Cobra

Straight from the pages of the National Post, a Canadian newspaper:

A British Columbia father has sued his son's Grade 2 Montessori teacher claiming that she "purposely and maliciously worked to damage the self-esteem" of his son over such things as failing to encourage the child's spelling, not sending home a daily homework list and, in one case, displaying an unfinished poem in the school hallway.

Okay, just from that one paragraph, I'm getting a very nice picture of what kind of parent this tool is. But I digress...shall we continue?

This latest case involves Kenneth H. Finkelstein, a management consultant in Victoria who is suing his son's private school teacher for "intentional infliction of emotional distress."

In a statement of claim first filed in court last fall, Mr. Finkelstein said that his son "suffered and will continue to suffer loss and damages" -- including anguish, suffering, humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety, worry and loss of dignity --because Susan Rialp, the boy's teacher at Selkirk Montessori School, did not make him do his homework or coax his reading and comprehension, and in one case, put his unfinished poem in a hallway for all to see. Ms. Rialp "falsely created and attempted to reinforce artificial differences between his son and his peers and falsely asserted the son exhibits behavioural difficulties," according to the writ.

In the lawsuit, Mr. Finkelstein says the teacher also failed to protect the boy when he was bullied by another student, blaming his son instead.

"Intentional infliction of emotional distress"? Back when I was that kid's age, that was called "motivation to do your damn homework". I had a teacher that would make you recite essays even if you didn't finish them. How often did that happen? Maybe twice...because the students knew they would have to read them regardless of whether they were complete or not!

YOU accepted the responsibility of parenting a child, YOU need to help motivate them. The teacher cannot be responsible for 30 (or more) pupils and whether their homework is done or not. If the kid needs help, the parent should GET him help. Just because you're paying big bucks to send the kid to a private school won't guarantee the kid will not need help with homework!

Oh, from the same article - figured I'd post it just for giggles.

In May, 2002, an Arizona high school student sued her English teacher one day before senior graduation because the teacher had failed her. A parents' letter stated unless "whatever action is necessary to correct this situation" was taken, they would file a lawsuit.

So I've started a new job. It's not a bad gig really...doing support and some web development for a mid-size physician group with a handful of offices scattered around town. I find it much better than my previous consulting gig due to the serious cutback on travel.

There are downsides though. When I took this job, I knew I wouldn't be at the "main office" where my boss spends his days. I'm in one of the larger satellite offices where most of the clerical work is done. "This won't be bad," I thought...

Turns out I'm in gossip central. My cubicle is in the scheduling department for the clinics and I'm SURROUNDED by people who would rather gossip all day than actually answer the phones. I have to listen to the phones ringing off the hook while someone leaves their cubicle to complain about how one of the doctors' assistants talked bad about them one day 2 weeks ago. Or how one of the doctors might be sleeping with his secretary. They also like to complain that we have them blocked from such sites as MySpace, Facebook and Sirius/XM. I know it's pure hell that they can't go and post pointless comments to their friends while their phones ring off the hook or listen to music instead of making appointments with people that pay both my salary and theirs.

I've just never understood what people get out of gossip and I most likely never will. Headphones are my friend right now. :)

Okay. I'm not going to lie. I don't understand tattoos sometimes but there are some pretty cool ones I've seen in my life. I'm also cool with the idea that some people like to treat their body as a "canvas" and want to fill every square inch with some kind of drawing in ink. That's alright with me. I can even understand the motive of "I want to be different"...well, to a point...

Being a car guy, I'll admit that I have my favorites. I can't say that I've ever wanted to tattoo the Mustang logo or the Corvette flags on myself anywhere. Nor do I really want to ink my 89 Cavalier Z24 project car on my forearm. Sadly, someone did just that. They tattooed their 2002 Cavalier on their forearm. Now it's there for life...even if he gets tired of the car and wants nothing to do with it, it's gonna be there. Save for having it lasered off and leaving a nice scar there in the shape of his car. Yet another one (again on the forearm) is a huge Lincoln symbol with a butterfly on it that goes from just above the wrist to just below the elbow. What? Really, I don't understand.

I'm glad they find it interesting to treat their body as a canvas. But what about if/when you get tired of that car or that brand...or it just disappears one day? What then?

Alright, it's been a really long time since I've posted a WoS rant, but I have something that has been irritating me greatly.

In this day and age of technology with most people having access to vast amounts of reference materials and information, one would assume that being able to type a reasonably sensible statement would not be difficult. Alas, it appears that everywhere I look people are unable to put their thoughts into a grammatically correct expression.

It's no wonder that most countries see our schools as inferior. Judging by the posts made on forums, blogs, and other medium on the Internet, a few people look like they didn't pass third grade English.

I frequent a few forums. Prounreal, of course, as well as forums related to my restoration project on my convertible. On the auto forums, I have caught myself asking why the site admin does not require administering some sort of typing and grammar aptitude test to people who wish to post. Entire paragraphs without a SINGLE PERIOD OR COMMA! Several members have even started to refuse to answer if something is written in this manner. Another thing I can't stand is the use of "u" for "you" and so forth. Seriously, if you want to make a good impression, TYPE IT OUT! Otherwise you look like an AOL user who has gotten lost.

What's even worse than these forum lackeys are some of the posts I happen across in personals. I'm a single guy and I like to think that I have some intelligence. I expect the same in a potential date. However, I have read personals postings that would make anyone who has even a faint grasp on the English language cringe. If you can't spell or differentiate between "there" and "their," I lose interest from the word go. Really, a personal ad is there for you to make an impression on a potential life partner...at least take the time to proofread it and get someone else to look if you doubt yourself.

So ends my rantage. Carry on.

Alright, just to clarify...I am NOT an avid MS basher. I use, administer, and fix Windows desktops and servers daily and they do the job for most people.

The only problem I have with Microsoft is that they're gradually starting to creep into more areas of our lives. I remember the days of Windows 98 when you bought a computer, turned it on, and it was ready to rock. Now with Windows XP systems, you set it up, turn it on, activate Windows, activate Office (if you have it), download security patches...oh no, you have to download the Windows "Genuine Advantage" tool before you can do that!

This nifty little ActiveX script was originally intended to check your copy of Windows to make sure it was legit. That's all fine and good, I don't fault them there. Lately, however, it has been discovered that the WGA tool does more than just validate your copy of Windows/Office...

Take this snippet, for example, from Groklaw:

A computer user is suing Microsoft Corp. over the company's Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy tool, alleging that it violates laws against spyware.

The suit by Los Angeles resident Brian Johnson, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle, seeks class-action status for claims that Microsoft didn't adequately disclose details of the tool when it was delivered to PC users through the company's Automatic Update system.

And yet another from ZDNet blogs:

Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is an anti-piracy technology that checks in with Microsoft's servers across the Internet that Microsoft recently pushed out to users of Windows via its Windows Update service. Unless the software is able to validate that you have a legitimate copy of Windows, you may be denied certain important updates according to an entry in Microsoft's online knowledgebase. But now comes new news that WGA is phoning home on a daily basis. Some are likening it to spyware and even Microsoft has acknowledged that it should be doing a better job disclosing what the program is doing and why.

Apparently, Microsoft has slipped in some code to "phone home" on a daily basis. Yet they failed to mention this nifty little feature in the EULA for WGA. And just what does Microsoft get from these "phone calls"?

I don't mind using Windows or Office, but I draw the line when they decide to put a tracker on my personal computer to get who knows what kind of info. Bad Bill, no cookie for you!

Yes, it's the Fourth of July. A time of celebration of our great nation's independece. Food, fireworks, and fun for all ages...indeed.

This date holds another sad significance for me personally. July 4, 2005 was a day like any other, alas it had that holiday feeling to it. At the time, I was still living in North Carolina and had gone to visit a friend of mine. After visiting for a while, I left that afternoon to go back home. I was driving down a curvy, hilly road in the NC foothills and enjoying the particularly nice weather that day. As I rounded a bend and crested a hill, I found myself headed straight for a late 80s Taurus station wagon with nowhere to go. I hit the brakes but it was too late...the lack of ABS in my Focus may have actually lessened the damage of the impact but it was still severe enough to push the front of my car back about 2 feet and deploy the airbags. The other car was spun around and ended up off the opposing side of the road while my car went up an embankment off to the right.

What happened? Well, there was a street off to the right side of my lane which was on the crest of the hill. Rather than pulling up to see if traffic was coming on the other side, the driver cut the corner only to have me find him in mid-turn. I escaped with only an airbag burn to the inside of my left forearm. He was more unfortunate, however. I noticed at least a cut forehead among possibly other things. Thank God for airbags.

So what does this have to do with the title? Well, you see, the elderly drivers seem to hunt me down, this gentleman was no exception. In the, oh, say five accidents I've been involved in since I was 16, all but one involved an elderly person. Not to mention the numerous near-misses I have encountered. My Senior year of high school, I worked hours and hours and saved to buy my first car of my own...a pristine '89 Chevrolet Beretta GT. I had the car for no more than 2 months before an elderly woman failed to stop for a traffic officer outside the high school and took it out. She then had the nerve to say it was my fault...HAH. I also had an old woman lock up her brakes in front of me (to this day I still have no idea why...) and I slid under her bumper. My car was sideswiped by an old man. And then the old man cutting the hill corner.

Maybe I'm one of those "young punk" drivers they seek to get off the road. I am by no means an aggressive driver but I have to be defensive. Who knows what evils those old people will use to take out my current vehicle...

So yeah...for those of you who don't know, I make my living as an IT Consultant. It wasn't exactly my first choice when searching for a job but it's okay most days and pays the bills until I find something else.

So anyway, we deal mostly with small businesses. I like most of our small businesses as they're all pretty laid back in regards to they flex to our busy schedules most of the time and I like that. The ones that don't flex, I send to my boss so he can deal with it. Very nice indeed.

Unfortunately, we also have picked up more "residential" business in the past few weeks. Mostly people who don't know someone 'tech savvy' that have problems with their computers. Some of them have been simple hits...clean up some spyware, remove a few viruses, maybe restore Windows.

Then, there are the users from hell. The ones that you are 'asked' to rearrange your schedule for because they had a paper due yesterday but their computer died 2 weeks ago. One customer in particular has been a large annoyance. His hard drive died, spectacularly I might add, taking some of his college coursework with it. I somehow managed to get into it via Knoppix and copy his files off to a server on our network. I then burned these to a CD for him and checked the files I could with my workstation. He had several documents in Wordperfect that I was unable to test but I warned him that some might have been corrupted...

He has called our office every day for 2 weeks. He first called to say that the CD had viruses (which was bogus, I scanned it while he watched to prove it). He then called to say he could not open any of the files (again bogus, I opened a handful in Word). I asked him to try opening files in Wordperfect and he looked at me like I was asking him to give a donkey a blowjob. He called today and I spent 10 minutes trying to explain to him that the Wordperfect files would not open in Word...I know, I tried it. So I asked another coworker to talk to him. When that coworker contacted him, he said everything was fine.

I'm expecting his call first thing Monday morning to say it's broke again.