Author: Paul Tomblin

Quick Quiz

Ok, let’s say you’re in a state that isn’t your home state. Just for example, say it’s New York State. And you’re on a major highway, say for argument’s sake The New York State Thruway. And you come to a toll plaza. At that toll plaza, you see 7 lanes that have green lights over them and long lineups, and one lane that has a flashing yellow light, and a sign that says “EASYPASS ONLY/NO CASH” and a much smaller lineup. What do you do?

  • a) Assume that “NO CASH” means it’s free, and everybody is lined up at those other places because they’re really concerned about the budget deficit in New York and the shocking state of our highways, so you go to the EASYPASS ONLY/NO CASH lane.
  • b) Assume that just because you have no idea what “EASYPASS ONLY” means, it probably applies to you because you’re special, and go to the EASYPASS ONLY/NO CASH lane.
  • c) Assume that although you have no idea what “EASYPASS ONLY” means, if you stop and honk your horn, somebody will come over and explain it to you, so you go to the EASYPASS ONLY/NO CASH lane.
  • d) Assume that “EASYPASS” just means that it’s going to be easier to pass than the others, so go there.
  • e) Assume that everybody lining up at the other booths are just incredibly stupid for passing right by this obviously shorter line to go to the longer lines. And hey, reading signs is what the stupid people do, not you.
  • f) Go to the longer lineups.

If you answered anything but ‘f’, like the fuckwit with the Florida plates ahead of me yesterday (who chose option ‘c’), stay the fuck off of the New York State Thruway. Forever.

On second thoughts, go back home and stay there, forever.

Whoever you are, identify yourself or fuck off

Somebody in Finland has been reading all our blogs. It appears that he/she/it started with Stevie or Laura’s, which isn’t all the surprising since they have a Finnish last name. And he’s followed the links from those blogs to Vicki’s and mine. Not a big deal – if we didn’t want random strangers reading our blogs, we’d make them private.

But now it appears this person has gone a step beyond. They are no longer just following links, they are fishing around for files that aren’t there. Looking at this IP, I see attempts to reference 

/~rose/me
/~rose/lstevie
/~rose/mom
/~rose/dad
/~rose/home
/~rose/friends
/~rose/school
/~rose/my%20pictures
/~rose/my_pictures
/~laura/me
/~laura
/~laura/laura
/~laura/dad
/~laura/sis
/~laura/sys
/~laura/stevie
/~calsabon/me
/~calsabon/stevie
/~calsabon/laura
/~calsabon/mom
/~calsabon/dad

and I’m more than a little creeped out.

So whoever is at 81.197.2.111, listen up: Looking for information nobody invited you to look at is a violation of our privacy. Identify yourself or find your IP blocked and a complaint lodged with your ISP. And quit looking for things that aren’t there.

Best Christmas Ever

It took a few minutes for it to sink in, but I can’t believe how relieved I am to have my medical back. After I finished posting the initial entry to my blog, I almost cried. I wonder what it’s going to be like when I actually get the piece of paper. I can’t wait for a nice day to go up and remember what it’s like to fly alone again.