Unruly Behavior

As I said in a previous post, I made a trip to the Northeast last weekend to hang out with my friends from Clan Easy Frag last weekend.

On Saturday we went into Manhattan and spent the day and part of the evening. For dinner we stopped at Papaya King for what Julia Child called "The Best Hot Dog in New York City." I first found out about Papaya King from the Unwrapped TV show on the Food Network.

So I had my friends Clan Easy Frag take me there last weekend to find out what all the fuss was about for these hot dogs.

So off we went, after a short subway ride and a walk around a park in the rain, we got down the block to Papaya King. For 6ish on a Saturday night, the place was mostly deserted. I opted for two dogs with onions and mustard. Then followed up with a Kraut and mustard dog. I also went with their original Papaya drink and a few of my friend Robert's curley fries.

The hot dogs at Papaya King are incredible. The dogs have a unique flavor and texture that we don't get down in the south for such a treat. The sauted onions were lightly spiced and really complimented the dogs well. But the biggest surprise was the Papaya King mustard. It is their own special blend, kind of a cross between brown deli mustard and Dijon mustard. It was because of this that I went for that third Kraut dog. And the price was pretty reasonable too, I got 3 dogs and a drink for a little under six dollars.

The seasoned curley fries were hot, spicy and damn good, made me disappointed that I didn't order some of my own, but it did leave room for the third hot dog.

Now the Papaya drink was another story. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad. I wouldn't order it again, it just didn't taste like I expected, and I thought it would be served ice cold, and it came out just a little chilled.

The restaurant overall was much smaller than it appeared on TV, but was very clean, and the guys working there were really nice while serving out the food.

So, overall - Hot Dogs 5 Stars - Fries 5 Stars - Papaya Drink 2.5 Stars

I'd recommend Papaya King to anyone out there that likes Hot Dogs.

Labels: dining, review, travel

Houston had a population of about 4 Million last year before the Katrina Evacuees moved here.

Roughly 150,000 folks from New Orleans live here now.

That is a 3.8 percent (.038) increase in population.

Yet our Murder and Violent Crime rates have more than doubled in the time since they arrived.

When will these assholes go home?

Never!

Here is a story about the increased crime rate:
What Part Of Town Is Most Deadly?

Here is a link to the map of the crime for the worst area:
Crime Map

Good news? I hardly ever go to that part of town, and they are mostly killing each other, so each time you see a New Orleans Resident get murdered in Houston, we are one more idiot closer to being back to the way things should be here.

Labels: Katrina

Ok, after my fun with Microsoft last week, the folks in India / Bangladesh / Wherever keep calling me back, trying to follow up. I keep telling them I'm not interested, that the problem has been resolved.

Today they asked me to rate the tech's performance on a scale of 0 to 9. I said, "I don't remember." They said "So from 0-9, where do you rate her?" I inquired, "Which part of I don't remember did you not understand?" They said, "The last part." Then repeated the question.

I hung up.

Just what I need after a long weekend of tequila drinking. People that don't understand basic English and work in customer support.

By the way, the PST Truncation Tool I needed I had to find on my own, the download link is supplied below, you don't have to go through Microsoft phone support to download the tool as they say in the Tech Net article.

Download details: Exchange 2000 Tool: PST2GB

Labels: bad support, microsoft

Ok, I'm on vacation in New Jersey this weekend. Went into New York City today with a bunch of my online gaming friends from Clan Easy Frag, and learned that Tourtette Syndrom sufferers are lucky if they live in New Jersey. Not like those unlucky bastards in Nebraska. Maybe it's becuase the general population of New Jersey tends to walk around swearing under their breath anyway and the Tourettes folks just blend in better around here...

Labels: health, travel, wtf, xbox

Ok, I'm working on a major migration today. Never any fun. There are always snage. I've run into an e-mail archive that is too big to import, so I found the article listed below and called Microsoft as recommended to get thier downloadable tool to fix my problem.

Of course, I am connected to a call center in India. I'm now on hold for my fourth tech in 40 minutes, to download this free tool that they won't just let me download on my own. Great, I can't just have this, and you don't hire people smart enough to route me to the right department to download the tool now in three tries.

The current tech asked me, "Can I place you on hold to transfer you to the right department?"

My response? "Sure, place me on hold, do you think the fourth try is any more likely to get me to the right department?"

At least the customer i getting a laugh out of the conversation.

Tank you! Com ugin!

"Outlook.pst can not be accessed - 0x80040116" error message when you start Outlook 2000 or open a personal folder file

Labels: bad support, exchange, microsoft

Seems a bunch of "Immigrants" (read Illegal Aliens) in East Houston didn't bother to show up for work so that they could attend an immigration rally.

Now they are complaining that it is unfair that they got fired. They have famlies to feed. They have children.

What they lack is professional courtsey, a sense that the rules apply to them just like everyone else.

I say, "Every Juan Go Home".

Our country as been invaded, and overrun without a shot being fired. It's time to tell these folks to GO HOME.

My great-grandparents immigraged from Ireland. Legally. They learned English. They did not request voting and other government forms in Galic. They did require their children to go to school and get an education. They did work hard to fit in and become part of the culture.

They never asked for handouts, free health care, or marched in the streets with an Irish flag.

Tell them to all, GO HOME.

Immigrants fired for ditching work for rally.

Labels: illegal immigrant, politics

Ok, so I'm watching racing on the Speed Channel this afternoon, just relaxing, taking care of some e-mail business. This advertisement comes on with police searching room, putting a keyboard in an evidence bag, then the narriator, a young woman says, "Before you start an online relationship with a guy, think of where it could end." Then comes up with the tag that "1 in 5 kids online is sexually solicited".

That's great. Except for one thing, there are thousands of people in good relationships online that no one got killed.

And why is it just a warning about the guys? There are plenty of psycho-bitches out there too. I was married to one once.

I met my wife online. Still haven't killed her. Going on 5 years of marraige, and 6 since we met. Wonder if they consider her out of the woods yet?

What a bunch of crap, charitable organizations should be more responsible with their advertising.

CyberTipline

Labels: PSA

I took a picture of my lunch on Tuesday just so everyone would know that I am getting a healthy, balanced diet while saving the world from spyware and the like.

I also built a new server that day, repaired a VoIP system and a VPN that a customer managed to break.

Labels: dining, work

Passed my Microsoft exam, 70-297 just after noon today. Mom has the boy, and we're off for supper at Chuy's (See photo at left), some shopping and perhaps a movie.

Labels: certification, dining, microsoft

No photo could do justice to just how pretty it is outside today.

And I'm stuck with chores, studying for a test and other stuff indoors.

Studying for 70-297 from Microsoft, at the Goodyear (free wireless at West Pearland Tire & Auto) getting my oil changed, heading for a haircut next, then back home for more studying.

But I'm going to make up for it the evening. I'm stopping at the grocery store on the way home and getting something I can grill tonight and I'm going to sit out on the porch, cook, eat, drink and enjoy the lovely weahter. Maybe I'll post a picture then.

If you want to joing me for a drink, here is my Dren's World Famous Margurita instructions.

2 Parts Tequila
1 Part Triple Sec
2 Parts Rosie's Sweetened Lime Juice
Fresh Lime Slices

Fill a tall (20 OZ glass with ice cubes after salting the rim. Pour in Tequila, Triple Sec, Lime juice and stir a bit. Squeeze a couple of the lime slices on top.

Salt the rim of a shot glass, pour a shot of Tequila, shoot the tequila, then suck on a lime slice.

Now drink the Margurita.

Repeat as needed till you find your head on the floor.

Labels: certification, microsoft, tequila, vehicle

They lie! They tell big lies! They all lie!

Labels: women

Ah, the beautiful view out my windshield on State Highway 288, the Nolan Ryan Expressway, on a Friday morning. Is your sentence commuting as well? Tell them so with a YOUR SENTENCE IS COMMUTING bumper sticker today.

This is what greeted my wife when she got back to work from lunch yesterday. Her offices is over to the right, under the edge of the Sydney Sherman Bridge at the Port of Houston.

Seems a 41 year old Mexican dude decided to end it all, so he drove partway up the bridge and took a header. But wanting to be unique, he dropped his pants, but not his underwear.

She said that when he landed the force of the landing forced all the gasses from his digestive tract, blowing a hole out of his underwear from the force of the gas exiting his body, sending shit everywhere.

And yes, he is dead under that sheet.

Went to the Houston Astros' opening day game this evening. Went with the two guys that were best men at each of my weddings. Had a great time. It was one of the guy's birthdays. His sister bought the tickets, so I bought him a two beers and a shot of tequila. What are friends for? Made it home in one piece. Now I'm going to go crash.

It seems that Howard Stern, who recently jumped from free radio to satellite radio, for the paltry sum of Half a Billion Dollars is upset that more of his listeners have not followed him from where they were getting him for free to a place where they have to pay to hear him.

So, I checked out their website, Sirus.com and found that it will cost somewhere around $150 to get Sirius Satellite Radio, then another $160 for the first year of programming.

So lets see, $310 to listen to Howard Stern for a year, while makes HALF A BILLION DOLLARS. Or folks can listen to whatever replaced him for free.

So, what is the moral of the story? People will listen to a fart if it is free. However, they will not pay to hear a fart, even if it is in clearer, digital sound.

Oh, and I can't say that I really miss Howard Stern free on the radio, but I'm quite happy to not pay for him on Satellite radio.

Howard Stern calls former listeners "Cheap Bastards"

Ok, so this is an April Fools joke.

But it is also an interesting physics question. If there really was a such thing as a light saber, how hot would it be?

I would suppose that it would be not very hot.

Simple explanation:

We associate light and heat becuase of two things: The sun and incandescent lighting.

The heat from the sun is unrelated to the visible light spectrum, and is instaed a factor of it's infrared spectrum, which we cannot see.

The heat from an incandescent light is a by product of exciting the filament enough to have it emit photons.

Example in the opposite direction - laser pointers.

Ever aimed the beam from a laser pointer at your skin? Did you feel anything? Light does not equal heat.

So, a beam of focused, concentrated light, manipulated by the mind of a Jedi Master would very likely have no heat or coolness associated with it at all.

Probably would still hurt like hell to get sliced with one.

How Hot Would a Light Saber Really Be?