*burp*

July 19, 2010 by Hawk.

Urgh! There’s nothing quite like the feeling of opening a package of saltine crackers for breakfast and eating a few… until you get to the one that’s covered in bug silk and cracker crumbs. (I’d have taken a picture but I was too busy trying not to throw up that I didn’t think about it and tossed the near empty package un-photographed.) Of course now, about an hour later, I’m getting some SERIOUS stomach cramps and pains. Today, I predict, is not going to be a good day.

But at least I didn’t barf… yet.

Hawk (urp! Ork! Grop!)

Posted in Rant and Rave | 4 Comments »

Happy Birthday, Mom!

July 13, 2010 by Hawk.

Just figured I’d wish her a happy here, not that she (or anyone else for that matter) will see it. These are the flowers I got her.

Hawk (or as I call it, slaving for mom day…)

Posted in Rant and Rave | 4 Comments »

Bright House Part Deux.

July 7, 2010 by Hawk.

Hello Bright House, I’m writing to/about you, again, I wish I were surprised at that but sadly, I’m not. Thanks for letting us know about the bundle price for digital TV and internet.
The technician you sent out Monday July 5th cost your company time and money and lowered our opinion of your employees. He arrived on time, I’ll give him that. We were scheduled to have two digital cable converter boxes installed and setup. On the box going in the back bedroom your technician was shown the S-Video and audio cables I wanted used in that boxes connection. He ignored my instructions and connected it the way he wanted, stuffing/hiding my cables off in the back of the TV stand where they would not be seen. He then failed to (or failed at) program your remote to control the television set in that room. He never mentioned this and even implied he had programmed it properly. It took me fifteen minutes to rewire the connections properly myself.
He set up the box in the livingroom attempting to balance the converter box on the three inch wide top of the television cabinet. He was surprised when we pointed out the cart with the DVD player right next to the television as the place we wanted the box placed instead of precariously balanced on top of the set. Once installed he got my 78 year old mother to sign his paperwork. Going so far as to literally say “This is blah, blah, stuff about start over, on demand and the channel guide, it’s not important…” He actually said “blah, blah”. He then failed to verify if the system was working properly and failed to explain how anything worked suggesting we “Play around with it, you’ll figure it out.” HAD he attempted to do his job and familiarize us with the equipment he’d just installed he would have discovered that the box in the livingroom was defective. No on-demand programming (even answers on-demand) would work and the majority of the above channel 100 digital channels were responding as being ‘unavailable’. This required half an hour of my time on the phone with your support people and the scheduling of another visit for the next day to fix the first technician’s mistakes.
The technician you sent out on Tuesday July 6th was a delight. He arrived within the three hour time frame scheduled. In a matter of minutes he diagnosed the box as being defective. He replaced a 20-year old cable your first technician had reused. Once he had everything up and running properly he willingly spent as much time as necessary making sure we understood and were comfortable with the operation and features of the remote control and digital service. He deserves a raise or at least praise for doing his job properly. This is the level of service we should have received on Monday. You should dock the first technician’s pay the cost of the second technician’s service call.

Hawk (cooking with 250+ channels now! WOO!)

Posted in Rant and Rave | No Comments »

* grumble *

June 28, 2010 by Hawk.

Shame on Bright House Networks! Just recently they raised our rates and took channels away from basic cable subscribers and now there’s a notice in the paper that as of July 29th they’re taking two MORE channels away from us. While I won’t much miss SoapNET too much we do watch a LOT of programming on The Travel Channel and if we want to keep watching we’ll have to upgrade to digital cable and rent at least two set top boxes at additional cost. They keep running commercials that tell us how much they care about us but it’s really only our checkbooks they care about. Every few months they’re taking things away and charging more for less!

Hawk (Take the damn MTV!)

Posted in Rant and Rave | 1 Comment »

That’s My Boss…

June 19, 2010 by Hawk.

Years ago my friend J was moving out of state and had promised his boss
he’d find someone to take his place where he worked. The job entailed
printing bar code labels for Mil-Spec (military grade) packaging and
shipping. Maintaining the parts and box databases. Creating new label
formats when necessary as well as any other computer related jobs like
installing software, running backups, etc. This was back in ‘92 - 93
before everyone and their cousin owned a computer. I interviewed and was
hired. The owner told me “I’m going to hire you at X/hour and once we’ve
got you up to speed and are sure you’re a good fit we’ll bring you up to
what J’s making now.” (about $4.00 an hour more). After six months of
doing the job I asked the owner about the promised raise and was told
“We only do raises during the yearly review in September.” He wouldn’t
budge from that statement. When Sept. rolled around and after every
other employee had been called in for their review I approached the
owner and asked why I hadn’t been called in for my review. I was told
that you needed to be employed for a full year before you received a
review and I had only been there ten and a half months. Without a review
there would be no raise. I desperately needed the job and there weren’t
many others to be had (I looked!) so I stuck it out. The following
September I was called in for my review. By this time my workload had
increased by at least 30% (we’d picked up another large military
contract) and I’d been put in charge of training other employees on a
second printing station as well as a host of other duties. My boss
thanked me for doing a good job and picking up the pace when it was
needed and then, after nearly two years of employment, rewarded me
with… a .10 an hour raise. When I brought up the increase he’d
promised me when I was hired he told me it was all the company could
afford. The biggest raise given out that year was to a guy who’d been
there for eighteen years. He got a quarter. A month later the boss
showed up in a brand new Mercedes-Benz. At least we knew where our
raises went.

For more stories like this visit: thatsmyboss.com

Hawk (has had many sucky bosses…)

Posted in Rant and Rave | 1 Comment »

To ‘Toots’.

June 7, 2010 by Hawk.

Not really a review Monday…

I wanted to thank you for recommending Michael Gruber’s ‘Tropic of Night’. I’ve given it three full days and I’ve only been able to manage around a hundred pages. I have to admit defeat, it’s just not my cup of tea. Jane Doe doesn’t come across as a victim in hiding. She’s a freaking superhero. Martial arts expert. Mechanical genius. Language expert. Voodoo priestess with ‘real’ magical powers. The ability to raise other people’s children.

The narrative switch back and forth from first person to objective view was confusing and IMO should never be done. It takes a strong, talented writer to write from the view of the opposite gender. Gruber doesn’t have this talent. It comes across more as “Boy, if *I* had a vagina I’d show the world what it meant to be a woman!” I just wanted to punch him after the first page and the urge never went away.

Sorry we couldn’t agree but thanks again for trying!

Hawk (on to other books…)

Posted in Rant and Rave | 4 Comments »

More Reviewing…

May 31, 2010 by Hawk.

Moleskine Passions Recipe Journal

The Moleskine Passions Recipe Journal is a well made diary sized (5″x8¼”) notebook printed on medium/light weight acid free paper with 240 total pages. It contains sections for most typical areas of cooking; Appetizers, First Course, Main Dishes, Deserts, etc. plus several unlabeled sections for the owner to personalize. In addition there are weight, measure and temperature conversion charts, produce and fruit harvest/ripeness charts, food information charts and sections for notes, event or party planning. The cover is cleverly embossed with kitchen utensils and includes an elastic strap to keep the journal securely closed. Also included are three handy attached bookmarks and an expandable pocket in the back which contains the two sheets of stickers (for personalization) that come with the journal.

The pages for recording your recipes have limited space for writing, you’ll need write carefully and small to fit most recipes on a page. The pages are not removable and pages cannot be added or moved around. The print in the book (charts, tables, etc.) is nearly microscopic. I found it very hard to read anything in the journal. As well the current and recent prices listed on Amazon (as high as $58!) make this a very expensive and hard to justify choice.

Three Stars

Hawk (could do the same with a $1.50 notebook)

Posted in Rant and Rave | No Comments »

Re-re-reviewin’

May 24, 2010 by Hawk.

Where’s My Wand?: One Boy’s Magical Triumph over Alienation and Shag Carpeting
By Eric Poole

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was an easy, comfortable read. Even the character of his mother whom I began by despising turned out to have reasons why she was who she was.

‘Where’s My Wand?’ follows several years of the adolescent growth, family drama, sexual confusion and social interaction problems of Eric. Covering everything from a mother who is a totalitarian nightmare, a browbeaten and cowed father and a sister who really doesn’t like him to how to deal with friends who have no arms and what to do when your crazy aunt wants to take you camping and what happens when the magic fails you.

I couldn’t put the book down and finished it the evening I picked it up. Highly recommended.

Four Stars

Hawk (is also a magic man)

Posted in Rant and Rave | No Comments »

Review Time!

May 17, 2010 by Hawk.

Neil Young’s Greendale
By: Josh Dysart, Cliff Chiang

Reviewing a graphic novel from an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) especially one that’s labeled as ‘abbreviated’ is a bit tough.

The story itself is filtered down from a 2003 concept album and subsequent 2004 film by Neil Young. While the general environmental movement and ecological preservation message is a good idea the actual material used, while poignant, is closing on a being nearly a decade old. The message is there, it’s just a bit dated. I have no idea what level of involvement, if any, Neil Young had with this branch of the project.

The artwork is quite decent and the writing isn’t bad but the story wobbles in places, lacking in consistency. For instance the boy Sun Green agrees to run off to Alaska with disappears into the woods after a night of intimacy and Sun waits, apparently with little concern for her missing friend, quite a while before reporting the incident. She also meets a mysterious stranger who appears to know her and who can walk through walls and this has little impact on Sun.

I enjoyed what I read and wouldn’t mind seeing where the story goes from here. If you’re into the environment with a twist of the supernatural this may be the graphic novel for you.

Three Stars

Hawk (will go green when green costs the same as the rest…)

Posted in Rant and Rave | No Comments »

Another Review? Indeed!

May 10, 2010 by Hawk.

Killing Willis
By: Todd Bridges

I found this book to be nearly unbelievable. One of the worst books I’ve ever forced myself to finish reading. The dialog and actions of the people involved from beginning to end sound more like cullings from bad movie-of-the-week scripts than anything that ever actually happened.

The writing is stilted and forced. The editing also leaves much to be desired. As an example; During his last stint in rehab Todd claims to have been restrained, in a diaper, for three days due to his actions and behavior. On the very next page we’re told he was in restraints for four days.

Yes, we know that Todd has had multiple arrests and run-ins with law enforcement but much of the undocumented occurrences feel totally made up. Do I believe he experienced racism and even some jealousy at the hands of the police? Yes. Do I believe the LAPD was passing around ‘Get that Todd Bridges guy no matter what!’ memos, frequently hovering their helicopters over his house to annoy him or “lost” him for months in solitary confinement (immediately after he mentions he was marked as a high profile detainee and supposed to receive special treatment). Sorry, it just doesn’t ring true to me.

I didn’t get any feeling of regret or remorse from this book. Much of it just felt like bragging about the people that liked/loved him and name dropping. Todd mentions that he’s upset that other stars who have had serious public run-ins with alcohol and drug abuse had an easier time of returning to the spotlight and public eye. He blames this on racism failing to conceptualize that while ‘those other’ stars had drug problems he was a drug dealer running crack houses and exploiting women he deliberately got hooked on drugs so he could control them. There’s a difference and I don’t think it had anything to do with race.

I’m glad he appears to have turned his life around but I just can’t recommend this book.

Two Stars

Hawk (that’s what I’M talking ’bout…)

Posted in Rant and Rave | No Comments »

« Previous Entries | Next Entries »