OK so a lot has changed. Been through some shit. Going through some shit. Shit-eating grin is still intact and I am a happy camper right now. Life is pretty damned good, all things considered. Job is still there. Car is still there. Friends are still spectacular. Things are not what I want but they're pointed that direction.
So what's up, kids?
Seriously? SERIOUSLY??
Let's have a look at the WTF is wrong with this country list today...
Part 1. Mortgage Cramdown Bill or...
"Using taxpayer dollars to make sure you don't have to learn from your mistakes."
Synopsis- This bill (already past the house) would allow judges to force banks to reduce interest rates, extend loan terms, or even reduce principle on a loan. Yes. That last part is accurate. A judge can force a bank to say "This loan was for 300 thousand dollars. Now it's only for 235." WTF?? Who is paying for this shit? We are. That's who. Those of us who live within our means, borrow carefully if at all and make sure our shit is taken care of. We get to foot the bill for the sorry bastards who couldn't do it.
Part 2: General Motors imploding.
GM burning through money faster than your mom goes through a dime bag.
GM is losing money faster than most companies can make it. Their losses (Revenue - Cost) are higher than most companies' revenue. But they are still paying employees who aren't working, still building cars that will never sell, still paying their execs more money in a year than most of us will see in our lives. They still insist on competing with themselves rather than streamlining their business to operate in the modern world. Brand loyalty is going the way of fax machines and dinosaurs- you can't build a business on such outdated principles and if you're too big to adapt, it's time to die and let the more nimble companies take the market. I bought a car this year- first new car I've ever owned. I drove cars from Ford, GM, Toyota and Nissan. I weighed different qualities and determined which car was best. I then paid a large sum of money to Toyota because the other companies didn't make a product I wanted. Now my tax dollars are going to GM anyway. So because GM can't build a car I want, I bought a Toyota but am STILL PAYING GM. FUCK!
Microsoft is opening retail stores. That's pretty fucked up to begin with- what does a company with exactly three pieces of hardware need a retail store for anyway? But it's not fucked enough. Turns out they're hiring a 25-year veteran of... WAL-MART.
Seriously. Wal-mart + Microsoft = clear sign that we're doomed.
or in other words...
"It's like Satan had anal sex with Pandora then wiped his dick all over the faces of the American consumers"
They appear to be incredibly stupid.
Here's the backstory. My wife is employed by a high school. As such, we occasionally end up as chaperons at school dances. One such occasion was this past weekend. Early in the evening, I counted 23 high school girls on the dance floor. AND ZERO GUYS. These girls weren't the weirdos or the scary girls either. They seemed perfectly normal, good looking, weren't dancing like they were having a seizure... They were normal. Twenty-three of them. And twenty feet away were guys trying to look cool. Failing, but trying at least. WTF
When I was in high school, I was a bit shy but I was NEVER that shy. never ever ever. I'd rather be the only guy out there, dancing like an idiot but surrounded by womenfolk than standing off to the side trying to look uninterested. Looking uninterested in attractive members of the opposite sex who are your age, scantily clad and hopped up on hormones is not cool. It's homosexual. That means you like members of YOUR sex and are afraid to admit it. Note- I've nothing against the interest in your own sex thing but if that's the case, go dance with the guys. All I'm saying is you can't stand off to the side, act like you're not interested, and not have somebody assume that you really ARE uninterested.
blah.
Oh yeah.
Who's yer daddy?
Yams is currently training for a Carrier. I believe that by the end of February, he'll be rockin' the Chimera and skilled to fly the phoenix as well. Woot Woot.
Here's the thing. I recently joined a corp consisting mostly of noobs. It's a lot of fun to be teaching them useful stuff and to see where their brains end up going with it- one guy uses a passive shield-tanked Megathron. wtf? There are some great advantages to this because I'm not playing a LOT lately, I don't have to and I can still hold up my end of the bargain of helping out. The downside is, I'm getting into some leet gear and I can't use some of it. Ferinstance- I have a Widow now and nobody to cyno me anywhere. I think I'll have similar trouble with my carrier but we'll see. They're progressing quickly.
Anyway- I'm building the carrier myself and at SOME point, I need to learn to actually make money. Thing is, I'm terrible at it. I've never been good at making money in Eve and never really done much outside of 0.0 with my old alliance that was terribly lucrative. There are people out there making billions and I'm friggin lost on it. Apparently I need to get into invention and start building/selling T2 gear or something... boo to that, I say. Boo.
So that's it for Eve for now.