David's Tangled Thoughts

There was an online article about a California judge ruling that the early termination gees that a cell phone company charges are illegal. Here's a gem that I read from one of the commentators. ABSURD! If you sign your name on the contract you agree to the early termination fee. so what goes on in a bedroom is not the matter of the state, but what goes into a private contract is? Uh... duh. It's why law students start their studies with "Contracts" and not "Bedroom Law 101."

I feel your pain! Too much work. No time to relax. I may have to pay the five bucks because I don't feel like going out and finding a pirate costume. Keep on chugging and I'll see you in a few days. It's almost over!

As some of you might be aware, I live near Niles, Michigan. Niles calls itself the City of Four Flags because the area, at one time or another, has been in control of France, Great Britain, Spain, and is now in control by The United States of America. Niles is built near the location of Fort Saint Joseph which was primarily a fur trading outpost for France. After the French & Indian War, along with the rest of New France was given over to the British. After an Indian rebellion, an American raid, a brief occupation by the Spanish, and a retaking by the British, it was eventually abandoned. Where the exact spot where the fort was located was forgotten. It wasn’t until a few years back when remains of the fort were found. Unfortunately, due to daming of the Saint Joseph River, part of the site is under water. I had heard that there was going to be an archaeological open house down at the Riverfront Park on Saturday and Sunday. I’m into history and have a glancing interest in a

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<--See also: “ My ballot may have a very interesting proposal this November. ” It’s looking less likely that the proposal for a ballot proposal will succeed. The proposal may be rejected for the ballot because it calls for too many changes to the constitution. Opponents would say that it would be better to call for a Constitutional Convention. The previous two votes to hold a convention failed to get approval from Michiganders. The next vote will be in 2010 and I doubt that the citizens of Michigan are going to want to hold one then either. I personally do not care to scrap the existing constitution. I believe that we are just fine and can work with what we got. So the amendments will continue. One step at a time.

*From this week's PostSecret.

Today’s post has been brought to you by the letters Q,J,V,T, and the number 3. I must’ve missed the congregational memo because I did not know that there was a boycott of McDonald’s. I only found out about it through Green Mountain Jamie and then through Quaker Jono . Apparently the religious right whack jobs have a problem with McDonald’s supporting gays. But I’m not going to blog about that. That would be for my other blog which is in desperate need of material anyways. I owe my life to McDonald’s. Okay, it’s bit of a stretch since I’m probably going to pay for it with some sort of heart problem later in life. Anyways, in 2003, I went to the Philippines on one of Michigan State University’s Study Abroad programs. Compared to what I paid at State, the prices were unbelievable. My housing--$80 a month. Food-- $3.00 a day. I understood the housing part of it pretty well but the board… not so much. On my first day there one of the first things I asked the desk clerk was wh

Earlier this year, Apple came out with a software upgrade for the iPhone and the iTouch. If I remember correctly, the upgrade was free for the iPhone owners but not the iTouch owners. At the time, I decided that I would not upgrade because it was an expensive charge for too little benefits. Another upgrade was released in conjunction with the release of the new iPhone. Again, it was free for those with the phone while those with the iPod got hosed. I decided this time that the upgrade might be worth the $10 they were asking for. I upgraded and I would have to say that it was worth the price. In addition to the email and notes application that I appreciate, there are a number of free applications that I can now download. It is not perfect but my little device is probably just as useful as my cell phone.

Today was so brilliant that instead of staying to do my laundry or cut shrubs, I ventured out to Berrien Springs to do a little hiking. Nothing too serious. Just enough to enjoy the Saint Joseph River and its high banks. I should do this more often.

I hear it whenever I drive through the west side. One of the vloggers that I watch had this playing on his MySpace page. I really like it. It reminds me of what I view are the failings of the current adminstration. I'll leave you to interpret out what I mean by that. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't listen to the radio very often and it is not how I discover the songs that I end up buying and listening to. So if you are in anyway connected to the RIAA it might help for you to know that where I do find music that I like are when they are used in television, movies, blogs, social networking and of course, word of mouth.

Earlier today I was reading an article reporting that the average Canadian lives better than the average American. They work less, are richer, have more and better sex. Sounds great to me! Where do I sign up? Nah, I’m just joking. I love being an American and living in the Midwest (most of the year anyways). But it did get me thinking about a more “European” kind of life—which, somehow, Canadian life is like according to the article. I’ve made a post where I indicated that I was willing to live abroad. Places like London and Sydney. I also said that I’d be willing to live in Canada with Vancouver and Toronto pretty much being the only options. One, that’s probably where an illegal immigrant like me could find a job. Two, they’re about as far south as you can get in Canada. But would I be happy in Canada or anywhere else? For a couple years, most definitely. Hell, I’d even be willing to spend that time in more non-Anglo countries as well. Hello Berlin. And living a “Europe

Another one my favorite television personalities had died. Tony Snow was a commentator, program host, and a whole host of other things. A lot of people knew him in his role as the White House’s Press Secretary. I knew him from his stints on Fox News. Cancer had returned to claim him. He was 53.

Yesterday I was told that I would be having my 90 Day review today. I wasn’t expecting it since I’m well past day 200. It rattled me since I don’t consider these past few months to be particularly productive. I would get assigned to another job or department, do training, work a few weeks, and then get transferred again. As of right now, I’ve got four desks to call my own, each with its own set of responsibilities. I’m like a jack of all trades and I was beginning to wonder that my lack of mastery in those positions would be something that I would be criticized for. That night I had a bad dream. For some reason, I was once again working for Wal-mart (oh, excuse me—Walmart). My hours had been reduced to 14 hours for that week. 14 hours is not going to pay the bills. And do I have bills! So I had to go talk to one of my managers which turned out to be Scott, the owner of the candy store I used to manage. Anyone who knows me well knows that he is one of the very few people in t

Warning! This post deals entirely too much on my personal hygiene. As I was taking my evening shower, I was thinking to myself how great it is that I like to be clean. As a rule, I shower at least once a day. After 24 hours of non-showering I feel all oily. It’s really bad once the weather gets into the 80’s and I will shower in the morning and in the evening. When I was in the Philippines, there were days when I would do it three times. But as I thought on it more, I really don’t care if I am clean or not. The driving force is how I clean I feel . When I was a kid and living on the farm, I could easily go weeks without bathing. Granted part of that was because there wasn’t a bath or shower at the farm, but really, I didn’t mind. In the dead of winter, I’ve been known to go a couple days without showering because the dryness of the air keeps me feeling like I’ve got sticky sweat on me. Don’t you worry though. Chances are that if you met me, I will actually be clean. After t

…throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.* Independence Day means one thing: a day off of work! Just kidding. <<--See also: “ Happy Birthday America and Various States ,” “ Celebrating 230 Years ,” and “ My Fourth of July Celebration .” I came close to sitting out this year’s celebration. With Erin and her husband off doing their own thing and really… no one else to hang out with , I would have felt weird going to a fireworks display all alone. Fortunately, last minute plans with an old friend, Dusty, was made to go up to Saint Joseph to see theirs. Dusty has been working for one of this country’s largest electrical/appliance companies. Seriously, it’s a stunning position that leaves me green not with Spartan pride, but with envy. However, he’s one cool cat and I am honestly happy for him also. He and his girlfriend are up visiting for the holiday and invited me to go with them. Also joining us would be J.W., a friend of his from college. I’ve met Amanda