I just had to mention this helpful post. Its a Big List of Blog Search Engines. Its very nice having someone else sift through the pile of garbage Google returns from a search for Blog search engines. My thanks to Mr Paparo!

Random scribblings written while I should've been working:

Scoping out chicks is a major drag when having to constantly shift your attention from the pretty young thing who just walked in to the next working class truck driver with a 25 cent snack cake who demands service. An unfortunate side effect of my dead end job. Its my own fault. If I can't take the heat, I suppose I should get the hell out of the kitchen.



I love the quiet moments in my favorite films. For example, in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the movie almost stops when Duke sits in his wrecked and flooded hotel suite listening to Buffalo Springfield's "Expecting to Fly". Another brilliant moment is in Blade Runner, when Deckard sits in his apartment drinking, looking over the photos that the replicants left behind.
In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the trio ditch school and hit the Chicago Museum of Art. A haunting classical string selection accompanies them as they take in a little culture. I can remember telling some friends of mine while watching that scene that it was the best of the movie, to which they remarked "yeah, you like stuff like that." What the hell does that mean?

During the first run of working at my current job ( which lasted about five years ), I would often let the prospect of working there loom over me like some sort of giant, forboding omen that was sure to bring me down on so many different levels. This time around however, it seems like its not that way. I guess I'm able to compartmentalize the whole business, and put the thing behind me when I'm not there. These days I'm making a point to handle stress differently than I have in the past. For example, I'm starting to handle stress period.

I've heard of scientific studies that have proven that people trying to multitask have brains that show signs of "rot". Well, I think any kind of stress does this. I work with a multude of burnouts and dead-enders at my workplace, and not all of them are that way because they indulged in mind altering substances when they were younger. No, I'm convinced that at least part of the reason why their brains are so pickled is that they never learned how to deal with modern life.

Modern life, so different from the evolutionary process that molded us, is killing us in the most horrific way: by slowly taking away our mental faculties. I'm not advocating a disbanding of society. I'm just saying that the human mind was built for short term stressors, not the periods of terror lasting days, months and years that society subjects us to.

Hunter S. Thompson said it best in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: We're all wired into a survival trip now.
He was talking about the aftermath of the drug revolution in the 60's, but he could just as well be describing the mind-bending effects of long term exposure to other human beings.

I've used the proceeds of my dead-end service job to pay for a new, cheaply-made Chinese printer. Now I can endlessly send resume after resume, occasionally adding a cover letter that will no doubt impress the poor soul who has to deal with the never ending tide of applications for any job in this area, no matter how menial and pointless. It seems to work well, at least for the time being. My luck with printers has not been good. Ever since I left the dot matrix world for the glamorous and fast paced (not to mention quieter- god those dot matrix beasts were loud) arena of inkjet printing. The real irony is that the very first dot matrix printer I bought over ten years ago would probably print as well now as it ever did, if I only bought a new ribbon for it. Maybe I should do that, just for some wierd, geeky kicks. . .

At times, sending those resumes seems like an excercise in futility. I can never tell for sure if the places I apply to feel as if I'm too educated, or not educated enough. Or too inexperienced. Its the lack of feedback that really troubles me. Its as if they all get sent to some massive back office that simply shreds them and turns them into some eco-friendly mulch for the west coast. Its the adult equivalent of sending letters to Santa Claus. Only this time, your parents aren't able to hide a six-figure salary in the attic until Christmas.

Another round of Olympic sex stories:

ESPN.com's Page 2 columnist Jeff Merron has a interesting article that runs down some interesting sex connections in the Olympics of years past. Be sure to read the bit about the Polish competitor who was sexually ambiguous.

My current literary idol Hunter S. Thompson is a featured columnist on Page 2 as well. In a recent column he briefly mentions some Olympic sex dirt courtesy of Matt Moseley. Then he goes on with a customary diatribe about the current state of the NFL.

Prostitution in Athens has been covered from different angles at this games, but this article by TVNZ is the first to approach it from sex workers' point of view.

A story by the Taipei Times incorporates several themes from other stories, such as the Cubans being the top condom consumers at Athens, but with a few more quotes from Olympians.

So I've changed the name of my blog to "Fear and Loathing in Southeast Ohio". I'm not sure if its homage to a writer I enjoy reading, Hunter S. Thompson, or if its just a shameless attempt to draw attention to an otherwise painfully boring blog. Either way, I hope I don't get sued.

I'm going to work tomorrow at my dead end job at the local truck stop. Its more of a travel center, along the lines of a Travel America or Pilot station. I'll be working in the morning, a horrific shift from 6am to 2pm. I'm usually half asleep during the morning hours. One or two of these shifts during the week isn't bad, but after a week of it I just feel completely dead inside. I'm a night owl, and if anything I guess I'd rather work a 10pm to 6am shift than the morning shift.

In any case, I've been looking at the want ads in the local paper, and I can't see anything else that looks even remotely interesting. Everything requires either a degree or experience that I don't have. And to add insult to my inadequacy, the positions advertised are largely part-time.

I did renew my Ohio short-term substitutes license. I never got much work from the local school districts, but the few days I got last year gave me the money I needed to come and go on. If the convenience store gig goes sour I can use it as a backup, or work on my days off for that matter. For $12.00 its a cheap insurance policy.

Annie Hall, the weird nervous film by Woody Allen is currently spinning in my DVD player. I'm struck by its lack of formality and pretense. The occasions where Allen breaks the rules of film- by addressing the camera directly, playing a weak male lead, popping up as himself in obvious backstory scenes- they all conspire to produce a work of spare and unadorned truth. Romance is tough, even if you're as funny as Woody Allen.

A few years ago I regularly saw Maggie Downs, a columnist now at the Cincinnati Enquirer. I didn't date her. She would come in to my workplace from time to time, transact her business and leave. I remember reading her columns in a local paper, and was only marginally entertained by them. I think I complemented her on one of them via email, not so much because it was any good, but because she was quite attractive. She is so beautiful that it was intimidating to be around her, or interact with her in person. I have to wonder if she isn't aware of that. Oh hell, of course she is. There's no way anyone could be that oblivious to themselves. Anyway, here's a selection of her Enquirer columns. The small headshot doesn't do her justice.

In watching the 10M women's platform diving competition at the Athens Olympics, I can't help but admire the beautiful form of Australia's Loudy Tourky. Not knowing much about diving, I can't criticize her performances, but the judges felt they were good enough to net her the Bronze. One thing that doesn't come across well on television is her petite stature- she's all of 4'10'' and 97 pounds! I don't know if the sport of diving favors her body style, but I sure do. Its rare to see a muscular athlete look so sexy and curvaceous.

I simply have to mention my current fascination with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. Inspired by the 1998 film starring Johnny Depp and Benecio Del Toro, I found the book on which that motion picture is based equally entertaining. If you're into DVD's, I highly recommend the Criterion version of this film. Its rather pricey at $30, but with all the extras and commentaries by Thompson and director Terry Gilliam, its well worth the cost. The commentary by Thompson is hilarious- and very insightful into the background of the author and the politics of making the film.

I guess it was this tasteful spread in FHM that made me think of the sexual nature of the Olympics. Apparently, there are sports that the athletes engage in that don't make the NBC primetime schedule.

This article from the Scotsman goes into detail about the sexual habits of the athletes at the Olympic Village. I like the concept of the vast majority of the athletes realizing that they have no real shot at a medal, and decide to kill time by heavy drinking and promiscuous sex. No really, I do. What's wrong with having the best sex of your life, especially if you don't win a medal? That's fair consolation in my eyes.

This article takes another view of the Olympic sex scene. It also mentions the concept of "true" Olympians vs Olympians/tourists.

Durex is proud to announce that they are the official provider of condoms and lubricants to the Olympians. Wow. . . is it too late to make the team for freestyle blogging?

Amateur radio works again in the public interest. See the American Radio Relay League's ARRLWeb: Hurricane Charley Response Reaffirms Amateur Radio's Value.

Uh oh, somebody's trying to co-opt the Amateur Radio Emergency Services for their own nefarious, probably pro-Communist purposes. I refer to a particularly heated thread of discussion on eham.net. It seems to revolve around the idea that a program called Winlink 2000 could or should replace conventional voice and data traffic nets for ARES use. Interesting. Sort of. Well, not really.

For those of you who want real-time, first hand accounts of the damage Hurricane Charley is inflicting on Florida, tune your shortwave radios to 14.325Mhz USB and/or 3.950Mhz LSB. 14.325 is the Hurricane Watch Net, and is co-ordinated with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. 3.950Mhz is the Florida Emergency Net. Both nets should be active with reports of damage and severe weather from radio amateurs (hams).

Kerry's admission that he would've supported the resolution to invade Iraq, even knowing that weapons of mass destruction wouldn't be found, has effectively doomed the Senator's presidential bid. Now Bush is using that admission on the campaign trail to attack Kerry's weakest point: his failure to distinguish his Iraq policy from Bush's.

Kerry says he would've done things "very differently" by bringing in foreign partners to shoulder the burden of the Iraq War. Such rationale is an insult to our 30+ allies in Iraq, the kind of insult to foreign powers that Kerry says Bush is guilty of. President Bush has now cornered the issue entirely by clearly showing there is little difference between his policy and Kerry's. Now, people who believe the latest Iraq mission was a mistake really have only one choice, that of Ralph Nader. There aren't many people who think that's a realistic choice at all.

I'm off the next two days from my crappy job at a local fuel stop. I think I'll use that time to follow up on several jobs that I had some strong leads on. For example, the Time Warner technical support position looked really attractive to me. I haven't heard anything from them for three weeks now. I've tried calling, but I get no definitive answers about my status. Also, I had applied for a network technician for the local municipal court. That would be a stable, decent job I would think.

I'm also looking at motorcycles, though I can't afford one right now and I've never ridden one. Plus, they seem to be dangerous to the max. Shouldn't I know better? Yeah, probably. But the bikes from Buell sure look sweet. Their smallest model, the Blast, has a whopping 492cc engine. Gee I just might not bust my ass on that thing. Emphasis on the word might.

Well today I spent a miserable 8 hours at the workplace. I was on the
maintenance beat, which today also included stocking the new products
that came in from our convenience store distributor. Not too bad, but
the real problem today was putting up with a co-worker that really
REALLY gets on my nerves. I have to work with him again tomorrow and
then I won't have to deal with him for the foreseeable future. I can
survive one more day I suppose.

My life as it is isn't dangerous enough, so I've begun thinking about
riding a motorcycle. I've never ridden one before, but it looks fun.
I've ridden a bicycle on some of the rural roads next to my home, and I
feel like I could handle a motorcycle of medium stature. I've looked at
the Suzuki Savage, the Honda Shadow Aero and of course, Harley
Davidsons. The Hondas have a good reputation as being mechanically
bulletproof, and since I'm not a gearhead that can easily fix a problem,
I'm leaning in their direction. Plus, they seem to be reasonably priced.

Here in Ohio you can take a state motorcycle training course that will
serve as your practical, on-cycle test for the permanent license.
The classes are all booked up, but I may try to walk-in to a course in
Zanesville in October. By then perhaps enough people will forget about
it, or will think its too cold to ride in October. Either way, odds are
good that I can show up and be included.