empty my head | rants

Okay, I've got to say that the lack of choice is getting REALLY old. I know I keep seeing the commercials where the phone companies are looking to get into the cable provider business, but where in the hell are they? I know Verizon is trying to do it in Howard county where I live. I've seen the trucks. I've seen them digging holes and covering them with sod - about 3 to 4 months ago. So where in the hell is FiOS?

FiOS is meant to be a revolution in cable television. For those of you who are unaware, it's cable television delivered through fiber optic cable instead of the dated coaxial cable that Crotchcast uses. That means faster internet access, clearer televison stations and supposedly lower cost. I want a choice now! My cable bill went up 40% this month! Apparently, I did not get the basic cable I signed up for a year ago (keep in mind I did not have an HD tv at the time). So I was apparently on a 1 year promotional rate. Who raises a bill 40% without telling you? Congress, if you're out there - we need you to help. We are all already getting screwed by the power companies. I guess next year prices are going to triple on sugared cereal?

The Dow has been getting crushed over the past 2 days, just in time to coincide with a Fed rate increase and a summer fuel consumption forecast that was less than expected. Gold is still over $700, but it's starting to dip (NXG has been getting crushed over the last 2 days as well). No industries to really get excited about, unless you're into medical stocks.

Pretty funny stuff. Not the product, but the frog who is wiping his butt. Click here and click on the toilet wipes under "Product Demonstration."

It's like a match made in heaven. I chew gum all the time and I certainly drink plenty of coffee. Leave it to Wrigley's to combine the two. I saw it in 7 Eleven today. It's probably awful, but I'll give it a try and let you know!

Okay boys, I know this post may be out of line. But you'll be in this situation someday and you'll thank me later. Today's subject...wedding photographers! Seriously, keep reading.

Well, Aimee and I have really had our hands full while looking for one. We actually travelled up to Pennsylvania a few weeks ago to meet with one photographer. To protect the guilty (and keep me from getting sued), we'll call him Richard Penisface. RP sure seemed like a nice guy until he told us about the evil world of wedding photography. "This is a shady business," he said. "Sometimes people book a photographer and a different photographer shows up. That's a big deal when you selected a photographer based on their work. Sometimes people pay up front and the photographer never shows up at all."

He went on to tell us how much he'd like to work with us. "What a nice guy!", we thought. "We like his work and his prices. And he's SO professional."

So Aimee and I let a few days go by and we emailed him letting him know that we would like to use him. "Wait!", he said. "I had an AMY call me last night to book for that very same date. I thought it was you." Okay jackass. Fine. We'll find someone else in this industry.

Okay, so we're back to looking for a photographer. We find another one we like and decide to pay him a visit. He's got fantastic work and he's within our budget. So we meet with him and ask all the right questions. Seems like a good match. Aimee then decides to post a message asking about our new prospective photographer, who we will call "Michael Imcomingupbehindyourightnow on that place where male genitalia goes to die - Yes, the knot. Booyaahhhh! Nothing but glowing reviews! Except for one post. One bride to be did caution us to me sure that HE was actually going to be the photographer.

So we decide to email him and tell him that we want to sign on with him, but that we just wanted to double check that HE will actually be photographing us (I know guys, I don't want to be in pictures either). No response for 2 days from a guy that typically responds within 62 nanoseconds. We finally got a response from him yesterday saying he WILL be our photographer. Boring I know, but stay with me for 2 more seconds. Okay, so I'm thinking at this point that he was actually trying to find another photographer to cover another wedding so he could shoot ours, which is why he took so long to respond.

So my point in all of this guys is that this industry sucks. It's filled with amateurs that pose as professionals, liars and crooks - just like your uncle Chester that always asks your kid sister to come behind the poohouse with him. Laugh now, but you will find out someday. Oh yeah, and they all charge way too much also.

Right now, the market seems to be quite favorable for mineral and precious metal stocks. A stock I really like right now is Northgate Minerals Corporation. I've been watching this stock for a few months and I think we'll see it rise a few more points before the profit taking starts. I caught this stock on a screen I use and quickly realized that it was undervalued when compared with it's peers in it's industry. That was at $2.53 a share. It didn't hurt that earnings pretty much exploded when reported recently. We've coming off a new 52 week high, so you may want to wait a while and see how things shake out.

CNBC has a new stock picking contest that I have been participating in for the last month or so. What a great game! Okay, so I'm not new to the world of fantasy anything. I've done fantasy football and baseball, but I suck at both of those if you don't count the season when I had some reclaimed running backs that somehow put me in second place in my ESPN league.

Anyway, I'm finding this game as addicting as the real stock market itself. I'm currently ranked in the top 2% of the league (even though I have no idea how many people are actually in it. Could be 100 for all I know). The grand prize is a "sweet 400HP, limited production 2006 Maserati GranSport." I have no idea what the car costs, but you'd better believe that I would sell it right after my test drive if I won! Okay, so I'm not going to win. But the game is a blast regardless.

Welcome.

Hi everyone, welcome to my first attempt at an online blog. My intent is to update this spac on a semi-regular / regular basis with anything I can think of that may be worthy of your interest. Please check back often.

My best friend and I go pretty far back. Take a few minutes to check out his site. Plenty of cool links to his other sites.

Be sure to check out Bill's College. I've actually known this guy since my days at College Park. Some cool and funny stuff on this blog.