What's the Big Fuss Over New Years??

I just don't get it... maybe it's because I'm not a party animal.

Just like birthdays - hey, I like getting presents as much as the next person - 
but I just don't get it when people say things like, "so - how do you feel now
that you're 28" or "how does it feel to be in 2007" or even "wow, this new 
year is all crazy and shit..."

Nah, it's just a new year on the calendar.  I just have to remember to write a 
"7" at the end now.  My life continues as normal:  My vacation time at work
resets, as do other things and we start all over agin.

Big deal. :)

Nothing radical has changed, we're just one more step in the wrong direction anyway. 

Making Money Online

 So for a long time now I've been looking for ways to earn some extra income online, but it's hard to sort out the scams from the genuine opportunities. I'm totally against paid survey sites because you never get jobs, and if you manage to get one, they pay crappy.  They make it all seem so glorious but you have to fit certain demographics before you can be selected to participate in a survey.  They make it seem as though if you sign up there are a posting of surveys for people to take just waiting for you, which isn't the case. I have found one site recently that shows some promise, even if it doesn't pay huge. myLot is a community that pays you to discuss things.  Whether you start a conversation, respond to one, or comment on someone's responses you get paid.  You even get paid to upload non-copywritten graphics as well.   If you refer people to the site, you can can really earn as you make 25% of whatever your referred list makes.  So when you get a lot of referrals under your belt, your paycheck get get up there quite fast. If you want to try this opportunity, click on the link above or THIS one as well. There aren't really any limits to what you can earn or what you can talk about, but they do have rules you need to follow, so I'd advise you read the do's and don'ts under "discussion guidlines" before you actually get started posting. Most of these rules are just common sense for "job" etiquette.  Start discussions with some substance and meaning, don't thank everyone who responds to your discussion, don't post affiliate links, don't leave comments of no substance or that don't relate to the conversation. All of these rules are to protect other myLot users, myLot in general from paying people who abuse the system, and more. Besides getting paid I find it a great site to discuss a lot of topics that are important to me, and there's something for everyone there.  Feel free to ask any questions, offer any advise or just speak your mind. Here's the link again (and if you're going to join, please follow my referral link, as I'd do the same for you). myLot

Respect the Opinions of Others

I am a person who respects other people's opinions, even if the differ 
greatly from my own.  I will, of course, still argue my point if I come 
across someone who's opinion differs from my own, until either I or
they are proven wrong or of course in the event of a stalemate.  The 
object is not to start an argument, but to discuss a topic.  

All too often when someone makes a statement you get that one jerk 
who flames you (or at least tries to) and calls you names.  And often 
it's someone who can't spell or put a simple sentence together.

I just can't respect people like that.  Can you? 

A Change!

I have decided to separate my pages.  I will have a separate page for music/composing within a day or two and will provide the link to it when it's up 
running.  This blog will continue on about the insanity going on around the
world and crazy videos to show you! 

Writer's Block

I've been called a talented composer by many people, so it sucks 
when I can't write anything.   Rather, I can't finish anything I
start.  I used to have idea after idea running around my head - in
fact, they used to come so fast I could barely write them down
fast enough to get all of them!

I still have some good ideas, but with a whole other bunch of crap
on my mind, like working to pay the bills at a job I don't like and
never having money to do what I really want, etc. etc, it just takes
away from my creative juices.  Yes I know that was a bad run-on
sentence. :)

Coupled with multiple health problems this year and I've just not
been well lately.  It just goes to show that one doesn't just "get"
writer's block... something has to cause it.  You don't just wake
up one day and are unable to write, "just 'cause."

In my case I have lots of other things to worry about before I can
truly concentrate my energies on my passion, which sucks because
that's what really makes life worth living (besides being with my
family of course).  Hopefully soon I'll be able to get paid for doing
what I love!

In the meantime, check this out.  One way to make composing easy!

The Mystery...

There is one mystery in life, for me anyway, that I don't think I'll ever 
understand.

Why would people risk their lives to save a few measley seconds 
driving time?  

I witness it countless times a day, people taking unnecessary chances 
with their lives making a left hand turn as one car passes narrowly 
missing the car behind it when there are clearly no cars behind.  
Waiting a couple seconds more that car could have made the turn 
safely without any risk.

I'm amazed I haven't witnessed an accident with all the stupidity 
I've actually witnessed.  I've personally seen someone on a cell 
phone driving, map against the steering wheel.  When I pulled
 up beside him on the HIGHWAY no less, he was also eating a 
muffin!!

Really!  I've seen some stupid stuff on shows like "Police, Camera, 
Action" and "Cops" but wow... this guy took the cake.

Do you think a few seconds shaved off your journey is worth 
your life?  I don't. 

Why is a descriptive word always about Race?

If someone asked you a quesiton, say like this:

"Hey, did you see who was the last person to use this item?"

And you really didn't know who it was, but knew that he was a 
tall black man and replied,

"I don't know his name, but he was a tall black man."

Is that a racist statement?

NO!

I'm so tired of people saying it's a racist statement because 
the world "black" is in there.  It's a DESCRIPTIVE word,
not a racial slur.  There are people of all colours on both 
sides of the fence, I guess.  But really,
when it comes down to it, black/white/oriental are all just descriptive words to generalize they 
way someone looks.

People need to stop being so sensitive, the world is not as 
it once was.  I'm not saying racism doesn't exist,
all I'm saying is that when someone uses a colour in a 
description, it is not derogatory.  

Now, if someone were to say, "Asians can't drive," then 
I'd say definate racism.  But "Man, that Asian guy can't 
drive" is a simple
statement that says the Asian man that I see driving 
erratically can't drive.  You don't know who he is, but
 he is a man, and it is Asian in appearance.

I don't get bent out of shape when someone calls me a
 white male, and I live in a diverse multicultural area.

To you people who are too sensitive:  STOP!  Settle down.
 Pay attention to what is said before jumping to the 
conclusion that it is a racist statement. 

Picking the Candidate Who You Think is Lying the Least!

So it's voting time again, Canada. Sure I don't know much about politics... sure the Liberals are scandal-bound and running slightly behind the Conservatives in the polls right now. But we have other things to worry about right now!! Like what pants will I wear tomorrow? Seriously, just consider it. I personally don't care, I just don't want the Conservatives to win... they just want to Cherry-pick the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and don't care at what cost to the people of Canada. I liken the Conservatives to the Americans' Repulicans. Shouldn't we as Canadians be about change? Shouldn't we be about our own views? Freedom to express ourselves? Freedom to marry whomever we feel like marrying? Cuz you know that's what this election is boiling down to... the homosexual marriage issue. Old fogies remembering with fond eyes the time when "God" apparently said that you can only marry a woman if you're a man, or a man if you're a woman. They remember and feel that homosexuality is wrong and it's a disease. To them I say, "Get real." I'm heterosexual, I have a wife and child and couldn't care less if a man married another man or a woman. To me, I say it's their choice. Their life, their decision. The government should have no business in the private lives of it's citizens - period. End o' Story.

Aha! An Agreement!

For once I am in agreement with the Ontario Goverment! For those of you not in Ontario, Canada or hip to the news in Ontario, here's the info: The government has decided they are going to put forth a law that bans giving out driving licences to people under 18 years old that have dropped out of school. Brilliant! What better way to get kids to stay in school than to force them to do it!! It's really the best answer. What better thing is there in high school than picking up for friends and going out for the night? Nothing, really... not for a high schooler. Unless you're into glee club. I think it's a great idea, far too many kids end up dropping out and messing up their future... and far too many of those kids end up as juveniles - but it's unfair to stereotype them all as juveniles. Anyway, that's it for today. Good for you Government of Ontario. You are temporarily on my good list. Until tax time. Then we'll see. Peace. Uvee.

The Vending Machine Conundrum

Okay, so I've come to the conclusion that most people get their driving licences from a vending machine. It's easy! Just plop in $75 CDN, stand nice and tall so the camera can take a nice mug shot of you that makes you look like a terrorist and gets you questioned every time you cross the border, and *poof!* out comes a spiffy new driver's licence that guarantees people should stay off the sidewalks!! People are so bad in Canada, but more so in my hometown in Kitchener-Waterloo, ON. I've been to Toronto several times and while I don't much like the big city driving, at least they know what they are doing most of the time. In such a rush, people lose all training (if any) they've had and take nasty chances with not only their life, but the lives of others in the direct vicinity of their current act of stupidity. So it starts to rain, or snow... they slow down. Right? They wouldn't take that kind of chance, right? RIGHT? Wrong. In fact, I've notice people often drive FASTER and more CARELESS in the face of snow, rain, hail or sleet *insert any other dangerous weather-related road hazard here*. Everybody is prone to the odd mistake, no one is immune, not even me. Just recently I almost hit a car running through a red light - mind you I was going very slow in very slippery road conditions and stopped but the tires didn't agree and slid right through a red light, missing a crossing car by only a couple of meters. In this case you might say, did I get my driving licence out of a vending machine? No. In my case it was good driving skills that enabled me to prevent an accident that was started by icy conditions on the road (for which conditions I was driving within acceptable limits, not speeding along, mindlessly). It appears to me that any fool with some money and a good enough memory to pass a short written test and subsequently easy driving tests can get a licence. The whole Ministry of Transportation is one big vending machine. And it's a problem. Okay.... I'm done ranting for today. Check back tomorrow for more cynical goodness. PeACE OuT. Uvee.