fresh99.com/bicycle-lift.htm

Clinton and McCain think you are SHEEP! Pay close attention to who you vote for! Don't be SHEEPLE!!

The Gas Tax Holiday won't work period. Want to know why Obama knows? Because he voted for the gas tax holiday happen in Illinois. Wait, if he did it there - he must be a flip flopper if he doesn't want it now? Not exactly. He did something our government hasn't done in a long time: Obama learned from his mistake. It WON'T WORK.

From ABC news:

“There’s not an expert out there that believes that this is going to work. There’s not an editorial out there that has said this is actually the answer to high gas prices,” Obama said of the gas tax holiday plan. “In fact, my understanding is, today, Sen. Clinton had to send out a surrogate to speak on behalf of this plan, and all she could find was, get this, a lobbyist for Shell Oil to explain how this is going to be good for consumers. It’s a shell game, literally.”

Obama was referencing Steve Elmendorf, a Clinton supporter, who told CNN that Clinton’s gas tax holiday plan was a good proposal. Elmendorf is also a lobbyist from Shell Oil.

“We can’t afford to settle for a Washington where our energy policy, and our health care policy, and our tax policy is sold to the highest-bidding lobbyist,” Obama said, and criticized Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., for a plan that he said would do nothing to solve the gas price problem. “This is what passes for leadership in Washington -- phony ideas, calculated to win elections instead of actually solving problems.”

Florida Trip

Went on a little 4 day trip to visit my brother Scott. He's been in Florida for 2+ years and haven't really even talked to him much.

One great thing about me and Scottie is that we pick up where we left off - like it was yesterday we hung out. I remember when he went into the Navy - we didn't even talk for 2 years and I called him up - this is an exact transcript of the conversation:

me: Scottie!

S: Hey, Pappy!

me: I'm coming to visit you.

S: OK

me: I'll be there on the 16th

S: OK

me: I'll stay a week

S: OK

me: bye

S: bye

The conversation for Florida wasn't much different.

I'll tell you this, we did a great job of packing each day full, here are a few pictures of it - for the whole album clickjack on over to flickr to see them all.

The Empire Strikes BARACK