The SPAM Continues

The spam filter in gmail seems to be doing a pretty good job. We're now over 7000 , with about 5 or so making it through the filter each day. I had to time the screenshot just so, as I post it's already at 7005.

Hilarious....This is a wonderful new world, isn't it?

Edit 7/7: The final count got to almost 9000, before the spam box was emptied. In all truthfulness though, apparently Google deletes everything older than a month once a month. So at its peak there was 2 months of SPAM. And things must be slowing down, I'm only at 4300 right now.

The Davrita

At one point I was in search of the perfect margarita. I never figured it out, but came up with the Davrita. If you like the taste of tequila, you will find the first one goes down surprisingly easy. And then you'll want another one. After you finish the second, you'll find your judgment seriously impaired and think a third one is a good idea. Occasionally people make it through the third Davrita and start a fourth. This is waste as I've never seen anyone (including the inventor) successfully finish the fourth. The closest anyone has come to my knowledge is spilling the damn thing.

Anyhow, to make the Davrita you need a good tequila. And a pint glass with some ice cubes....


Fill the glass about 1/2 - 2/3 with tequila depending on how many ice cubes are taking up precious volume. Next, add some orange stuff, like Contreau. Say about a 1/3 of the amount of tequila:

By now your glass should be close to 3/4 full. Add the juice of one fresh lime:


Finally, if you want to cut it a bit, fill up the rest with orange juice and add just a pinch of salt. Stir gently and give someone else your keys -- you're finished.

Google Spam Box

Here's a trick you can play on someone you don't like. But make sure that you really don't like them and make sure they can't figure out it was you.....

Take their name, address, e-mail address, and home phone number. Go on sites for life insurance quotes, payday loans, auto loans and quotes, moving companies, even in-home blind consultations. Anything you can think of. Copy and paste the person's contact info in, requesting more information. Giggle....they're screwed.

Near as I can tell, that's what happened to me. Either one of y'all out there don't like me (understandable at times), or (and I'm secretly hoping this is the case) some kid just hacked a company mailing list and started pranking everyone on it. A couple months have passed, and it doesn't look like any ID theft or anything. First, why would they alert me like that? Second, I've checked my credit and put an alert on my account. Third, they apparently didn't have my SSN or birthday based on what they entered for life insurance.

The phone calls have pretty much stopped finally, as they were almost all legit businesses trying to follow up a lead. But my SPAM filter on my gmail account has exploded. At least it seems to work. I used to average around 400-500, as any over 30 days automatically were deleted. You can see where I'm at now. I'm waiting to hit 5000, but I though 4444 was a pretty cool number.

Dave

Obsessed

I go through phases of obsession with a certain extracurricular activity. It's who I am. At times I think it brings Erin to tears. I think she would like to see a long-term obsession with finishing the house. These obsessions usually last a couple weeks, sometimes a couple months. But they never completely go away, just fall down the list behind the new obsession.

Six weeks ago I got obsessed with chess. Yes, chess. Marlee joined the chess club. I always liked chess as a kid, but never really learned anything about it except for the rules. I knew no strategy, and so I got my butt whooped every single time. 20 years later, I'm enthralled with it and the strategy involved. I'm still getting whooped, but now I understand why and am improving quickly. Chess was the first app I downloaded to my iPhone.

Chess has been bumped down the list this week and replaced by the re-emergence of my climbing obsession. It's just about all I can think about since Sunday (see the Dave & Co post.) I've been online at work (both during breaks and times when I should be more productive) trying to find and devour any sites devoted to tree climbing. I gave in and ordered a book (On Rope - North American Vertical Rope Techniques) that I've been wanting for a year or more. But what I really want more than anything else is a new saddle that I can hang comfortably in for hours at a time from New Tribe. At night I've been practicing new knots and rigging configurations in the basement.

To add to my current obsession, I've started reading The Wild Trees. Well, I started reading it at home Wednesday night, but became so hooked that I now listen to it in the car on the way to work as well. It's non-fiction, but I think even non-climbers would really like the way he puts the stories together. It's awesome and I highly recommend it. I will probably stay up late tonight to finish it.

It's interesting that the book is based on the canopy rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, including the areas around where I grew up. I really want to go home and visit with all my climbing gear. I know there are some huge Douglas firs up behind our property up there. Not giants like in the book, but still quite big. I'm also looking forward to taking the kids camping down in Jedediah State Park this summer. I think I'll have a new appreciation for the redwoods.

I did get a kids' harness for Marlee for Easter. I can't wait for Sunday to come. The weather is supposed to be nice, so we should be able to go out and climb for awhile. Cailin wants in too. I may have to get a second harness. Or even upgrade to one of New Tribe's kid saddles. Last night I was teaching Marlee how to tie the necessary knots. She definitely has the knack.

Well, I need to hit the pause button long enough to earn my paycheck.

Investing and Passover Jokes

So, I can't help but feel there are some good opportunities in investing right now. Opportunities to make a lot of money, but also opportunities to fuck up and lose even more. My boss pointed me to this guy with a fair amount of money who writes a daily article that has a little insight, but a lot of humor. I'm going to copy this passover joke straight off of his site, (http://technologyinvestor.com/) I might add this to my morning routine of checking the headlines and Dilbert.

Today is the first day of Jewish Passover. Part 1.
An elderly man in Miami calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough."

"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams.

"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her." And he hangs up.

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone, "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this."

She calls her father immediately and screams at him, "You are not getting divorced! Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing. Do You Hear Me?" And she hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says," They're both coming for Passover and paying their own airfares.

new ipod shuffle

Now very small, with integrated controls in the headset. Someone's NY Times comment sums it up.

"Next step: the iMplant: Speakers in the mastoids with subcutaneous controls behind either ear, wireless recharging and wireless connection to iTunes. Modify me, Culture! Modify me!"

Rant

I give up. This is about the futility of using Evite. If you happen to read this and are offended because you think I'm talking about you, well, I just might be. But I'm also tired and grumpy and will be over this and moving on to my next gripe shortly, so don't let it improve your opinion of me.

I've kind of avoided using evite anymore than I need to, along with twitter, facebook, and other social narcissitic and invasive web applications. (The exception is how I recently broke down and started blogging, so stone me.) But it is sometimes harder to not give in and could potentially be useful if everyone used it properly. Like say for a Keg Party for St. Patrick's Day where a person needs enough people to show up to finish the keg.

Tons of people don't ever respond, so those are easy to classify as "No". Even the "Maybes" I usually ignore, they rarely actually make it. But for the people who say "Yes", an accurate head count is very useful for buying food, etc. However, this never works like it is supposed to. I send the invite to both husbands and wives, girlfriends and boyfriends, etc. Inevitably the one person responds and says "Yes (+2 guests)" or the like. Several days later the second also will respond the same way or ask a question or make a comment in their post, thereby double counting. Other people just can't seem to count. Evite lets you go in and edit the responses, changing people like Mark Melendez from a "Yes" with a comment saying how he can't make it with the baby coming, to a "No" which I'm sure he meant. But this is painfully slow and quickly frustrating. When I try sending to just one party to avoid duplicate responses, what you get is usually no response. You can't win. I can't win. Let's just pour a pint.

There are those that like to e-mail me and say they can or can't come, etc. So they never show up on the list at all. Of course, I can't necessarily blame the people who refuse to use Evite. But I think I'll blame the people who use it incorrectly.

Rant finished.