The Death of Windows XP :-(

Well, we all knew that this was going to happen. Microsoft announced that as of January 31, 2008 No more copies of Windows Xp Pro or Home edition will be sold in any store.

According to an article that I read:

"Microsoft has confirmed that from 31 January 2008 large PC makers, such as Dell, HP and Toshiba, will no longer be able to buy licenses for the software so they can install it on new machines.

However, a poll released in early April suggests that Vista has yet to win over significant numbers of potential customers. The study of 2,223 web-using Americans found that although 87% had heard of the operating system only 12% of those who knew of it were planning to install it.

Microsoft is keen for consumers to start using Vista While the survey did find that some people waited for Vista before buying a PC, 60% said its appearance had no effect on their spending plans. It also found that 79% of those questioned were using Windows XP on their home PC."

According the article, Microsoft will support XP for several years longer. This comes as no surprise to me. Microsoft is trying to force the consumer and Industry to migrate to the new Vista Operating system. The main problem is that many will not want to have to upgrade their hardware to meet Vista’s minimum requirements that are much higher that those of Xp’s.


To compare the system requirements:

XP Professional:
PC with 300 megahertz or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233 MHz minimum required (single or dual processor system);* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended
128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)
1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available hard disk space*
Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution video adapter and monitor
CD-ROM or DVD drive
Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device




Vista Requirements:
Home Premium / Business / Ultimate
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 GB of system memory
40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
WDDM Driver
128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
32 bits per pixel
DVD-ROM drive
Audio Output
Internet access (fees may apply)
Additional Requirements
Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor can help you determine which features and edition of Windows Vista will run on your computer.
While all editions of Windows Vista can support multiple core CPUs, only Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise can support dual processors.
Home Premium / Ultimate
TV tuner card required for TV functionality (compatible remote control optional).
Home Premium / Business / Ultimate
Windows Tablet and Touch Technology requires a Tablet PC or a touch screen.
Ultimate
Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption requires a USB Flash Drive and a system with a TPM 1.2 chip.

As you can see, it takes much more of a base computer to run the Vista package as compared to the XP Pro computer.



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Very busy day...

It has been another very busy day in the Fab. I hope to be able to post soem times this weekend about Step 3 in my 12-Step series that i am doing. I have had a good 2 days off, but that all ended today at work. All i can say is that it is very crazy here. This is the first time today that i have been able to relax, other than lunch.

Well, i gotta go for now.

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Type-O-Negative in Concert!!!!

My brother and I are going to see Type-O in CONCERT!!!

The Venu is Sonar, 7:00pm

407 E. Saratoga Street

Baltimore 21202

United States

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DC and Music...

I will have some new pics to post tomorrow our DC trip tomorrow. I will post all the pics on my FlikR page as well.

I am going to do a series on Hooverphonic and their music this week.

Our website is still down at the moment. i have ran into a problem with the hosting company and their customer service line is never answered! So i do not know if i will have the site up any time soon.

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Our Cat...Sugar Ghost

Here is pic of our cat. She has been with us since we lived in Colorado. She is de-clawed and safe for home use!!! She would try to sneak out and sit in the snow in Colorado and Massachusetts... Very strange and i bath her about every month. She does not seem to mind. She has a big attitude for a little house cat!!

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Days?...

WE are going to DC tomorrow to go and tour The White House and then The Capital. IT should be a very good tour for us to see. The weather is very nice today. I hate to be in the Fab today. I stepped outside and was like WOW, it felt very good. It is amazing how nice it is after we had snow on Saturday morning. It has been a very busy morning here at work…

Last night my right knee was hurting very bad. I hurt it about 20 years ago in a snow skiing accident I had in Winter Park Colorado. I tore my knee up, but I never had it fixed. So from time to time it acts up and hurts me. It started hurting when I got home from work and got worse thru the evening. Around 10pm, I have to put a rap on it and I slept with it on all night. It is a little tinder today. I only got about 4 hours of sleep due to this and the change over to days. It sucks. I am tired today.


DAYS ARE CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Day Shift...

I am back on day shift. I am not really happy about, but there is nothing that i can do about it at the moment. Perhaps that will change in the future. Also, our website is down at the moment. I am having to deal with getting it xfered to another hosting service and it is a pain in the but to get it done. I hope to have it back up and running by the weekend...

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Type-O-Negative – Dead Again: Another Look at the Album.

1. Dead Again

2. Tripping A Blind Man

3. The Profits Of Doom

4. September Sun

5. Halloween in Heaven

6. These Three Things

7. She Burned Me Down

8. Some Stupid Tomorrow

9. An Ode To Locksmiths

10. Hail And Farewell To Britain

• Peter Steele – Lead vocals, bass guitar, guitar, and keyboards
  
• Josh Silver – Keyboards, synth, effects, programming, backing vocals
  
• Kenny Hickey – Lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals
  
• Johnny Kelly – Drums, percussion, backing vocals
  

Upon listening to the album for a while now, I have to say that the best tracks are not the one that is going to be a single. Where as it is good, clocking in at 10:47, it is in my opinion, not the highlight. The 2 tracks that strike me as the top tracks are September Sun (9:47) and Halloween in Heaven (4:50). The production on this album is very clean and crisp as always with plenty of Steel's 4 string bass and Silvers keys. Strangely, the drums are not very heavy. Their off beat splash cymbal that is ever so present in almost all of the last 2 albums is very thin and wispy. The drums are crisp, clean and very crisp as well as being very thin, almost to the point of understated compared to the other albums "rock drums". The most comparable album to this style is October Rust in production. October Rust is comparable by me to Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of The Moon; The pinnacle of production that a band could do.

Dead again is a good album and worthy of purchasing if you are a Type-O fan. Halloween In Heaven is a rocking track where the guitars have a strong attack with a punk influence over 130BPM. This production is more fitted to some of the earlier works, but the addition of a female vocal byTara VanFlower of Lycia adds some interesting twists to the song. Her soulful style is a stark contrast to Steel's powerful vocal style. This song gives details an afterlife in which many late Rock and Roll musicians, such as John Bonham and Bon Scott, play music in Heaven. Here are the lyrics:

The dead they got that morbid beat It goes deo deo

They dance upon decaying feet

With their black toes oh no

Heaven Limbo and Hell Purgatory oh well oh well



Halloween in Heaven It's Christmas in Hell

Halloween in Heaven Oh well oh well



The devil stole a Yule tree Decorated with souls

Jesus trick or treating As Him below

Heaven Limbo and Hell Purgatory oh well oh well



Halloween in Heaven It's Christmas in Hell

Halloween in Heaven Oh well oh well



Bonham on drums Entwistle on bass As guest morticians

Bon Scott on vox Rhoads just for kicks

On guitar Hendrix Lennon sits in

With his friend George But where is Morrison?



Of course I cried When I heard they'd died

And took a part of me Same time gave

From beyond the grave Became what was to be



Elvis ain't dead So he isn't here Party never ends

Demon roadies angel groupies Suicide losers

If only I'd known how cool death is

I'd have killed myself sooner



Of harps and choirs Pumpkin pine pyres

Flames of red and green Orange and black

Years to take me back Christmas or Halloween



Halloween in Heaven It's Christmas in Hell

Halloween in Heaven Oh well oh well

Many of the themes of this album deal with Christianity, Steel is said to have found his Christian Faith in recent interviews. September Sun's intro reminds me of G&R November Rain! The piano is the same chord progression as that song. During the song, if you listen closely, you can hear near the end, Hitler speaking. It seems that he is talking about a lost love in his past. IT has the big gothic intermissions like many of their other songs. They have a good album and these tracks could be good radio tracks if edited properly. Here are the lyrics:

September sun blowing golden hair Now keep in mind son

She was never there October's rust

Bisecting black storm clouds

Only the deaf Hear my silent shouts



Yet in the dark Still he screams your name

Nights living death With witch rhymes insane

Ten years amassed Para toda mi Vida?

Lost man in time Was his name Peter?



September sun rotted Flatbush porch

I would have run then Had I known the cost

Autumnal rays turned your eyes to stone

Did it give you pleasure To steal my soul



Leave her alone Me? – I know why

This was all written and edited using MS Word 2007 to publish this post.

Happy Easter Sunday. Christ Has Risen!!

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Snow in April?? Really??

It snowed last night here. The weather man got it correct for a change at http://www.nbc12.com/. That is our local station. The forested a 60% chance and it was correct!! I woke up around 3am and i saw snow flakes. I got up around 6.30am and there was snow all over the ground here. I have some pics of the weather event...

It is all melted this evening. It kind of reminded us of the snows we would get in Colorado. They would come during the night and be gone before early afternoon.

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Pocahontas State Park

We went on a big ride today at Pocahontas State Park!! We ended up riding 8.2 miles with about 820feet of elevation changes also. We rode the Red and Blue trails which had lots of trees to go over and also a Half-Pipe to ride in and out of like at Powhite Park. They were great trails to go on and i hope tomorrow to have the GPS data to place over a Google Earth pic of the trip.

Here is a link to a TOPO map of Pocahontas State Park.

Here is a link to other Moutain Biking Trails in Central Virginia.

Here is a link to the TOPO map of Powhite Park.

The trails are not so steep as to where they tire you out after the first run. There are some long open runs where you can get up some speed and also go down hill. Over all, i have a very good ride today and the weather was not bad at all!!

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Google...The Empire Invades.

We all know that Google is like The Empire in Star Wars. Well, here are the Top 11 Google products that we will never see. I found this on www.BBspot.com. It is a funny site that makes fun of most Tech things. Google even ownes this blog site! What is next? TV??


Google Products We'll Never See

11. Google Hitman Assistant - Find, schedule, and collect on all your assassinations with this suite of products.

10. Googlearchy - Tired of democracy? Install the government that everyone loves without annoying pop-up ads.

9. Google Smite - An extension of Google Earth uses laser beams attached to the satellites to exact revenge or just have some fun for paid subscribers.

8. Google Carnage - Use real-time satellite images to zoom in an see car, train, or plane crashes and other disasters.

7. Google Ogle - The hottest unsecured webcams on the Internet.

6. Googlebator - Used with Google Ogle it's our first attempt at hardware.

5. Google Alibi - Paid service that will provide you with a credible account for your whereabouts.

4. Google Telegraph - Dash-Dot, Dash-Dash-Dash, Dash

3. Google Gaggle - The only search engine for geese.

2. Google Invading Force - Some pesky third world country got you down? Send in the troops with Google's new troop management tool.

1. Gogoel - Search, for dyslexics.


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Sleepless in Midlo...

Well kiddies, it is that time again. Yes it is time for me to have that wonderful "shift-rotation" from nights to days. YUK! The last time I did this, I was unable to get good rest for about 2 weeks! I enjoy night shift and will miss my "peeps" that are on it.

Day shift is a lot more hectic with many more engineers and workers running about the Fab with tasks to get done before their deadline is over. It will be hard getting adjusted to getting up at 5.00am and leaving by 5.45 to get to work. Traffic will not be bad in the morning or evening, but that is of no consolation. I will be on "days" for the next 2 months and then rotate back to nights again. The one good thing is that the house they are building 40 feet from my bedroom will be completed and I will not have to put up with hammering and sawing from the workers!! They cut down a lot of trees in the back, but left enough so it would not look bare and it has not appeared to stop the birds from eating from my feeder.

This is just in time for "Spring Break" to occur here as well. We are supposed to go to DC next week and tour The White House. It is very hard to get tickets, but we were able to do it. During this trip, we are also going to tour The Capitol again, but a better tour will be given then the last one we took. I hope to have some good pics to go along with these tours as well. We are supposed to go to one of The Smithsonian Museums also and time permitting, go to The George Washington Masonic National Memorial. Here is another link to the site: http://www.gwmemorial.org/ This also gives details about the memorial. I have wanted to go to it for a while, but we have never made it there due to time constraints. I hope to get there this go around, if not, it is always about 2 hours from our home.

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It is that time of year...

Well folks, it is that time of year again for the pollen to fly and for the weather and temperature to be on a rollercoaster ride. For the last few days, it has been in the 80s, very nice Spring Time Weather. The trees are starting to bud out and the pollen is starting to fly. I can see it on my truck hood...AH Chew!!

Easter is upon us this Sunday. We just got our cold front that generally happens around Easter weekend. I remember as a kid, we would always go camping at Lake Sam Rayburn for that weekend and all of the "family" would circle the wagons so to speak. We had Aunt Dale and Uncle Forestray, Aunt Babe and Uncle Talmadge, and Aunt Jewel and Uncle Don as well as Etha, Pawp and me and other various kids and cousins. We would all go to Mill Creek Park and try to get on "Easter Point" every year. If you go to the map link, the spots are sites 60 and 61. It would always bee nice and warm that week before, but we would set up camp and get "Blue Norther" and nearly blow us off the camping site. It would go from 80 to 30 degrees that night and we would all freeze!! We all had camping trailers with electric, but it would still be cold!! A few of the boats would sink because of the wind straight out of the north would swamp the ends on them because of the waves.

After the maelstrom of the preceding night, we would slowly come out of our campers and I would get a fire started as I was a "fire Bug" back then. I still love fire!! My Aunt Dale was the "camp master" and she would get the breakfast started. All the men would go and survey the boats and get the water out of them if need be to go and catch some fish. At the end of all the camping that weekend, We always had a "Fish Fry" on that Sunday afternoon and then we would break camp and go home.

Aunt Dale, Uncle Forestray, and Uncle Don have all since passed from the world, they are missed by all and it would seam that the title of "Camp Master" has passed to me according to Aunt Dale's Daughter Patrice. She said that I am the only one that can get the family together when I come to visit them in Texas. If that is so, then I have very big foot steps to follow in and I would ware that mantel proudly.

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Test…This is a test using MS Word 2007

So How Much Is Too Much?

# of Drinks	BAC by Body Weight								The Effects on You
	100	120	140	160	180	200	220	240
1	.04	.03	.03	.02	.02	.02	.02	.02	Blue = Not legally intoxicated. Brown = Driving judgment and skill is impaired though you are not legally intoxicated. Red = You're drunk, legally intoxicated and dangerous!
2	.08	.06	.05	.05	.04	.04	.03	.03
3	.11	.09	.08	.07	.06	.06	.05	.05
4	.15	.12	.11	.09	.08	.08	.07	.06
5	.19	.16	.13	.12	.11	.09	.09	.08
6	.23	.19	.16	.14	.13	.11	.10	.09
7	.26	.22	.19	.16	.15	.13	.12	.11
8	.30	.25	.21	.19	.17	.15	.14	.13
9	.34	.28	.24	.21	.19	.17	.15	.14
10	.38	.31	.27	.23	.21	.19	.17	.16

This estimator is only a guide and is not considered accurate enough to use as legal evidence. The figures given are averages. People will vary somewhat in their personal alcohol tolerance. There are also many factors that affect the rate alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream, such as food in the stomach. Other influential factors include medications, health, lean body mass, and psychological conditions.

 

Stages of Intoxication

BAC	STAGE	CLINICAL SYMPTOMS
0.01-0.05	Subclinical	Behavior nearly normal by ordinary observation
0.03-0.12	Euphoria	Mild euphoria, sociability, talkativeness, increased self-confidence; decreased inhibitions, diminution of attention, judgment and control. Beginning of sensory-motor impairment. Loss of efficiency in finer performance tests
0.09-0.25	Excitement	Emotional instability; loss of critical judgment. Impairment of perception, memory and comprehension. Decreased sensory response; decreased reaction time. Reduced visual acuity; peripheral vision and glare recovery. Sensory-motor incoordination; impaired balance. Drowsiness.
0.18-0.30	Confusion	Disorientation, mental confusion; dizziness. Exaggerated emotional states. Disturbances of vision and of perception of color, form, motion and dimensions. Increased pain threshold. Increased muscular incoordination; staggering gait; slurred speech. Apathy, lethargy.
0.25-0.40	Stupor	General inertia; approaching loss of motor functions. Markedly decreased response to stimuli. Marked muscular incoordination; inability to stand or walk. Vomiting; incontinence. Impaired consciousness; sleep or stupor.
0.35-0.50	Coma	Complete unconsciousness. Depressed or abolished reflexes. Subnormal body temperature. Incontinence. Impairment of circulation and respiration. Possible death
0.45 +	DEATH	Death from respiratory arrest.

 

New Videos...

I posted 3 new vids to that section of my BLOG.
Enjoy!!!


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Guility Pleasure...Type-O-Negative

Members
Peter Steele – Lead vocals, bass guitar, guitar, and keyboards
Josh Silver – Keyboards, synth, effects, programming, backing vocals
Kenny Hickey – Lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals
Johnny Kelly – Drums, percussion, backing vocals

With a career going from 1991 until 2007 as a band with little or no radio play, they are very under rated as artists. The style can be described as Gothic Metal. The deal with topics of humanities dark side or the depths of despair and human suffering that no band can put so eloquently or bring forth like they can.

The started out as a goth/punk act in 1991with Slow,Deep, and Hard where the songs were stripped down to the core with total rocking out riffs and dirge lyrics. Some of them clocked in between 8 and 14 minuets, Much too long for any radio play or music videos.

In 1992, The Origin of the Feces was released. It was a live remake of the 1st album. It had new arrangements of the tracks with the "live" part dubbed over as it was recorded in their basement. With some tracks clocking in at over 14 minuets and a very good cover of Paranoid by Black Sabbath.

1993 with the release of Bloody Kisses, their sophomore effort the band saw stardom and airplay with several tracks and heavy rotation on MTV. The thrash metal and ranting from the first album was all but gone, and the band had made huge strides in the progression of their musical style. Bloody Kisses mostly addressed loneliness and heartbreak, with songs like “Too Late: Frozen”, “Blood & Fire”, and “Cant Lose You” all being tributes to long lost loves. The organ-driven “Set me on Fire” is vintage sixties garage rock, showcasing the band’s keen sense of melody. The title track is a Romeo & Juliet retelling of a love/suicide pact. The two singles, “Christian Woman” and “Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)” were more radio friendly and accessible, after having been edited down to more radio-friendly lengths (the album versions of these songs were 8½ and 11 minutes long, respectively), with heavy guitars and bass combining with ethereal keyboards and gloomy melodies. They also did a cover of Seals&Croft - Summer Breeze. It was a very good cover.

In 1997, October Rust was released. It can be compared to an epic Pink Floyd album in style and layering or instrumentation. With songs about love, loss, death, and vampires, all the bases were covered. The keys were very lush and layered giving way to Peter Steels deep bass voice. Songs such as “Love You to Death”, “Be My Druidess”, “Green Man”, “Die With Me”, and “Haunted” all combined goth, rock, and new wave styles. Several other tracks that stand out are: Wolf Moon [Including Zoanthropic Paranoia], and Red Water (Christmas Mourning). The also, once again, did a cover song on this album. This time covering Neal Young - "Cinnamon Girl". They also had a few songs go to MTV videos.

In 1999, World Coming Down was released. It was a more stripped down album then October Rust with less instrumentation and more guitar. The overall vibe of the album was a significant change from the pop inflected and airy nature of October Rust: this time the band revisited the more doom and dirge oriented sounds from Slow Deep & Hard, and the result was an honest (if difficult) tone, where the band seemed to wallow in their misery. This time around, instead of sex, the lyrics focused on death, drug addiction, depression, and suicide. Songs such as “Everyone I Love is Dead,” “Everything Dies,” “World Coming Down,” and “All Hallows Eve” were not meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but rather, real life reflections of the mindset affecting Steele at the time. It was a hard album to get into, but if you like Type O, then it is a must.

In 2000, The Least Worst of Type O Negative was released as a Best Of album going back 10 years with unreleased tracks and some remixed ones as well. Also available is the band's cover of "Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath, and a cleaner officially studio version of "Hey Pete", which was originally released on the mock live album "Origin of the Feces".

The year 2003 saw an album called Life Is Killing Me. A humorous cover of the song "Angry Inch" from the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, detailing a sex change operation gone terribly wrong, marks the band's return to its trademark humor that had been absent on their previous album. The album conveyed the band's style or music and lyrics in their usually style.

Now 2007, Dead Again. The bands 7th studio album. IT is a rocking album in the Type O style with several tracks clocked at 14 minuets!! The have the same style as the last 2 but with a little more keys and some heavy bass elements included if you have a system that can produce that low of a frequency!! They are back after 4 years, still under recognized, but as always rocking the goth scene. Some stand out tracks are: The Profit of Doom, and Halloween in Heaven (with Lycia's Tara VanFlower)

They also have 2 DVD titles out. One in 2006 called Symphony For The Devil, is the first Live DVD of the legendary Type O Negative, featuring Pete Steele. The Live DVD features a concert filmed at the Bizarre Festival in Germany 1999, with an awe-inspiring 5.1 sound mix. Bonus features include an audio CDS with a Santana medley, behind the scenes footage, interviews with band members, photo history of the band, commentary with band members, bios and more.

The other DVD came out in 1998 and it is called After Dark. it is a collection of their music videos off of three of their albums. Here is the track listing for the video:

Tracks:

1. Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)

2. Christian Woman

3. My Girlfriend's Girlfriend

4. Love You To Death

5. Cinnamon Girl

6. Christian Woman (Naildriver Version)

7. Everything Dies (bonus video)

Yes, they are one of my favorite bands and the are kept on my Creative Zen mp3 player all the time. They are leaders in their style of music even if they are under rated and under played in main stream media. I for one, will always support them...

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A friend of Bill W’s…Part 2

Here is part 2 of my story...
It is difficule to tell this story because I go back and forth to Illustrate how things and issues fit together, so bare with me.

Well, I had admitted that I was powerless and that my life was unmanageable. That much was apparent. I was at that stage in my addiction, going on binges and staying gone for several days and cleaning out my bank account. So, I went to Rehab.

While I was in LAHA, we went to meetings and group secessions. Chris Raymer in his morning “Town Hall” meeting drove the point home to us that this is a 3-fold disease: Mind, Body,Spirit. You have to treat all 3 parts or it will fail. See, about 10% of the population are genetically different than the rest of society in that we process “mind altering” substances different. If a “normal” person drinks/drugs, they may like it and abuse it, but given sufficient reason to STOP, they can. Take for instance, a normie gets a DWI and looses his license. That would/should be reason enough for ANYONE to stop. For an addict, it will be, but only for a time period, days, weeks, etc. This disease makes him/her forget about the consequences that have just happened and he/she will go out and do it again. Addicts will try to blame everything on “External” reasons for their problems. I got in a fight with my g/f, I had a crappy day at work, those were all external reasons. The problem was with us, an internal problem.

I liked to drink and drug. It was fun in the beginning. I could handle it. I needed it to feel normal or what I thought was normal. I, in the beginning, did not know what cravings were, but I did no when it was time to get “fixed up” and feel on an even keel so to speak. I knew this as early as 1990, my second years of college. I partied a long time and I was able to control it. I was a very functional addict through those times. I was a Coke/Crack addict from 1993-2001. That is a very long time. In that time, I saw people spend entire fortunes, loose houses, cars and wives. It was total carnage and I was going through the middle of it.

See, I could not remember that my girlfriend at that time, now my wife, told me if I go out again, she would leave me. My disease told me to go get high, but only enough to satisfy the cravings that I was having. That final spree was horrible. I was going to fill out applications at a place in Austin, but the cravings were just too strong for me to deal with. I had to get my soul quiet and fill the void that was devouring me a little at a time. So I did…but I only planned to do a little, but that turned to about 3 days

I drove around Austin Texas getting high and was on a psychotic episode. I saw my family in every car that was on the road, or at least a member of my family. They would look at me and be sad or mad depending on what I was doing at that moment. I heard police sirens the whole time I was out and I thought that every other car was a cop. I got a speeding ticket during that time and you know what I did to calm my nerves? I went and bought more crack. WOW, how insane is that? It is only by the Grace of God that I did not go to jail or die from an overdose. As you can see, I was not in control of my life in the least bit, my addiction was in FULL SWING and I had hit “Rock Bottom” I knew that I needed help and that I could not make it on my own anymore.

While I was in LAHA, we worked on steps, but hammered on Step 1 & 2. Step one along with the drugs got me there, then I had to work on Step 2. I had to believe that a Power Greater than my self could restore me to sanity. This would seem to be an easy task; to believe in something bigger than my self and ego. Well Try it...

in·sane -/in seyn/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[in-seyn]
–adjective
1. not sane; not of sound mind; mentally deranged.
2. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a person who is mentally deranged: insane actions; an insane asylum.
3. utterly senseless: an insane plan.

Let’s look at this word. Insane. Another definition is and it applies to addicts is “doing the same thing and expecting different outcome” See every time I went out to drug it up, I expected a different outcome!! I was insane!! IT is like hitting your hand with a hammer repeatedly and not expecting it to hurt the next time. The “power” could have been a tree if you did not believe in God, Jesus or something like that, it did not matter! The only thing was to believe in something more powerful than yourself. Because under your power, your best foot forward; Your power got you to rehab!! My power got me nowhere except broke, tired and addicted. Thank God I got to rehab…to get some help where all else had failed, all of my best intentions and promises failed.

SO, I believed that “power” greater than myself could and would restore me to a better way of think. It was apparent that my thinking was off, so I had to try it by learning a better way or a different way. This was the essence of Step 2 which i will get into more soon.

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My Dad...

Years ago, my Dad owned one of these planes. I was about 5 years old and I remember going flying with him on Sunday afternoons all over East Texas. I would sometimes fall asleep while he would be doing "Take-Offs" and "Landings" at the different regional airstrips around Southeast Texas in the balmy summer air...

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Verizon Wireless... Bunkgrades!!

Well folks, we decided to go totally wireless in our home. We are going to turn of the home phone in a few days to save money. We all have cell phones and now all have local Richmond numbers. It is also time to upgrade our cells...

SO this morning at 8.30am, after I got home from work, we went to the Verizon Wireless store. We got our numbers changed and we were looking at new cells. We thought that when it was time for us to change phones out that we had a $100 credit per phone...WRONG!!!! We are on a family plan. Only the main phone gets the $100 credit and the other people have to pay $FULL$ PRICE for their "new" phone. That really sucked a big one!! Here we all had found new, better, bigger, stronger, faster cells and what a letdown...

They got you by the balls on this one. The fam plan will save money, but not on hardware costs. So choose wisely when trying to decide on what plan to get when making that decision.

This was the phone that I was going to get. It is the LG VX8600.

Wewill see what happens...

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The Shield Season 5....Conscience is a killer!!!

Vic Mackey owns you...

Nuff Said on this topic...

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Candlebox...1993 "Change"

How many of you remember the "Grung" era? Alice In Chains were sill big as well as Pearl Jam, but a new style of music was starting to take hold as well. Candlebox was one of those bands. The had a hard rocking style as well as a pop infulence that was very radio friendly. This one song was a very good one, perhaps the best on their intro album aptly titled "Candlebox"

"CHANGE"
As I stand here
I ponder greater things
You're no longer a part of
A part of your lover's dreams
So much for your Common complications
So much for your Constant desperation
For what's to comeIt's all been written
Down, written down
But I feel that a change is
A change is gonna come
I said I feel so alive nowAnd you know I feel that a change is
A change is gonna come
As I sit here I'll tell you greater things
You're no longer a part of
A part of someone else's dreams
So much for yourCommon escalations
So much for your Constant fabrications
For what's to come
It's all been written down, down, down
I said for what's to come
For what's to come your way
It's all been written
Down, written down
But I feel that a change is
A change is gonna come
I said I feel so alive now
And you know I feel that a change is
A change is gonna come
Keep on time
Keep on time
You run along
Keep on child
Keep on child
You push it on
Keep on my time
I run around for you
Keep on time
Keep on time
You run along
Keep on child
Keep on child
You push it on
Keep on my time now
I run around for you
Run around for you
But you've gotta keep on, keep it on
You don't know yet
You don't know yet
You don't know yet
But you'll feel it in your soul
You don't know yet
You don't know yet
You don't know yet
But you feel it in your soul
Feel it in your soul now
Do you feel that a change is gonna come?
Do you feel that a change is gonna come?
No
As I lay hereI wanna fall asleep
No longer, No longer a part of
A part of your TV screen
A part of your TV dreams
I said so much for your
So much for your
So much for your
Your common complications
So much for your
Constant desperation
For what's to come it's all been written
Down, written down
But I feel that a change is
A change is gonna come
I said I feel so alive now
And you know I feel that a change is
A change is gonna come
Do you feel that a change is gonna come?...


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Moutain Bike Stuff...

I had to go today at Agee's and get my daughters bike fixed. I had to buy a new front wheel skewer as hers toe up and lost all the parts to it. I also had to purchase as adapter for my tire air stems. They were a totally different style and i FREAKED out about them on a Sunday morning as my air pump would not fit them. I cant get them change out either. They had the adapter for them. It only cost 2.99, so not to bad. I Hope to go riding soon, but i work all this weekend...

CIAO

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A Friend Of Bill W’s…Part 1, My Journey Begins.

I am going to do a series of posts over the next weeks on Addiction and Recovery using the 12 Steps or Alcoholics Anonymous. There are many 12 Step programs that can be chosen. I am breaking my Anonymity by doing so, although, I have never hidden the fact from anyone if they asked me about it. If I have one wish for this series it is not to alienate someone from reading my BLOG, but to help an addict or alcoholic out there still suffering and let them know that there is help out there for them.

Many of you don't know, but May 15 will be my 4 year Sober mark. No drinking or drugging. I can’t say that it has been easy or that it has been fun because it has not. Living life on Life’s terms is a very hard thing to do. They say that your stunt your emotional self the first time that you took you first drink or drug. So, if you started when you were 16, then when you finally got sober, you were of the maturity of a 16 year old. If you were 30 when you got sober, then you will have a lot of maturing to do.

I went into treatment in the year 2002 during that summer to La Hacienda (LAHA) in Hunt Texas for 30 days in-house where I met Chris Raymer (Alumni Director LAHA). I will get into him later in this series. I also met some very interesting people, Lawyers, Doctors, Preachers, Housewives; the list can go on and on. It was a hard time of being separated from my house and personal belongings except for my MiniDisc player and CD player to have some comfort from. I went to group meetings, group therapy; We had a family week where my then girlfriend, Mother, and grandmother came to stay. If you did well, you got to go off campus to eat and go to outside meetings, if not, you stayed there. I saw many people fail or get kicked out. Why I was able to “do the deal” so to speak; I guess that it was in God’s plan for me to make it.

Every Sunday was a big meeting in the center where your family could come and visit and you saw people come back to get their chips for being sober for different time periods. 30 days, 60 days,90 days, 6 months, 1 year and so on. They also had different speakers and someone lead the meetings.

For you to “recover” you need to have a total psychic make over. This can happen by the “burning bush” type of the “educational” type. I had the burning bush type. That place gave me a set of tools that enabled me to be able to recover from a “hopeless state of mind and body.” I did not do it alone. My journey was a spiritual one also, because Addiction is a disease of the mind, body, and the spirit. I am not talking church or anything like that. Don't get the two confused, they are not the same. You can be spiritual and go to church, or go to church and never get the whole spiritual aspect of the deal. I tried the church way several years before that and it did not work for me.

For me to start the journey, I had to be totally beat down from the disease! I could not do it on my own, that was evident! Church did not do it and going to meetings but not buying whole heartedly into the program did not work either. I had to do it all or none! No "Half Steps".Finally Step One of the Big Book was easy for me to admit. “We admitted that we were powerless over drugs/alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable” It took a while living as a functional addict to finally admit that. When I did, it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and my way to recovery could begin. I learned that I did not have power over anything! Whatever power that I had, it had been given to me from God!

Don't get overly stressed with the God thing, I will explain this later. Just remember that for a person to “recover”, they have to treat the whole illness; The Mind, The Body, The Spirit. I also will use and interchange Alcohol and Drugs for one in the same during this series because they are the same. It is a disease the is progressive and terminal whose outcomes are Death or Institutions (Mental/Jail).

I am going to close this part for now…Rest assured, more will come. Part 2 Next week.

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Nothing to post about now...

You know when you have lots of things going on in your life and you are under lots of stress, well that is me at the moment. It appears that we are getting closer to finding out what is going to happen with our contracts here at Qimonda. I also found out that 3 of the employes are on different contracts than us, and if our contracts are ended, they will still be working. Yeah, Joy Joy!!

I have been very busy the last 2 weeks. I worked on Saturday night which really blew my weekend all to hell. I was off on Friday, slept that night, had to sleep all day Saturday for work, off Sunday with about 3 hours sleep that day and then my normal shift started today! - There are things that i need to get done around the house, but time is very precious at the moment. I turned the sprinklers on Sunday and tested them, no broken heads!!

I still need to get some fertiliazer and lime as well as snake and bud poision. We need to trim the hedges and once again, reseat the paver stones around the flowerbeds. I think that we are going to place a few steaks and string to keep people from walking in our yrar, mainly kids, to help the seed that was placed last year take hold and grow. These are just a few things that must get done to take care of our house as well as the inside stuff...

Well, i hope to have some interesting stuff to post about later tonight.

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