An e-mail scam attempt; hopefully entertaining

I was reading an article this morning about fraud detection. We (as in IBM) can help minimized fraud if you are using the Mainframe with our DB2 Analytics Accelerator. However, believe it or not, that is not what this post is about. Today’s is a little lighter in nature. Today’s post is just one of my brain dumps. Today’s post is me voicing my opinions (gee, something different…LOL). Finally, today’s post was prompted by an e-mail I received this morning.

When are you going to answer that e-mail I sent you?

Ever find yourself asking that question?   I do… well not to the actual person in most cases,  but I do hear myself saying it in my head all the time.  However, is it a fair question to ask, even if you are not asking it out loud?

I often forget that all people are not addicted to e-mail and social media apps as badly a I am.

There, I’ve admitted.  I addicted to be connected.

It drives me crazy when I send someone an e-mail and I don’t hear back from them for days.  That bazaar anxiety even carries over to when I post a message on Facebook, DM someone via Twitter, or even if I am just sending them a text message.   I need immediate satisfaction, I NEED a reply.

Sound weird?  Well, maybe.  However, I am also that guy that gets all excited even when the snail-mail gets delivered, even when that snail-mail delivered turns out to be just junk mail.  I’m also that oddball that opens everything for fear there’s a hidden treasure in one of those obscurely labeled envelopes.

I guess I have a need (maybe even an unhealthy need) to be connected to the outside world… Maybe I just spend way too much time in my office…. LOL

But getting back to my e-mail and social obsessions, I always forget that I sit at a computer for 8-12 hours a day during the week and probably another 5 hours per day on the weekends, or within a stones throw from my iPhone or iPad.  They’re always right there in front of me.   Whenever I’m notified that I have mail or a new message, I have the opportunity to immediately respond.   Sometimes, I can even respond too quickly… (but that could be an entire other blog post)….

I am working on cutting the rest of the world a break though, trying to convince myself that everyone isn’t responding because they don’t have immediate access to a computer.

But wait… we all have smart phones now.   I can get my mail, or at least most of my mail, on my smart phone.  Depending on which smart phone I’m carrying, I can even get to my work mail if I want.

All of my social applications are also on my phone.  In fact, the social stuff is probably easier to access on my phone than on my computer.  Although I do HATE typing on my phone.  Thumbs are too fat and awkward… I end up hitting the wrong letter about 1/3 of the time… and worse yet, my phone is constantly trying to watch out for me by correctly my spelling.   I still haven’t figured out how it comes up with some of its spelling correction based on what I had just entered.   That’s another mystery for us to discuss in the future in a different blog post.

For now, I actually want to apologize to everyone for expecting you to spend your entire day waiting to respond to one of my mails or messages…. even if I am only getting upset in my head.

Dwight Yoakam performance at Houston’s Arena Theater

Last night (Friday, December 20, 2013) we had the opportunity to catch Dwight Yoakam show at Houston’s Arena Theater.  On a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is the best, I would give his singing an easy 9.5; this guy is terrific.  For energy, another 9.5 is well deserved.  He came out, started to play, and went just about non stop until the end of his show.   The only time he took any time between songs is when he was changing guitars.  Otherwise, it was end a song, count to 21, and start the next one.  He was pretty much like the Energizer Bunny the entire evening.

In the category of punctuality, he was definitely a solid 2.  He start almost 45 minutes late.  No one ever said why.  They were scheduled to start at 8:00 PM.  In reality, he started to sing around 8:45 PM; not cool.   However, for some reason, everyone who performs at the Arena Theater manages to start 30 to 90 minute behind schedule.  We have now seen 4 shows there and only one of them started even close to on-time.

Finally, there the issue of volume.   He had lots of volume and the volume slowly increased as the show progressed.   It wasn’t just loud either.  It was muffled, like it had too much bass turned up.  I will never understand why a group needs that much power in a small venue like the Arena Theater.   The way they were cranking it up, you would think they were playing in Reliant Stadium.

I can’t believe a well season professional like Mr Yoakam doesn’t realize he is doing himself and injustice playing at those sound level.   His music and his vocals are both excellent, there just wasn’t a need to be able to hear them in the next county.

As for the Arena Theater, it’s old but nice.   In most cases, we enjoy going there.  Parking is pretty straightforward, seats are OK, and the popcorn is not too bad.   If they had a solution for the drunks at the end of the night, it would be a top notch place to see bands.

What I did over my summer vacation

For the last two weeks I did, what was for me, two things nothing short of amazing for my “summer vacation”.

I took a 3,300 mile road trip and I didn’t use my computer.

Music, music everywhere, and I do mean everywhere

When I was a teenager, I used to buy record albums; the kind on black vinyl . And I bought a lot of them.  You see, playing in a band at 14 years old gave me an excuse to buy more records than I really should have.  I also had my income to pay for them, that made it even worse.  After all the extra money when your that young with nothing to spend it was terrible.  Heck, on some occasions, we’d make $40.  That’s $40 for the entire band.  But ut still gave me the extra cash and the excuse to feed my musical habit…….

How much food can you carry

Last night I went to an all-you-eat Chinese buffet with friends.  This place is a pretty decent buffet.   They are just busy enough to keep the selection fresh but not so busy that you have to wait to get it on sand in line for the General Tso’s Chicken.   the place is easy to get to with lots of parking and a nice atmosphere to enjoy the company of friends.  The restaurant is nice, the restaurant is also not the problem.

The problem is, some of the people who frequent this place and other restaurants like it……

It’s an all you can eat buffet, not an all you can carry.   This place (and most buffets I have visited) keep an ample supply of everything they have to offer flowing and available.   They don’t tend to run out very often.  In fact, this particular Chinese buffet has never run out of a selection to the best of my knowledge…..

Hi and Welcome

As the title implies, you have arrived at my blog where I plan to do a lot of “whining” and complaining about things in my everyday life that annoy me.  I will also be posting about goofy stuff (the cheesy part of the title) that I find amusing.

Stick around, follow, and hopefully enjoy.   If you smile or agree, then I have accomplished my goal.

Willie