Back at work...

Yesterday was basically my "day off" I got home around 8.15am, ate breakfast, showered and went to sleep. I got up around 3.30pm, drank a Full Throttle and the preceded to mow the lawn. It was hot and I also had to rake the grass off our hill.

I have been in a very reflective mood over the past few days and thinking about old long gone friends that I used to have. I have moved around a lot and made friends around the country. Through the years, I have lost several long time friends.

One friend that I lost I met in High School when I was in 11th grade. He had some issues and left dropped out from his other school He came to our school from another one. As it turned out, we had many things of interest, mainly music and partying and had some common friends. As the years followed, he moved to College Station (A&M) and I went to Nacogdoches (SFA) for college. We stayed in touch and got together when we could on Christmas and Thanksgiving breaks and during the summers.

I moved back home and attended Lamar Institute of Technology and he moved to Galveston to attend UTMB. He got his PHD in Genetic Chemistry and I got a Tech degree for LIT. During this time we both got heavily into drugs and did so for many years going to Houston and visiting a friend and all forms a debauchery ensued for many years. A long a bout 2001, while he was living on the East Coast, I was in Austin, I got clean and sober which was a good thing! He and I continued to talk and chat, share music and stuff like that via the internet. As fate would have it, we ended up living on the East Coast as well and visited a few times. He had become a research scientist for a government agencies and became all mature...

He tried to enforce his morals on me and we had several arguments and did not speak for some time (we are not speaking at the present and have not for over 6 months) He wools call out of the blue, drunk or so it seamed, and want to send me gifts, Very strange behavior. And then want to act like my Dad and enforce his morals again. His behavior became very eradiate and strange while my life had become very "normal" with being married and hopping about the country with my fire and daughter. It appears that all we really ever had in common was drugs and that when that was taken away; there was really no fiber as it were to sustain a friendship. With his erratic behavior we are no longer on speaking terms. He, several months ago, wanted me to come up and visit him and go to his girlfriend’s house. I was very uncomfortable with this idea and did not.

To this day, I do not know how or where he is and I guess that is for the best. Some chapters in your life need to be closed and kept closed. This is one in my life. I now have other friends that I do much more meaningful things with like ride mountain bikes and go to movies with. Life is nice here in Midlothian if only for a fleeting moment...

Time will tell.



What is your opinion?

Work Stuff...

Well, it seams like the whole world is going crazy! People are leaving the job I work like rats on a sinking ship. I work on Nights 2 shift. Nights 1 shift, my old shift, is down to 1 tech, so I and my work partner have to rotate in and out of that shift to keep the coverage where it needs to be. So basically, I get 1 day off this week and that is tomorrow. I have worked since Sunday night and I will come back in on Thursday night and go till Sunday night.

I work a compressed work week and 12.5 hr shifts. My schedule is normally like this. 2 on 3 off. 3 on 2 off. But with shift coverage like it is, I am working more like 3 on 1 off 4 on 1 off. Great money, but it sucks because I like to have a life also.

The only thing that will make it all worthwhile is the fact that next week, I interview for Qimonda for a 300mm Automation position. It will be much better benifits and overall package as opposed to the contractor that I am working for now. We are subbed out to Murata via ColonialWebb and their benifits package suck and they offer no support and have offered no support during the last few months. SO it will be a BIG RELIEF if I get a job with Qimonda.

What really burns my ass up is when a company talks about "customer support" and "Integrity" but it is really a line of crap filled with smoke and mirrors to make you feel like they care, but when it really comes down to it, they worry about the bottom dollar and not the person. I have worked for many contractors and a few I have really liked and they meant what they said. But ColonialWebb talk a wonderful game and look good, but they have fallen down on the job where I work...

What is your opinion?

Brown Recluse Spider- a Must read

I am sure that most have seen or read this email, but with the warmer months ahead and people getting out and working in the yard, i thought that this would be a good reminder for everyone, so be careful!

The Dangerous Brown Recluse Spider is native to the United States from the southern Midwest south to the Gulf of Mexico The native range lies roughly south of a line from southeastern Nebraska through southern Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana to southwestern Ohio. In the southern states, it is native from central Texas to western Georgia. They are generally not found west of the Rocky Mountains

It's summertime & cleanup is going on. Be careful where you put your hands. They like dark spaces & woodpiles; and cool attic areas.

This guy was bitten by a Brown Recluse spider.

Day 3
The following illustrates the progression of a brown recluse spider bite.
The affected skin actually dies on his body and is called Necrosis

Day 5
Some of the pictures towards the end are pretty nasty.
This just shows the progression of what the bite can do to a body part.

Day 6
The Brown Recluse Spider is the most dangerous spider that we have here in the USA. The venom actually seals off the capillaries and produces a dry crusty wound.

Day 9
A person can die from it's bite. However, a small number of bites produce severe dermonecrotic lesions, and, sometimes, severe systemic symptoms, including organ damage. Rarely, the bite may also produce a systemic condition with occasional fatalities. Most fatalities are in children under 7 or those with a weaker than normal immune system.

Day 10
As you can see the skin has continued to die from the bite. The damaged tissue will become gangrenous and eventually slough away. The initial bite frequently cannot be felt and there may be no pain, but over time the wound may grow to as large as 10 inches (25 cm) in extreme cases.

We all should know what the spider looks like. People will be digging around, doing yard work, spring cleaning, and sometimes in their attics. Please be careful. Spider bites are dangerous and can have permanent and highly negative consequences. They like the darkness and tend to live in storage sheds or attics or other areas that might not be frequented by people or light. If you have a need to be in your attic, go up there and turn on a light and leave it on for about 30 minutes before you go in to do any work.

What is your opinion?

Memorial Day...

Well, i got off work this morning at 7.15am and hurried home to meet my friend Mark to go and do a quick ride.  We went to Pocahontas Park and did the Red Trial.  It is a good trial as it has many log piles and several sets of Half Pipes to go in and out of. We got there around 8:15ish and we had a tight schedule as he had to be home to get food started for the cook out this afternoon and i had to get home to sleep!   So basically we did 4 miles in about 30 minutes!!  Not bad for a 7.5 minute mile!! 

 

I got home a slept till 3.00pm and went to his house with my wife and daughter and several other friends and we had a good time eating and talking and visiting on the deck. I am glad that it was earlier as we are having some thunder storms this evening.  Good timing for the party.  I am going riding on Wednesday morning with mike and perhaps Jeff. I have to get my exercise in because of all the hours that i am working.  

I hope that all have a good rest of the evening...
--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++

Naturally occurring asbestos ...

Naturally occurring asbestos has been mapped in approximately 11 square miles of Fairfax County, which includes a part of Fairfax City. Asbestos bearing rock is interspersed in the Green Stone Rock Formations that underlie the surface soils in the Orange Soils Group. Surface exposure of these rock formations are not usually seen.

Here is a pic link to show the exposed substance. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd/asb/images/test005.jpg

Large amounts of tremolite asbestos have also been found in Virginia as well as 18 other states, including a large number of eastern states – with a recognizable band of asbestos running from Alabama to Vermont.

Natural deposits of asbestos can cause considerable problems, especially for homeowners who have unknowingly built their domiciles on ground laden with the material. California is thought to be the state which is most affected. EPA officials found natural asbestos deposits in 50 out of 58 California counties. One of the areas in which asbestos is most prevalent is in the county of El Dorado, where homeowners have literally walked away from million dollar homes due to the presence of large amounts of tremolite asbestos found in the soil.

I saw an article about this on Slashdot and i got interested as i live in Virginia. This interested me as we all know that you need to stay away from asbestos becauses it causes Lung Cancer, malignant mesothelioma to be exact. So how can a home builder decided to use land that has natural asbestos in it and sell houses on that land? One post said that they should make a park out of the land where it will never be exposed to the public. Really? A park, I would not want my kid playing in a park that was built over such a spot. Test conducted by the EPA determined that everyday activity, such as gardening or baseball games, kicked up an inordinate amount of asbestos.“Results show that everyday outdoor work and play in these areas create a personal storm of asbestos-tainted dust”

I am glad that i live in Midlothian...

What is your opinion?

Recovery Posts...

It has been a while since I posted about Recovery and the reason is that i just have not felt like doing it.  May 15 was 4 years Clean and sober for me!  It has been a long tiem since i had a drink or drug and u am the better for it. So i have just been very reflective about a lot of things in my life and i have also had  lots of things going on such as job status and work at home.  So, that si the reason that i have not posted about it for a while...

--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++

Part 6 - Step 11 of my Recovery...

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

This is a very key step in the action part. We all get so busy in your daily lives that we forget to pray about what is going on and if that is what is needed to be what is going on with us. I guess what I am trying to say is that what we are doing; is that what God wants us to be doing. You can get into the whole preordained life or random life thing here-DONT!

In order for this to work, you have to ask God what he needs/wants us to do. I have a problem doing this like most addicts because I want what I want to go on and not what He wants me to do. I try to take back the control in my life and when I do that it most of the time messes up or backfires on me. This is very hard for me to do, but when I do this, it is amazing! When I get out of self and I help other people like I am supposed to it helps me. That is a simple concept, helping you helps me and that is how God wants it. Trying to stay in conscious contact with God is the hard part. We get so busy in our daily grind that we forget to ask is this what I am supposed to do and is it even what you need me to do?

If we just quiet our little voice that we all have and try to listen to God in a meditative moment, we will get the answer. It might not be what we want to hear and often times it is not, but it is what we are supposed to do if you follow the Step to the exact letter. In the Big Book, it says that "Half Steps availed us nothing" which means that we have to do it all or not. DO not halfass make an attempt because it will not work. I try to pray about big things and ask that His will be done; I need to do this in all situations, but I fall short.

If we pray for His power and knowledge to help us in our lives, we are doing Step 11 to the fullest. Do not think that it can be done all the time and completely from the beginning, Rome was not built in a day and it took time for you to get this way. SO try to do as is requested but don’t be too hard on yourself if you do not get it right and you don’t get the answers that you were looking for. They will come when your will come inline with God's Will...


God Bless and have a good Memorial Day.

What is your opinion?

Memorial Day Weekend... Part Dux

It has been a very busy weekend at the Stringer house. I slept till 12.30pm when i got home from my shift yesterday and then the fun began...

We bought paint and proceeded to redo the upstairs bedrooms. We used a Toasted Wheat colored paint. We got it from Home Depot as well as several brushes and rollers. What we learned really quick was that we needed lent free rollers. SO, back to the store we went and bought several lent free rollers. They worked very well, no more lent, but we had to worry about dried latex paint strings getting on the rollers from the paint dish.

We did the little room quickly and then moved on to the big room, it was Chelsea's old room. She moved to the other room upstairs (over the kitchen) We painted the walls and trimmed out around the tape. we decided to leave ti on till today and then we decided to paint the ceiling Ultra Bright White. IT was kind of messy as we will have a lot of trimming to do once again with the Toasted Wheat where it ends and the white begins. We moved around the Air Hockey table to the bigger room and the old set and now all we need to buy is a mattress set and we will be doen with this phase of the house project.

I am off to sleep as i have taken an extra shift on Sunday Night...


What is your opinion?

Indiana Adopts $1000 Speeding Tickets...

I used to live in Indiana, Maryville to be exact, and this state like Massachusetts roads SUCK!!They need the revenue from these gangster prices to help keep their roads repaired. It was and is a continuous cycle of lay new road in summer, road get beat all to hell in Winter from snow plow and then rebuild in the Summer again. The only thing that is different in Indiana is that they do not have a 10 billion dollar sinkhole called The Big Dig.

Indiana Adopts $1000 Speeding TicketsThe Indiana Department of Transportation to collect work zone speeding ticket revenue beginning July 1. Maximum citation increased to $1000.The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will soon be the direct beneficiary of speeding ticket revenue under a bill recently signed by Governor Mitch Daniels (R).

The measure gives INDOT the power to decrease speed limits "without conducting an engineering study and investigation" in highway work zones. INDOT can direct police to enforce this lowered limit, regardless of whether workers are actually present. The law also mandates that no work zone speed limit exceed 45 MPH.As of July 1, INDOT will collect the revenue from these fines which the law also boosts significantly. The first offense runs $300, the second $500 and the third $1000. Anyone contesting the fine in court faces an additional $70 fee if found guilty.

The bill also creates a new work zone category for "aggressive driving" that makes it a misdemeanor to drive 46 MPH in a freeway work zone while flashing headlights and honking the horn at a slow-moving car in the left lane, or any other combination of three maneuvers deemed aggressive. The first offense carries a $5000 fine and up to one year in jail, while a second offense is a felony punishable by up to three years in jail and a $10,000 fine."I would like to thank the governor for his quick action in signing these important bills into law," said the state Senate sponsor of the legislation, Mike Delph (R-Carmel).


What is your opinion?

Beaumont Texas...Circa 1994

I lived in Settler's Cove Apartments in Beaumont Texas in 1993 and 1994. We called it Suckers Cove. It was Beaumont's premier dysfunctional community back then. They were close to Parkdale Mall which was nice.

During my stay there, I was a writer for a Public Press magazine in Beaumont called Image Magazine. I did music reviews for it. A friend named Cliff Lofton ran the mag and he also did promotions at Phaze 2 dance club like Trash Disco, Starz Reunions (which still go on in Beaumont) and various other things around the "Golden Triangle"

It was fun during those times. I was attending the Lamar Institute of Technology for at that time, computer robotics. That later became nothing as I left school, got engaged, and moved to Tempe Arizona. That will be another story for another day. We always went to the club and over to Houston to Numbers Club. I knew the owner and he also owned Record Rack (RIP). His name was Bruce Godwin. I used to purchase massive amounts of music from him at Record Rack back in the day. Needless to say, those were heady times back then running the roads from Houston to Beaumont to Louisiana at any time during the day or night. It is a wonder that I am still alive...

I have come a long way since then. It is nice to revisit old memories, but that is all, never go back down them and learn from them...
What is your opinion?

Boycott The Riaa...

Here are a few SWEET posters that can be ordered from this site: www.cafepress.com

What is your opinion?

Several more Rose pics...

Here are a few more rose pics that i took this afternoon. I have several more that are starting to bloom.








What is your opinion?

RIAA Wants to Hack Your PC

This story was on Wired Magizine several years ago by Declan McCullagh, but i thought that it needed to be retold! This just show the absurdity of their actions!!


WASHINGTON -- Look out, music pirates: The recording industry wants the right to hack into your computer and delete your stolen MP3s.

It's no joke. Lobbyists for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) tried to glue this hacking-authorization amendment onto a mammoth anti-terrorism bill that Congress approved last week.

An RIAA-drafted amendment according to a draft obtained by Wired News would immunize all copyright holders -- including the movie and e-book industry -- for any data losses caused by their hacking efforts or other computer intrusions "that are reasonably intended to impede or prevent" electronic piracy.

In an interview Friday, RIAA lobbyist Mitch Glazier said that his association has abandoned plans to insert that amendment into anti-terrorism bills -- and instead is supporting a revised amendment that takes a more modest approach."It will not be some special exception for copyright owners," Glazier said. "It will be a general fix to bring back current law." Glazier is the RIAA's senior vice president of government relations and a former House aide.


The RIAA's interest in the USA Act, an anti-terrorism bill that the Senate and the House approved last week, grew out of an obscure part of it called section 815. Called the "Deterrence and Prevention of Cyberterrorism" section, it says that anyone who breaks into computers and causes damage "aggregating at least $5,000 in value" in a one-year period would be committing a crime.


If the current version of the USA Act becomes law, the RIAA believes, it could outlaw attempts by copyright holders to break into and disable pirate FTP or websites or peer-to-peer networks. Because the bill covers aggregate damage, it could bar anti-piracy efforts that cause little harm to individual users, but meet the $5,000 threshold when combined. "We might try and block somebody," Glazier said. "If we know someone is operating a server, a pirated music facility, we could try to take measures to try and prevent them from uploading or transmitting pirated documents."


The RIAA believes that this kind of technological "self-help" against online pirates, if done carefully, is legal under current federal law. But the RIAA is worried about the USA Act banning that practice -- and neither the Senate nor the House versions of that bill include the RIAA's suggested changes. Glazier said that the RIAA was no longer lobbying for the language provided to Wired News -- "that's completely out" -- but instead wanted to ensure that current law remains the same. But Glazier said he could not provide a copy of the revised amendment he hopes to include. Legal scholars say that the original amendment the RIAA had been shopping around to members of Congress raises privacy and security concerns.


"It could lead to some really bad outcomes, like a program purposefully intended to delete MP3s that misfunctions and erases everything on a disk -- ooops," says Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "Think a repo man smashing windows and knocking down doors to pull out the 27-inch color TV when you've missed a couple of payments."
Peter Swire, a former top privacy official under President Clinton and now a professor at Ohio State University, says he hopes there would be public debate on any such proposal.


"On its face, this language would allow a deliberate hack attack by a copyright owner against the system of someone who is infringing the copyright," Swire said. The draft amendment is overly broad and poorly-written, says Orin Kerr, a former Justice Department lawyer now at George Washington University. Says Kerr: "It would deny victims their right to sue copyright owners and their agents if they engaged in vigilante justice by hacking or other means in an effort to block online music distribution."


"Another troubling thing is that they appear to be trying to limit their liability for consequential damages," says R. Polk Wagner, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's law school. "What if their efforts caused your hard disk to become fatally corrupted?" An aide on Capitol Hill who had been contacted by the RIAA was even more blunt, dubbing the amendment the "RIAA's License to Virus" proposal.


For its part, the RIAA is still trying to get a copy of its revised amendment -- that it would not provide a copy of -- included in the anti-terrorism bill called the USA Act. "It didn't make it into the Senate bill," says the RIAA's Glazier. "So the great work of the Senate staff to fix this unintentional problem didn't get through. Now we're in the House with the base language that could have these unintended consequences." On Friday, the House voted 339-79 for the USA Act, which eases limits on wiretapping and Internet monitoring. The Senate approved the bill on Thursday.


Because neither the House nor the Senate versions of the USA Act include either variant of the RIAA's amendment, the association's lobbyists will focus on a possible conference committee, which would be appointed to work out differences with the Senate. Another possibility is that the Senate could enact the USA Act when senators return this week, automatically sending the bill to President Bush for his signature.


Bush has asked Congress for the additional surveillance and detention powers as a response to the deadly Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.The text of the original RIAA amendment says that "no action may be brought under this subsection arising out of any impairment of the availability of data, a program, a system or information, resulting from measures taken by an owner of copyright in a work of authorship, or any person authorized by such owner to act on its behalf, that are intended to impede or prevent the infringement of copyright in such work by wire or electronic communication."

It also immunizes from liability actions that "are reasonably intended to impede or prevent the unauthorized transmission" of pirated materials.


What is your opinion?

Server Space...

Well, it looks like that i am going to have server space again for our family website. I have been talking to a person in Houston Texas that is going to let me have some space on his server. We are working on a trade for the space. So, with any luck, i will have a proper TheRmstringers.com up by the weekend.


What is your opinion?

My Roses...

Here are a few pics of roses that i grow in my back yard. These just happen to be blooming...







What is your opinion?

Clif and Lindsey

Picture 060, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS on their Engagement last night. More to come...

My 2 days off...

I needed these days off. I was Totally drained from working the 4 days straight and doing the 2 biking rids. Sunday night i actually fell asleep at work! I never do that. I have several things to do today such as blow off the house with my pressure washer and cut the grass. IT is very high again from all the rain and fertilizer that i put on it during the early spring. I also sprayed some weed killer on it yesterday as well as bug stuff. I do not want crab-grass this year...

I need to go and get some of this work done. we have a big weekend as it is Memorial Day holiday and we are going to finish painting the other two bedrooms upstairs and get all that sorted out for company this summer. And besides, we are tired of the mess!


What is your opinion?

This morning...

Well, I got off work at ~7.15am and then proceeded to go to Powhite Park to ride bikes. Mark and my friend Mike. It was Mike's first time to ride Powhite and only his second time to ride bikes in that type of environment. Our friend Jeff called in and said that he would not be able to make it.

We started slow and went to the top so we could take him down the 1/2pipe. He really enjoyed it and then we went to some other trails and all in all, we rode about 4.5 miles! It was a good time and I found out that he was from Texas and lived in San Antonio and some other interesting facts about him. So, needless to say, we all hit it off very well!

I got home around 10.15am ad took a shower and then went to bed. When I started ridding bikes about 8-9 months ago, I weighed around 185-190 lbs. When I got on the scales Wednesday, I clocked in at 172lbs. It sounds like a Bow-Flex commercial, but I am going to be 36 in 2 months and I will be in perhaps better shape than I have been in many years. I play hard, but I get good benefits from it so I will continue.

What is your opinion?

Former Jasper County Constable Sentenced To Prison

A Jasper County constable that was arrested last year in a drug sting operation in nearby Hardin County has been sentenced to five months in federal prison. The sentence handed down on Wednesday by United States District Judge Thad Heartfield also orders Fred Peters to serve another five months of detention at his home after he is released from prison.

Former Constable of Precinct Six Fred Peters was arrested after allegedly being caught in the act of buying methamphetamines in a sting operation last year. Photo by Michael Love

Peters, 60, of Evadale, who served as constable of Precinct Six in the most south part of Jasper County was arrested in July of last year at a motel in Silsbee, after officers witnessed him buying methamphetamines. The arrest came as the result of an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Agency, Beaumont Police, Silsbee Police and the US Attorney’s Office.

What is your opinion?

Just Very Strange...

I saw this article while i was on FARK. I wanted to post a pic, but it looks like the computers here at work will not allow that at the moment. Here is the link to the pic: http://i12.tinypic.com/6glewkj.jpg

The family of 95-year-old Zhao from Zhanjiang city, China are hoping that doctors will be able to explain the 5 inch horn that is growing out of her forehead. Local media describes the horn as curving down "like the stalk of a pumpkin".

The mysterious growth started three years ago. "At first, it was only a mole, but it gradually grew and became like a horn. It causes me no discomfort, but blocks part of my view," said Zhao.

What is your opinion?

5.20.2007 Powhite Park...

We are gonmna do a morning ride at Powhite Park at 8.00am. Some friends from work and my normal riding group are all going to meet and do a 2 hr ride. I will let you know how it comes out...


What is your opinion?

LastFM, Emmylou Harris and Wachovia CanalWalk

Just a quick note before i start getting ready for work. LastFM is getting some very cool badges for websites and Blogs. I just added 2 new badges to replace the old style ones that i had for a long time.

I have to work all weekend so i hope to be able to put out some posts that are of some substance. Tomorrow is the Wachovia Canal Walk and i will miss it because i have to work and that sucks. We went last year and it was very fun with Food, Drinks and Bands and also for a great cause.

Emmylou Harris comes to canalWALK!!
For more than 30 years, 12-time Grammy Award-winning artist Emmylou Harris has flowed effortlessly between musical genres, achieving popularity in pop, folk, country and alternative styles of music. The common bridge is an exquisite vocal style and a gift for discovering the heart of a song.

What is your opinion?

My Partial List of Bands...

Bands I Have Seen as of 5.9.2007 This list is not complete as of yet…

Billy Ocean, Freedom Jam,
Sting, The B-52s, Maynard Ferguson, Two Tons of Steel
Depeche Mode, Eric Johnson, Rage Against the Machine Tool
The The, Brand New Sin, NIN, Jimmy Dickens
Nitzer Ebb, Book of Love , Lords of Acid, Primal Scream, Twin Hype
Seal, Babes in Toyland, The Guess Who, Vince gill
Primus, Alice in Chains, Dinosaur Jr., Fishbone, Porter Wagoner
The hunger, Arrested Development, Front 242
Bouffant Jellyfish, Saul Williams, Firefall, Billy walker
Spin, Sprawl, Bad Mother Goose, Billy Goat, Robert Earl Keen
Pink Floyd, The Orb, The KLF, Sunflower, Timmy T, Po Dunk
Machines Of Loving Grace , Bamboo Crisis, Stabbing Westward,
7-Mary 3, Candle Box, Pilot, Information Society, SNAP,
TTK, MBM, Ethel Meat Plow
Xymox, EMF, Kicking Herald, Daddy Freddie, Ten Hands
Skinny puppy, Tank Hog, Monster Magnet
Download, Butthole Surfers, Quiet Riot
Twilight Circus Dub Sound System, Jonny Lang
Dink, quicksand, The Offspring, Henry Rollins, BS&T,
KMFDM, Blue Man Group, Type-O-negative, Celtic frost, ,
The Orb, Faith no More, No Use for a name, Charlie Daniels Band


I will add more as I remember them soon as I am waiting for a radio station to get back to me.

What is your opinion?

Bike Ride Today...

Well, i came in from work and i got about 3.5 hours of sleep. Not a lot but i guess that it was enough. Mark and I went to Pocahontas Park and we did several new trails called Lake View and Lake View 2. They go around the lake that is in the park. They were mainly Red and Blue trails, so they were not very hard. We got there at around 1.15pm and we left at 4.oopm. All total we rode about 11.66 miles!! This is our personal record at this time. I hope to go riding on Sunday Morning at Powhite around 7.45am, as I will be getting off work.


I took an extra shift tomorrow night (i was off) but i cannot pass up the Over Time hours. It will make for a long 4 days, but with me trying to get on with Qimonda at this time; it will look good due to my cooperation with what needs to be done.
Well, I am going to sign off for now. I will have some more stuff to talk about over the next few days.


What is your opinion?

The RMStringers.com

Well, our website is back up and running. It is not on dedicated server space like it was before. I went and purchased a FlickR Pro account so I could have unlimited sets and groups as well as no limit of pics. The basic account has just a 200 pic limit and if you are like me, you take a lot of photos.

My domain name has been parked at www.Enom.com for the last few months and I am in a battle with Registerfly as I bought server space for 1 year and then something happened to their company. I have about $20 in credit that I cannot get back from them as well as the 1 year contract for server space. It sucks! And They SUCK!! You cannot get them on the tele or via fax nor email. I xfered my domain to Enom and that is how I decided to get the FlickR Pro account. SO all texts and stuff like that will be on the FlickR page on the picture captions. I will tell about the adventures on the Blog. So if you want to stay up with us, subscribe to the RSS feeds that I offer on my blog.

What is your opinion?

Parachutes...

An airplane was about to crash.There were 5 passengers on board, but only 4 parachutes –

The 1st passenger said, “I am Kobe Bryant, the best NBA basketball player. The Lakers need me, and I can’t afford to die.” So he took the 1st pack and left the plane!

The 2nd passenger, Hillary Clinton said, “I am the wife of a formerU.S. President, a NY State Senator and a potential future president.And I am the smartest woman in American history…..... so America ‘s people don’t want me to die.“She took the 2nd pack and jumped out of the plane!

The 3rd passenger, Ted Kennedy said, “I am a US Senator… the democratic party needs me and my liver still has some good years left.” So he grabbed the pack next to him and jumped.

The 4th passenger, Billy Graham, said to the 5th passenger, a 10 year old schoolgirl, “I am old and frail and don’t have many years left,... and as a Christian I will sacrifice my life and let you have the last parachute.”

The little girl said, “That’s okay. There’s a parachute left for you! America’s smartest woman took my school bag.”


What is your opinion?

Wet Graduation Pic...

It was a very rainy night on May 12. We all got totally soaked trying to get from the parking garage to the chapel.

This is a pic of the duke chapel inside. It is built in the Gothic style of all the European cathedrals.

All of the pics inside were taken without a flash. During the ceremony, they were not allowed.
What is your opinion?

This Weekend...

I have many pics from this weekend and i will be posting them on FlickR. I just moved to a FlickR PRO account and i will be redirecting our personal website to a fickr page tonight. I will post a few pics to the blog as well.

It was wonderful seeing my whole family this weekend. We saw my brother graduate from Duke Divinity School with a Masters degree and and he is leaving for Texas tomorrow. The weather was a mess!! We were under a flash flood watch all yesterday evening and we got soaked running to the Duke Chapel. We got up and went to church where he used to preach. It was a very good time and it was nice to visit my family.

More Later with Pic goodness.


What is your opinion?

Graduation!!!

We are off to Durham North Carolina to meet my Dad and Sister and Stepmother to see my Brother (Clifton) graduate from Duke University Seminary. He is going to be posted to a church in Austin Texas as a Youth minister. I am very proud of him and I will miss him dearly. We will stay the night in Durham and go to church on Sunday with the Family and then make our way back to Midlothian…

 

Have a good weekend!! I will post with pics when I get back.

 

Thanks,

RMStringer

+++++++++++++++++++++++

"We are all geniuses when we dream"

- E.M. Cioran

Body Mods...My Thoughts.

Hey folks, don’t get me wrong, I am all for someone expressing themselves. I have a tat and I had my ears pierced for nearly 20 years. All my stuff is covered up and I don’t ware earrings anymore (not by my choice, by my wife's) At some point all these people will have to become productive members of society and how the hell can they do that when they have enough metal in their head to set of metal detectors at the nearest airports or stick to an electromagnet??

What do they expect to do?? We don’t need 1,000,000 tattoo artists in the world. How can they go to a normal workplace and get a job as a doctor or lawyer looking like a scrap metal yard. When I was younger I thought that it would be "cool" to be a "freak" and now that I am older, I am glad that I NEVER went through with it. Some of these people are like a counter-culture to the counter-culture. They go to the FAR EXTREAM!!! Who or What are the rebelling aginst??

You tell me and we will both know...

What is your opinion?

More Body Mods..FREAKS!

Well here is another installment of my Body Modifications...

Why and What do these mods do??

Enjoy!! :-) LOL!!

What is your opinion?

Funny Spoofs...

All of you know that i am not a big I-Products person. Tonight i found a few more funny Apple spoofs as well as some other funny stuff. I hope that you like them...

What is your opinion?

My Truck Fixed...YEAH!!

So i got a call today telling me that my truck was all ready for me to pick up. I was like WOW, already? So i went to get it today at around 3pm. They did a super job and it even came with a warrenty. It really did not look like much damage was done to my truck, but i am really happy that i got it fixed.



Here is the place that did the work.


"A" Autobody
10305 Hull Street Road
Midlothian, VA. 23112
Phone: (804) 674-1173
Fax: (804) 674-4909



So if you live in Richmond and need body work done, give them a call. I was really impressed.


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Step 8 and 9 and 10...Part 5 in the series.

Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Well, here it comes. I had to make a list of all the people that I had harmed and had to make nice with them. You mean to tell me that I have to go and apologize to them?? Yes I do and I did. This was a hard step to do as well. I had to humble myself to another person and admit that I was wrong and sorry for what I had done. But wait What if I was not willing to go and talk to them or to tell them I was sorry? What if they had moved on and lost touch? What if they were dead? What if they were alive and they did not know that I did something to harm them? That is where Step 9 comes in; Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Step 8 was part of it, but Step 9 was an action step. So say that you were dating a person and you cheated on them but they did not know about it. According to Step 8, you need to make amends to them. Step 9 says to do it, but not to harm or injure them. So would telling your girlfriend that you cheated harm her? Yes it would. So this is where a “Living Amends” comes in. The amends process in this instance was for you to not do the action anymore, to not cheat on her and thus, you make amends for the offending action.If someone had moved on or died, it would be impossible to talk to them, so you can write a letter, read it, and then destroy it. You have to make every possible means to contact that person, but this is a way of doing it.

One person that I held resentment to was a very close friend. I went to talk to this person and their reaction was very indifferent to me. Some people will not want to talk to you about what you did or they did, but you will have made the effort and that is the main objective. Some people will be glad that you wanted to talk to them and will be very receptive about the issue. But the main thing is that you will have made the effort on your part. Remember you can’t control other people’s actions, only your own with the help of God.

This process does not have a time limit set for it. It can take some time to complete, but it needs to be done to get all the mess that you have created in your life cleaned out. You have heard of Spring Cleaning? Just think of this like that. You are getting out all of the old BS that has built up over a period of time that has been eating at your soul. When you get some of this off your chest, you will feel so much better, I sure did.

After having done this step, you will move on to Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. You will have to become a more analytical person about your actions and become aware of how you interact with other people. If you come across like an asshole to a person, look at why that happened and then go to them and apologize for that act. I had to the other night at work. I offended a lady and she made mention to a coworker about it. I had to suck it up and go and talk to her and make amends or apologize for it. She was like thank you. So, it works.

I am going to stop here. I am not ready to discuss the next step with you as it is a very hard one to do and these last 2 steps are a mouthful to comprehend and work on. God Bless and have a wonderful evening or day depending where you live…



What is your opinion?

Type-O-Negative Set List Pic

kris type o 093, originally uploaded by marius032.

Thankx for anakin032 that attended this show for granting me access to his pics. Here is the set list that was played!!!

My Truck

I put my Tacoma in the shop today to get fixed. If you remember, i got hit last week going to work. They gave me a "rent-a-car" loner to use. IT is a 2007 Ford F-150 Extended cab 4x4. It is not your usual rental. I guess they thought that i needed a truck, not really sure. i hope to have mine back by Friday.

This weekend we are going to Durham to see my Brother graduate. My Dad, Sister, Step-Mother are all flying in for the event. Due to my new work schedule, i will be able to stay Saturday night!!! It will be good to see all of them.

I am a bit jealous of my brother as he will be moving back to Austin in June. I will miss visiting with him and doing stuff as we were never able to do things like that when we were younger. On the same side, i am very happy for him to be able to go back to Austin and be a Youth Minister there. His girlfriend will also be going back to Texas...

Well, i ma out for the night. More over the next to nights as i have work.


What is your opinion?

Antivirus Software I Use is NOD32

How do you determine whether antivirus software works? The main purpose of antivirus software is to identify and block viruses and trojans that are circulating in the wild. It doesn't matter which virus software can recognize "the most" viruses, or whether it detects all viruses in a test collection consisting mostly of non-functional viruses, viruses that haven't been in circulation for years, or artifical viruses that were created solely for testing purposes. Neither does it matter how many copies the software has sold or how many companies are relying on its protection. Antivirus software only works if it can deal with real-life viruses that make their way into your inbox, your browser, or your network right now.


Virus Bulletin magazine is a technical journal on developments in the field of computer viruses and anti-virus products. VB test antivirus software on a monthly basis and awards products that that detect all "In the Wild" viruses during both on-demand and on-access scanning in certain Virus Bulletin tests with its VB100% award. More details on what this award is all about can be found at http://www.virusbtn.com/100/whatis.html


The WildList - http://www.virusbtn.com/WildLists/ - that is used to test the antivirus programs is a cumulative list of viruses that are active and in circulation as reported by 64 virus information professionals, therefore representing a real-world environment of virus threats that any antivirus program should be able to deal with effortlessly.


What's really interesting are the comparative results of the VB 100 tests as you can see at http://www.virusbtn.com/100/vb100sum.html. This statistic shows how many times an antivirus program was submitted for testing, how many times it succeeded to detect all "In the Wild" viruses during both on-demand and on-access scanning, and how many times it failed. To make the results easier to interpret, I created a small table with each program's stats, and calculated the success ratio of each software by figuring out the percentage of how much the program succeeded out of all the times it was tested. Check out the results:

It's interesting to see that not a single program was able to take care of all viruses any time it was tested. But the scary part is to see the success ratios of the programs tested. NOD32 stands out with a success ratio of 93%, failing only once in the 16 times it was tested, making it by far the most reliable antivirus software in this round-up. Other known software like PC-Cillin, AVG, Panda, McAfee, and InnoculateIT look pretty pathetic in comparison.
Of course this is only one possible test scenario of many, and it is not the ultimate test, but it is a very good and realistic representation and gives a good indication of antivirus software capabilities.

As far as virus detection is concerned, NOD32 so far has worked very well for me. All 3 components did reliably and consistently identify and block known viruses such as Sircam, Anset, and Badtrans, as well as the Eicar test virus that came in via Outlook 2000, were saved on my hard drive, or were attempted to be downloaded.

What is your opinion?

Concerts i Have Seen...

I am working on a list of shows that i have seen in my life time. I will post them soon.


What is your opinion?

Type-O Show...

The opening band was called Brand New Sin. They were good and i purchased their Cd set, 3 for $10!!! Not bad. They were very heavy, but listenable. The next band was called Celtic Frost.

They were the HEAVIEST BAND THAT I HAVE EVERY HEARD!!! It sounded like they never finished a song or started another one!! Drudge and more drudge followed by lyrics that you could not understand followed by more drudge!! Funny enough, some of the boys from Type-O came onstage and sang a few lyrics with them.

Around 10:12, the stage was clear and "Its A Small World" started playing??? Then it went black and the boys came out playing a cover of The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour in Type-o style of course. Followed by These Three Things, The profits of Doom, Hey Pete, Christian Woman, Love you to death, and a new Track called Anguish. Peter drank his Merlot during the show and there was the proverbial "mosh pit" as with most of these shows. Peter's vocals were on just like the album, but i have to agree with the article, his appearance has diminished with the abuse to his body with drugs and alcohol. The one 6'5'' steel used to be in superb shape, he now look like a middle aged man letting his body go.

The finished the show with Black #1 with the other members of the opening acts coming on stage and singing the chorus with Type-O. The show let out at around 12.00 midnight. I was back home around 3am this morning. Very happy that i saw them, but a little more deaf!! What did u say? i cant hear you...

The mix of the music was very strange to me, much like their new album. The drums on the album were very thin and wispy, in concert they were very overbearing and almost too loud. Because of this, they sometimes drowned out Seel's vocals He spoke to the crowd several times and the chant "You Suck" was shouted several times during the show. They had very strange intermissions during the set and would walk off stage and then come back on. To me, it looked Steel was on Coke as i would see him snort throughout the entire as like in trying to clear the drainage from the back of his nose from the coke drainage. He admitted in the article i posted about 2 weeks ago that he has had a cocaine problem. He might still have it, or his allergies were just acting up...

I am glad to finally go and see them in concert and especially glad that it was with my brother.


What is your opinion?

More Bike stuff.

I bought some more stuff for my bike. I got some nice gloves and a Lizard skin for my bike as well.
The Lizard Skin Chain Stay Protector is made from durable SuperTex Fabric! Wraps around your chainstay to protect from nicks and chips. Does not interfere with cable routing.

The Lizard Skin Chain Stay Protector is easy to install. This keeps the chain from hitting the frame and putting dings and scratches in it.


The Gloves are from Pearl Izumi.
Gel-Lite Race Glove

•Direct-Vent construction for superior palm ventilation

•U-Bridge pad placement protects the ulnar nerve while bridging the median nerve

•Shock absorbing Gel-Lite inserts eliminate road vibration

•Sublimated nylon/spandex back fabric provides great stretch and moisture transfer

•Silicone screened palm for a performance grip

•Direct inject graphics that won’t wear off over time

•Reflective piping for added visibility

•Content: Palm: 90% Polyurethane/10% GelBack: 80% Nylon/20% Spandex, Wiping Surface: 100% Polyester


Use simple detergents with no additives:Never use detergents with fabric softeners, perfumes or any additive type product. The general rule of thumb is the simpler the better. Many detergents with additives leave "surfactants" behind on a fabric's fibers that inhibit the technical performance. Typically the best detergents to use will have "Clear" or "Free" in their names. Don't pour the detergent directly onto the clothing, put it in the washer first, when you start the water. If something is not functionally working, but is not dirty, try rinsing it twice in warm to hot water. This will help get rid of the harmful surfactants. Read the care content label:On the inside of your garment, or on the hangcard, there are instructions for the care of that individual piece. On garments this will be on a side seam or back seam label. Follow those directions. On finer fabrics, use a "Gentle" cycle. Close all zippers, attach "hook and loop" closures on gloves You can use the dryer, carefully: If you use a dryer be sure to use a lower/ warm heat setting (Do NOT use a commercial dryer or a "Hot" setting). This will often restore the fabric and help the water and wind repellent qualities. If in doubt, hang the clothing to dry.



I would like to get me a set of the Lizard Skin Fork Boots. They help Keep Trail Grit and Moisture Out of Your Forks with Lizard Skin Fork Boots. Unlike Thin Stock Rubber Boots, Lizard Skins Won't Ride Up or Rip. The Lizard Skin Fork Boots are One Size Fits All.




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Type-O-Negative...

THIS TIME TOMORROW...Baltimore MD, CLUB SONAR!! 7:00pm!!! CONCERT!!!!

What is your opinion?