It was an up and down kind of day.

A woman came into the office and I told her to fill out a form and show me an ID when she was through. She brought her nearly completed form back up and just flashed her driver’s license at me. The parents names were blank. To see if that might be a problem I took a quick look at her online record. Both parents were listed, and had been entered several times. She should know them. I told her she still needed to enter her parents’ names and show me her ID when she was through.
She protested- she said her mother was deceased so we shouldn’t need it. I told her we just need the names as identifying information. She entered her father’s name, and left her mother’s blank. Since I could get by without it I decided to be nice and let it ride. Then I told her I still needed to see her ID. She got in my face and complained that she shouldn’t have to get it out AGAIN. If I wanted to see it again, why didn’t I tell her?
At times like that it’s really hard to stay civil. I do, because I don’t have a choice. But it would be so good to really unload on the idiots and ask them, “What’s your problem, you think I’m going to call your parents and thell them they raised a brat? Why would I do that? Don’t I look busy enough? You could get out of here in half the time if you’d just do what I told you, and I did tell you. I’m paid to know this stuff, I wouldn’t ask unless it was needed. Now fill it out, hand it over, shut up, and get out.”
That was the particularly down part.

I needed a little change of pace so for break I logged onto the web. There it was- a search warrant was served on Michael Jackson. Gee, a pedophile who keeps … pedophiling. Surprise, surprise, surprise. Gomer Pyle could have seen it coming.
Is this case a sign that Schwarzenegger is going to be the law and order Governator? If so, he isn’t wasting any time.
If the rumors are true, and Jackson doesn’t have the cash reserves he used to, he may not be able to buy his way out of this one. He may yet find out if he can moonwalk in a prison shower. I’m not sure what that means. But this is about the time my little sister starts shouting, “No visuals, NO VISUALS!”
They can string up Michael by his bleached balls for all I care. Another bad visual, sorry.
He’s a menace to kids. I don’t know how the law works in this kind of thing, but I’m amazed no one at the DA’s office has told him, “You’re going to stop having little boys over, and if you ever step out of line we will throw you behind bars for a long time and you’ll learn to answer to “Hey, bitch.” Sometimes, they just need a little heart-to-heart.

A jury found Muhammad, the DC sniper, guilty. The guy is the poster monster for the death penalty. Even if they do sentence him to death the appeals will drag on for years. Judgment will ultimately be executed by an inmate with a shiv.
It’s probably hoping for too much that Muhammad will turn out to be a faithful black Muslim just trying to do the will of Farrakhan. Kill the white man in the name of Allah! Kill the Jews! Allahu Akhbar!

When I got home this evening I was informed by the Superwife we needed to go to Best Buy. They have some deal going on with an extra rebate if you buy Lord of the Rings and the new Sinbad movie at the same time. With all the manliness I could muster I said, “yes dear.”
As we were walking from the car to the store the Trainboy saw a VW Beetle. He shouted HugBug! Apparently feeling very generous, he gave everybody a hug. Gotta love him.
Superwife browsed movies, the kids browsed video games, I headed for the computer section. Lo and behold they’ve got a 120 gig hard drive that after rebate is only $80.00. That’s a lot of hard drive for the money.
This computer has been giving me fits again. The sound card isn’t working properly. The only sound I can get is off the CD drive, and the only way to adjust the volume is by going into the Windows device manager and changing it in there. None of the media players will produce sound. I’ve tried reinstalling sound card and CD drivers- no change.
So I’m hoping I can put in the new hard drive, install the programs like new again, and see where the problem comes in. If I had to guess, and I don’t, I’d guess the problem is due to one of Window’s updates. But I don’t really know.
One way or another a fix has to be done. Trainboy has been trying to play his games on the computer and since they don’t produce the necessary sounds he’s becoming quite frustrated.
As you can see, I didn’t buy a huge new hard drive for me. No, I bought it to make Trainboy happy. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. My joy is completely secondary, but it is mine.

When we got home I changed and went to work on the car. The thermostat had failed so the car was overheating. Fortunately Dodge did a nice thing and put it on top of the engine and right in front. It's hard to imagine them making it any easier.
Thermostats normally fail closed. That's how you know they've failed- the water can't circulate, the engine overheats, and the idiot light declares you an idiot.
I paid a couple bucks more and got one that fails open. The downside to that is that some day when it fails it will suddenly take a couple more minutes for the engine to warm up. The upside will be that I won't have to worry about being stranded with the kids in the middle of nowhere. That's worth a couple bucks to me.
So I installed the thermostat after we got home. It was dark, of course. I changed it by the light of the flashlight the Superwife held for me. It always impresses me how quick she is to help. I didn't ask her to. She just volunteered. The Supermom is a wonderful example to her kids, and to me.

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