Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Wilkie Flooded

I went hiking in the Wilkie Unit of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge today. Most of it is currently underwater due to spring flooding. Here are some photos which include, a deceased coot hanging in a tree, and a turkey flying.




Tuesday, March 29, 2011

No Dashes!

I just saw an elderly woman beat-up a young dude and take his man-bag! I was going to call 9-1-1, but I couldn't find any dashes on my phone's keypad!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Cutris Blocks Door

Cutris Blocks Door
UnAssociated Press
March 28, 2011

Yet again, Cutris has been photographed in a scandal.




It is once-again, plain to see that Cutris is disobeying the rules by blocking a fire door!

Those of us at the UnAssociated Press are truly shocked... and stunned.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Cottonwood Paperback

I'm working to make my novel, Cottonwood into a paperback...

Dan@sprint.com

Dan doesn't really get those emails. It's also a lie...

Where is Dan?
Stop calling me if you aren't CEO Dan Hesse.
So far, all any of you have "done for me" is bounce me around until I now have a plan that costs the same as the one I had before--when I started this, except now I have 550 anytime minutes instead of 700. I also found out (yesterday) the "discount" you promised if I signed for 2 more years doesn't apply to me!
If you can't help me, then stop bothering me.
My comments can be seen at http://cutris.blogspot.com.
Kevin

Monday, March 21, 2011

Avoid SPRINT!

In the past month, I have been trying to get a better price on my cell phone bill from Sprint. Since then, I have talked to numerous customer service people and been bounced from plan to plan for virtually no savings--though I have lost "anytime minutes" in the process.

After five years, I will leave this company when my contract expires in June. That is simply because on all occasions, I have been lied to. The discounts are never what I am told they will be.

Now, Sprint wants me to sign a contract for two more years--before they will give me a discount. Based on what has occurred, I cannot trust them to honor the discount and need to see said discount before I commit to a new two-year contract.

Unfortunately, they have declined--even though I would have to renew my contract in June anyway. These people are not out to serve me. They are out to take my money. Avoid SPRINT!

Cutris Disobeys Rules Again!

Cutris Disobeys Rules Again!
UnAssociated Press
March 21, 2011

Here is the latest in a string of cases involving Cutris disobeying rules!


Click on picture to enlarge

Photos from the Weekend.

We visited, Sea Life Minnesota.



















































We also hiked around the Bass Ponds.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Is Adrian Peterson a Slave???

The truth is, in spite of what Adrian Peterson says, making millions of dollars playing professional football in the NFL is not like "modern-day slavery."

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Nuclear Disaster in Japan & Human Tampering

The recent earthquake(s) and resulting tsunami that has devastated parts of Japan, has now resulted in nuclear disaster, as nuclear power plants have overheated, exploded and begun to meltdown. The irony of all of this is that Japan suffered horrible nuclear devastation during World War II. All of this (also ironically,) comes less than a month after Minnesota decided to lift a 17-year moratorium on building new nuclear power plants.

Somehow this reminds me of when I was a kid, and my brother Jim, who is five years older than me, made those plastic, scale models of cars, airplanes and ships. These were delicate replicas of cool machines, and I, of course, being a younger brother wanted to touch these fascinating "toys." When I did, however, I would break them! It was soon made clear to me that I should not play with my brother's stuff! Are humans now playing with God's stuff?

Sure "we've" gotten "cocky" over the last few decades with our eight inches of stainless steel and several feet of concrete that is supposedly protecting us from nuclear disaster. So why didn't someone tell that to the earthquake and his buddy the tsunami? Nuclear power is great, because it produces electricity and is "fresh smellin'," because it doesn't burn fossil fuels. We don't however, have any good ways to dispose of the nuclear waste. Sealing it in drums and burying it on Indian reservations seems to be the preferred method. This waste has a half-life of between several thousand and several million years. Just how safe is it in those drums?

As we watch the horrific and unbelievably sad scenes on the daily news--beamed to us from Japan, should we begin to wonder if we should stop messing around with "God's stuff?" Outer space has lots of radiation and nuclear reactions. Maybe mere humans shouldn't be playing with this stuff down here on earth, anymore than a child should be in his room playing with matches. It's worth thinking about anyway.

-KJC

Monday, March 14, 2011

Friday, March 11, 2011

"Cottonwood" is now available!

My second novel, "Cottonwood" is now available.

Tsunami

Here in the north country, the world is beautiful this morning. An early fog was frozen to the tree branches and they are all white with tiny ice crystals. Only the news lets me know that in Japan an earthquake has triggered a deadly Tsunami.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

What Teacher Shortage?

Though I'm not a teacher, I work in technology within the realm of (Minnesota) public education, and my wife is a teacher. Every year as budgets get tightened, staff in schools--including teachers, get lay-offs. Yet somewhere, somehow, the public is being lead to believe that there is some giant teacher shortage! Let's get realistic for a minute. If the average person knows that unemployment has gone up and people in all sectors of the workforce are suffering from lay-offs, pay-freezes, loss of benefits, etc., do you really believe that these same conditions somehow don't exist for teachers and other school employees within our financially strapped schools?

So now in Minnesota, there is new legislation to make it easier for people who didn't study to be teachers, to get jobs as teachers. At the same time, there is a lot of "lip-service" about how education is suffering and student achievement is down, yada, yada, yada... So somehow having less qualified teachers is going to fix this! Who would have thought such a thing? Most of us probably know, deep down, it is really just a way to destroy union power, workers rights, and ultimately pay teachers less.

Now if there is an actual teacher shortage, in certain inner-city schools or rural areas, then it seems to me that the best way to get qualified teachers to go work there, is by offering more pay and benefits, not less. Do people believe that teachers are highly paid? In order to get decent pay, most of them have to get their Masters degree--which incidentally, this boost in pay is another thing on the chopping block--along with paying less to teachers who specialize in the arts. Are all of you actually falling for this crap? Apparently Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has--even though he is generally pretty supportive of education as a whole. Did I mention that some people want to close the "achievement gap" by having year-around school? And how will this work since districts are finding that they can't pay for nine-month-per-year school?

In my opinion, as long as the leadership is influenced by the misconceptions made popular by the powers who want to pay hard-working, people less (to supposedly "fix" these shortfalls), nothing good will be accomplished for anyone--including the students. If we can all deal within reality, and look at the big picture, then this completely made-up, fiction that is driving policy won't be believable anymore.

KJC

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

The Self-Destruction of Charlie Sheen

As sad as it is, it seems that people like to "watch a train wreck." It's that morbid curiosity, as "we" watch someone like Charlie Sheen self-destruct before the public eye. As we make comments about his "loss of reality," think for a moment what his reality was and is. Born into the family of a famous actor is different from how most of us grow up.

The sense of entitlement and especially the fits of anger he is prone to, reminds me of the addiction problems I saw when I worked in the county, chemical health division. I'm not really an expert, but it kind of resembles a long-term Cocaine addiction.

At the end of the day, even Charlie may not believe his own rants about his alleged "superness." But what else does he have right now as he destroys everything he touches... or talks about? Most people would know that you can't really have "tiger’s blood," and if you did, you would be in violation of laws regarding endangered species.

I liked Charlie in the movies, and in Two and a Half Men--where he played Charlie Harper; who was (likely) not so different from Sheen himself. Charlie seems to be proud of his drug use, womanizing and about paying for prostitutes.

I really hope he can "pull it together" soon. In spite of his ideas about his invincibility, Charlie Sheen is way too likely to become one of those sad news stories about the guy who once "had everything," and then was found dead in a hotel room. If he gets help now, it might not be too late.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Friday Nerd Herd

On Friday evening I went out to eat with my wife. We were at the mall and walked around after dinner. When my wife decided to try on some clothes, and was taking a really long time doing it, I walked around by myself.

It wasn't very busy, but I noticed one store was full of dudes! After I got a closer look, I could see that they were playing (or watching others play) video games in a store!





Not a woman was in sight! I felt sorry for these guys for spending their Friday night in such a nerdly way...




I made the appropiate adjustments to the photo I took of the whole sad affair. Just click on the picture for a better view.

Friday, March 04, 2011

What About the Others?

Just this morning there was a news story about a puppy that survived being euthanized. Its litter mates weren't so lucky. Apparently this little dog was moving around in a garbage bin after the process. Not so long ago there was the story of a puppy that someone tried to mail in a box. There were people waiting in line to adopt it afterward. Eventually someone (who was carefully screened) got the dog via a lottery.

My question is, why are there so many people ready to give a home to these animals after something bad happens to them--but not before? Is it because the new owner can retell the heartwarming story about how they got their pet? Can't people adopt animals that need good homes even if they weren't abused or harmed in some way? Aren't all the animals who need homes in need as well as those with an incredible or interesting story?

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

The "LSD Projector"

Recently someone was talking to me about wanting an LSD Projector. This struck me as funny, because I knew the person was actually talking about an LCD Projector!

The two might "project" very different images!!!

It makes me wonder what an "LSD Projector" would actually be used for...

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Thanks Prospective Employer!

I would like to thank the prospective employer who called me in to take a couple of hours of tests for a job. After sending an email message asking if I was no longer being considered and hearing nothing back, I thought, "Remember when prospective employers thanked you for coming in?" Then yesterday I received a letter that said "they" were not going to fill the job due to "restructuring." I would like to thank "them" for having me come in and waste my time taking tests before they made that decision...

-K