Pain_Man

"They're signing up the seamen fast!" Fortunately, when I was six or seven, I missed understood the connotation complete. And my poor, dear utterly naive mother* had no clue. My old man, though, he thought it was funnier than hell since he got the joke. *We had to explain what the doobie in The Doobie Brothers stood for.

Being a resident of Nevada, sadly, this is not true. You can ask my brother-in-law whose currently sitting in County. He wasn't out of prison in Kansas but 13 days and he was back behind bars in Nevada. Needless to say, I've had it with his dumbass. for two years we put money on his books so he could at least live like a human being. We helped to straighten out some of the legal bullshit he'd gotten himself into. We paid for his bus ticket out here. My wife, his little sister, bougth him new clothes, shoes, gave him cash. And he's back in jail again and on dope charges again. Of course, he's screaming he's innocent. He's been in their since Jan. Given how overcrowded they are, I doubt they're keeping him around for the helluva it.

I could be wrong, but I don't think buttfuckers ( ) have monopoly on, if you'll forgive the pun, the assholery.

I can only concur. I can think lots better things to do with teenaged girls than putting them in jail. Take them to a museum or a library or an art gallery. You know, broaden their horizons. (Nope, didn't work. This one'll get me in trouble. ) But this the line that gets me: "The potential is always present when dealing with a suspicious package that it could be deadly," McCoy told the Record-Courier. "In today's day and age, you just cannot do this kind of stuff." You almost here the hysterical excitment in this nimrods voice. "A case! This could be a real case!!! No more complaints about the neighbor's dog shitting in Old Man MacCready's front yard. No more pocket knives at the junior high! Yee-haw! It'll almost be like I'm a real cop." This guy sounds like one of the idiot Sheriffs in a Spenser novel. In other words, out of fiction. Can any one be this stupid? If I were a terrorist, would I put a bomb in a box shaped like Super Fucking Mario brothers?! No, I hide the sucker underneath the stands at the next high school sporting event. Then I might, you, know cause some casualties. This, however, is another example of how keeping your mouth shut is not seldom the wisest policy. Like the old Depeche Mode song, "Policy of Truth."

Not at all, got the 1650 and a Pioneer 111D by mail for less than I paid for the 1655 . About 23 Pounds Sterling a piece. Had to remove a NEC 3520 & a Liteon 167T ROM to make room though, kept the 1655 and a Plex 716, no more room at the Inn . Getting some lovely scans with the Pioneer & TYG02's . My 716A decided it didn't want to be a burner anymore, it wanted to be a ROM. So, after only 15 months, it was "retired." I bought a Pioneer 110D at BestBuy. Only later did I discover I'd gotten screwed by paying twice what they were going for on the Net at various sites (hell I paid twice what your 111D is going for; but looking at the relative specs there doesn't seem to be much difference). Getting into my VAIO's box is a royal pain in the ass (not to mention unpluggin 40189 cables!) so I didn't take it back. Besides, it would have cost me a 15% restock fee. I hate restock fees. So I ate the difference. Not happily. I also ordered, as some may know, the new Plextor 760A. The pricing on those are pretty uniform and even though its faster, its actually less than the 716A. I've got a replacement 760A on the way. If its got a problem too, I'll return it for the refund and buy an NEC 3550A most likely. I don't know anything about Benq. Heard some unflattering stuff about their blank media, but not much about their drives. Caught some marital flack, but what the hell. It's not like we're living off credit cards anymore. I protest, "We've got the cash!" Somehow, that don't cut much ice with her. On the other hand, I've no doubt I'll die rich because of her...frugality.

Today, I called customer service/sales at the company that handles Plextor's web sales. Great service. I'm still convinced I've just got a bum drive. So they are shipping me a new one. Once I get it, I have to ship the old one back and then they'll reimburse me for the shipping. (!) Hard to beat that level of service. Since I don't think anyone believes that HyperThreading has anything to do with burning screwed up DLs, I'm staying with the bad unit scenario. I'll plug the new one in and test it out. If it's the same problem, then I'll ship it back for a refund and buy an NEC 3550A or something. But, so far, so good. Guy was nice to deal with and no bullshit. He suggested shipping the new one, I didn't even have to ask.

No, they aren't on the list. But we watch Minty very closely. All the time. (He doesn't know it, but I'm really a double agent with the CIA.)

Damn PM..... makes me wanna go back to work....... Tazer's a lot of fun, hunh? Shot 'em and then zap 'em while taking bets to see how high they can jump? "Six feet!" I had one encounter with your former colleagues when I lived in Indiana. Guy was as nice as he could be. I had a headlight out and a tail-light and my driver's license was a helluva mess (too long to explain here but he could have legally seized the car). He let me go. Oh, he was also extremely polite. One of the nicest cops I've ever run into (in a potentially "confrontational" situation, that is). None of this "YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITY" bullshit. So my impression of the Indiana State cops remains a good one. The West Lafayette locals were cool too. I ran a red light in front of a W. Lafayette captain (I just happened to be driving by County Jail). It had been snowing (that kind that melts as soon as it hits the ground and makes a soupy, slick mess) and I got distracted by something to me left--no it wasn't a pair of DDs--and I ended up sailing through the red light. It was either that or spin out. I explained this to the cop and he accepted it, no ticket. Then, as he turned to walk away, I said, "Sir, you might want to know, before you call me in, that my driver's license is suspended, I have no insurance and the truck's tags are punched." His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. I could see them around his shades. He was so shocked he couldn't speak for a moment. Then all he said was, "Take it home, park it and get all of it fixed. I see you again and you're not legal, I'm taking it." Indiana cops, nicest I've ever dealt with anywhere (the only place my civil rights haven't been violated.) I don't know anywhere else I could talk myself out of two tickets and getting my car impounded (twice!) all in a month. My ex-wife may have been conducting penile research with most of the campus at Purdue, but the cops were righteous. The Purdue Campus cops on the other hand...

Well...glad to see we're still in agreeement PM, you were gone so long I figured you'd become a Mormon or something..... It was close, man. The Mormons are kidnapping people and forcing them to listen to readings from the Book of Mormon until they crack. Then you get to make things with egg cartons. However, I flashed my Tom Cruise Scientology Decoder ring and the Mormons were thrown into a fit of couch-hopping, Oprah hugging hysteria. In the chaos, I was able to, uh, make good my escape.

That's a common misconception...only issues dealing with firearms, fireworks, big oil, cattle, alien abductions, the death penalty and lynchings are totally legal, all others depend on the whim of the Governor...... That's one of the reasons us Northern people go to Florida for vacation instead..... You northern people go to Florida because ya ain't ever been to San Diego or Vegas. Hmmm, which to choose? Tropical jungle infested with Volkswagon sized cockroaches and 300% humidity :& ...or...300 days of sun a year, an avg temp of 72, nine inches of rain/yr and no insectoid leftovers from the age of dinosaurs. Or you can come to Vegas, time it right and you can catch acts you might never otherwise see. You can also leave as much of your lovely money on the tables and in the slot machines as you desire. Our state treasury thanks you. And the heat, unlike the tropical hell of Florida, the heat here lasts three months. The rest of the year is quite pleasant. And bugs? No stinking bugs! My parents were in Miami for the '94 Superbowl. It was more disgusting and filthy than they had even imagined. The old man said he wouldn't go back if you paid him. His exact phrase, if memory serves was, "It was worse than TJ." That is, Tijuana. (If you've never been down there, its a helluva an experience. The cops are just uniformed employees of the drug cartel.)

I have shaken hands with Village People! You are but lowly scum in my presence. BEGONE! Did you wash that hand!?!?!

Yes we can all rest easy. There may be 200 serial killers roaming the streets of America. There may be a 16,000 murders a year. But they got the guy with the coke! A tremendous victory for the forces of law and order. (!)

No, it's hard to sing "In the Navy" when you realize they were deliberately misspelling "seamen."

It's not illegal, you just went to the wrong experiment in college.

Cheech & Chong? Or was that "Reach for the..."? "C'mon, you can hold it. :&

Damn it, man! Stay outta my "medicine" cabinet! I find the padlock cut one more time and I'm chaining your burners shut.

Thanks, 'Wheel. And belated happy birthday.

Crule: Accidentally clicked on SVP Communications link. I gather its a British site: there was a picture of a mini-soccer ball incorrectly labelled as a "mini-football." Sorry, couldn't help myself. The really ironic part? The only organized sport I ever played was...soccer! (Which, btw, is a British term: from Assocciation Football.) I was fullback and goalie (A goalie's a goalie but I've no idea what you guys call a fullback; basically its where they put you when you can't run fast. ). We were also 1-15. We had good defense but if you can't score... And why do we call football, football? Originally, the only way to score was by kicking the ball through the endzone. (The goal posts came later.) Then someone came up with the bright idea of borrowing some stuff from Rugby. My grandfather played in the old leather helmet days, i.e. no pads, just a leather hat.

The smallest anyway.

Bingo. Came out in 1985. Methinkso thou art north of 30 to remember that one. Great album. Lots of blurred memories of, ah, extended braincell desctruction sessions. north of 30 is right I was living in NYC, only in West Palm a little over a year before I came down I saw ,Clapton ,Blue Oyster Cult ,Marshall Tucker ,Robin Trower,Buddy Guy, John Mayall ,Johnny Winter ,Edgar , BB King just to name a few saw most at BB Kings club on 42nd St. Manhattan, a small club about 400 seats, great view from everywhere anyone ever visiting New York should catch a shoe www.bbkingblues.com Can't hang with the NY vibe, but there are definitely cool things about the place. I'm a Southern California boy, San Diego to be exact (and it's an important distinction, tho' it means nothing now, in the 70s and 80s the difference between LA and San Diego was bigger than the diff between NYC and Chicago). Growing up in San Diego in the 70s and early 80s was like a different dimension. At my high school, in three years, there were three fights. Three. If you got out of line, the School Cop would dragged you out in cuffs in front of everyone. One of the administrators was 6'6 and 250 of muscle. Not a man to be trifled with. So all the stories I hear about evil, marauding jocks and vicious sosh bitches--not my school. Not at all. On, and just to drop names, Charisma Carpenter was in my class ('88). And Jake E. Lee graduated two yrs before me. As for shows, in seven years of marriage I've been to more shows than the 28 before. Last year, I saw the Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Dennis Miller, Harry Connick Jr*, and U2. I've also seen, here in Vegas, Andrea Bocelli, Wayne Brady and the Blueman Group (comp'd 'cause I tempted at the Luxor). And I know I'm forgetting some other shows. I missed Rush though. The show was scheduled right in the middle of that crap with Alex in Florida and I was afraid it would get cancelled due to a trial (and it was police brutality exactly as I said it was; he's sued the cops and Sheriff's dept for violation of his Civil Rights [i.e. human rights]. Let's hope he wins an 8-figure verdict. With the chutzpuh that only the Fuzz have, they've sued him! Four cops taze you, beat you with their T-47s like you were steak, toss you down a flight of stairs, break your nose and falsely imprison you, not to mention, beat the crap out of your son before your eyes, handcuff your daughter in law and tear your screaming grandkid out her arms. And they've got the cojones to sue him!) Hopefully, they'll be back. *His father, DA of New Orleans for 30 years actually got on stage and performed. And damned if they man couldn't have had his own singing career. He was amazing.

That's the next test. I even ordered a new tenner of DLs (plus my first pack of -R DLs) since I've used so many DLs (five of the damn things, well one was just bad and coastered) messing with this issue. Now that I've got more on the way, I'm going to go ahead and hit the BIOS, disable HT and burn one with Plextor. I'll be one surprised SOB if the TS Twerp was right. (I shouldn't say that; hardly fair to my Mom.) If would be one thing if I'd put up my post and ten or fifteen of you guys had said, "Oh yeah, the goddamned HT problem! Bummer you ran into that one, dude!" But nobody did. I have yet to see ANY post from anybody with a similar experience. *** I did have a problem with SpeedStep on my laptop. The "Reinstall Disc" that you have to make for OEM PCs (effing Redmond!) would NOT reload the OS. I was convinced it had to be a hardware issue--and it was! But like a dumbass, I took it to BestBuy, where I'd bought it, and those Cro-magnons had my laptop for 12 days, telling me the whole time there was NO hardware issue that it was all software and I'd have to pay $90 to get my shit back! So not only did they not know JACK about PCs THEY didn't bother to call Gateway to consult. If they had, they'd have discovered what I did....because... ...when they gave it back it STILL wouldn't work. They forgot to charge me and I didn't offer to pay. I wasn't going to anyway. Not after 12 damned days. They handed me the laptop right off the bat, so even if they had planned on asking for money, they wouldn't have gotten any. And if I had paid, after I learned what I subsequently did from Gateway, I would have gone to dispute resolution with the credit card company. In the US if you stop pmt on a check, the merchant automatically receives three times the face value of the check unless you can prove intentional fraud (I know, what's "unintentional" fraud? But this is Legalese, the appearance of which is the first sign freedom is beginning to die). So you can't stop payments in 99.999% of situations. So that's another advantage of paying with plastic. If there IS a problem you've got a lot better chance of getting your cash back. Anyway, to end my verbosity, the resolution turned out to be simple: I should have listened to my wife. If I'd called Gateway first instead of giving it to the apes at BestBuy I'd have been told I had to disable SpeedStep, run the install and then re-enable. Worked like a charm. Just should have listened to my wife. Would have saved me 12 days of aggravation and dealing with a smart-ass idiot who had no business repairing can openers, let alone PCs. If I had listened to my lovely lady, I'd have been up and running in less than an hour.

I find not liquifying an excellent quality in all drives, internal, external, optical or magnetic.

The biggest thing that makes this smell to me is that my previous Plex, the 716A and my new Pioneer 110D both burn DLs without an issue. I burned one today without any issue on the Pioneer. As I've said, I'll talk to the sales department Monday. See if I can't get them to send me a new one. Or return it free of charge for, perhaps, another 716A. It was an excellent drive. It just died too young (15 months!). I don't see how an error in the CPU can cause "stutters" (or "burps" if someone's got a better sounding technical term, pls lay it on me) in ONE kind of drive and with ONE kind of media. In the 760SA, the SAME video burned to a 6x DVD-RW was perfect. Granted my technical knowledge is not not that deep when it comes to DVD Video (when daugther was about three she'd call them, "DVD and Video".), but I can't fathom how the explanation I got makes any sense. I've done TS and it sounds too much like the bullshit we were told to tell Dell's unfortunate customers.

Don't feel too bad, I had over 6000 posts, does it realy matter? Of course it doesn't really matter, Just bitching. And not at Lightning. My target...is elsewhere.

I recently spent $30 to join, for a year, a site called driveragent.com. I think I got jobbed. The first driver I isntalled, that the site assured me was approprate for an old video card*, screwed XP up so it wouldn't boot. Fortunately, I was able to boot to safe mode and roll it back. XP booted but my main video card--ATI Radeon 9550 w/256MB--was presenting screwed up graphics. Fortunately, I'd set a Restore Point. Using it fixed all the issues--I hope; in any event the displays went back to normal. Plus a diagnostic program came with the "membership" than doesn't work! I think its a CRC error. Plus it writes to a floppy disk! So I've asked for a refund. So far, no response. If they ignore me or say no, I'll just take it to the credit card company. (*An admittedly ancient second video card for my second monitor, a Creative Graphics Blaster Riva TNT 16Mb, I know, a-n-c-i-e-n-t , but it works good enough to power my equally ancient second monitor which I use for the clock prog and the Net Trace prog that I run to keep an eye on who and what's connected to the ol' desktop)