"Hello, this is Dell, would you like a slushie?"

I don't really expect any of you to actually read this whole post...

Unless you have been under a rock lately, you know that most large companies out source much of their menial tasks to places that pay their workers less than $100 per month...Welp, Dell, Inc. is one of em...

If you are into reading, you should take a stab at The World is Flat, by Thomas Freidman. It is a book about globalization in the 21st century. Pretty informative read...

Tonight I thought, instead of contacting Dell through the phone, I'll try the chat feature. Maybe it will be easier to understand the written word rather than a thick Indian accent. Well, it was for me...but not him.

My part of the conversation is in bold...Note my anger...I withheld though...

12:02:49 AM System

You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat

12:02:49 AM System

Connected with SLCg_Benjamin_187319

12:03:09 AM SLCg_Benjamin_187319

Thank you for contacting Dell Hardware Warranty Support. My Name is Ben. How may I help you?

12:03:33 AM Bryan McDonald

I was just connected with a Bradley in session ID 20489906...but got disconnected from the dell server somehow...

12:04:32 AM Bryan McDonald

My service tag # is 3Q956D1 and I need to find out how to receive Complete Care warranty service...

12:05:16 AM Bryan McDonald

Yesterday I accidently dropped my computer bag and part of the clop that holds the LCD to the keyboard broke...

12:05:27 AM SLCg_Benjamin_187319

Ok it looks like you were working on replacing a broken hinge or something?

12:06:32 AM Bryan McDonald

Also, in the bottom right hand corner of the bottom section (near where the Vista icon sticker is located) chipped and there is a hole on both the gray plastic and black plastic

12:07:02 AM Bryan McDonald

Not really a hinge....more of a slide....the thing that clips the two halves together

12:08:08 AM SLCg_Benjamin_187319

Ok so you are just looking to get those parts replaced. Am I correct?

12:08:21 AM Bryan McDonald

Yes

12:09:08 AM Bryan McDonald

I also noticed on my warranty info that I purchased something called, "Next Business Day, Includes Nights/Weekends." does that mean that you guys pick up the shipping???

12:10:32 AM SLCg_Benjamin_187319

Ok and this sis on your Ispiron 1525?

12:10:49 AM Bryan McDonald

No, 1521

12:11:09 AM Bryan McDonald

Service tag 3Q956D1

12:11:21 AM Bryan McDonald

The 1525 is my wife's

12:13:14 AM SLCg_Benjamin_187319

Can you tell were the break is in the screen is it on the screen part the bottom part or both for the hinge.

12:13:21 AM SLCg_Benjamin_187319

Thanks

12:14:11 AM Bryan McDonald

It is just on the clip part...the screen itself is not damaged as far as I can tell....

12:14:18 AM SLCg_Benjamin_187319

Yes we pick up the shipping.

12:14:58 AM Bryan McDonald

Actually, it is only the clip on the right side...

12:17:30 AM SLCg_Benjamin_187319

So it's just the plastic on the bottom of the screen that is damaged. nothing on the base of the laptop.

12:20:04 AM Bryan McDonald

OK...There are two things that are damaged....

1. The Plastic Clip that holds the screen to the base. The screen is not broken or damaged, just the clip that holds it.

2. On the bottom right hand corner of the base. There are two pieces of plastic that come together...one is grey (top) the other is black (bottom). Both of these are cracked/broken as well.

12:20:41 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:20:44 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:20:49 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:20:56 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:21:57 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:22:13 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:22:21 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:22:26 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:22:30 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:22:35 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

12:22:41 AM System

Thank you. Your Dell Chat session has ended.

I guess he No Speak English...

Love the wife, hate the dog

Let me preface this post by stating that I love my wife, Jenny, and that I have her permission to post about this.

It is 3:46 in the morning. I am working solo out at capstone and get a txt from Jenny asking if it is thundering. Capstone is less than 10 miles away from where we live. I was mid-sentence typing a response and the phone rings. Jenny is panicking on the other end saying that someone is moving chairs on the parch and the dog is going crazy.

Not really sure what to say or do (I can't really leave five drug recovering addicts alone in the woods) I ask if she is sure its not just trucks passing. By this time she is wondering if she should call (not the cops) Casey.

After calling Casey she calls me back. I asked her why she didn't call 911 and her response was, "well it might just be someone stealing the propane tank." That is exactly my point, I tell her. I mean, what is Casey going to do? For all we know, it is some meth cook who ran out of propane!

So, let's recap, Jenny home alone, doesn't have handgun purchased partly for such a case as this, hears commotion outside and calls Casey (not cops). I said, "maybe the dog broke off the chain." "No, absolutely not, it was someBODY," she says. By this time I am getting pretty scared myself. I really don't want to have to go to a (possibly two) funerals.

Casey drives up and you guessed it, the dog was off the chain. That is chain #4 and collar #6 that she has broken. Breck might disappear tomorrow afternoon.

Needless to say, thank you Casey, Sunday lunch is on me this week!

*In Jenny's defense, as a child, she was victim of a peeping Tom and had her window broken when sh was home alone.

Ode to Bill

I could not resist...This picture is hilarious! The guy reminds me of a guy of work named Bill. Bill works in maintenance at the high school. Come to think about it, I don't even know Bill's last name. I just call him Mr. Bill. (Note to Self: Find out what Bill's last name is.) Bill is like 60 years old and a laugh a minute. I wish all of my readers could meet Bill and spend a day with him, heck, even an hour with him! Then, I guess everyone knows someone LIKE Bill. Bill will retire within the next year or so, I will sorely miss him. Here's to you Bill.

The Morning News: News : Officer Suspended For Shocking Cow

Apparently, this actually happened 2.5 years ago and is now going through the internal affairs but...this is too good not to share. I heard it on the radio the other morning and did not believe it until I googled it myself!

There are several elements to this story. First the mistakes of Lt. David Mitchell (who, incidentally, is running for sheriff).

First,

The city released the findings of the internal investigation Tuesday, and it showed an off-duty Mitchell fired a Taser-brand stun gun at two cows while a friend of Mitchell's videotaped the results.

Why videotape the whole ordeal? What good can happen as a result? I wonder if it is on You Tube? I would search and post an embedded video but my internet is S L O W ! !

Second,

He and the other man, who is not a Rogers police officer, went after church to property Mitchell owned to carry out the plan, the investigation found.

So much about this sounds wrong. Can't you see it. Song, song, prayer, song, Lords Supper, song, offering, song, sermon, song, prayer. What part of that sequence did he and his friend get the bright idea of tasing a heifer? Must have been a great sermon!

Third,The cartridges Mitchell used were defective and had been taken out of service. Mitchell's first attempt to hit a cow failed and he and the other man were shocked instead...The second attempt struck a different cow and it appeared to be mildly affected by the shock. The probes quickly fell out of the animal's skin, Mitchell told the investigator.
Okay, if the cartridges were marked as "defective," why mess with 'em. Use some good ones.

Fourth,

Several people, including Helms (Mitchell's boss), other high-ranking members of the Police Department, a deputy city attorney and a deputy Benton County prosecuting attorney, saw the video in the months following the incident. Mitchell sought out Helms to show him the video. Helms said Tuesday he found the video humorous but it didn't occur to him at the time that Mitchell had broken any law or violated any department policies.

Showed it to his BOSS? I can hear THAT conversation:

Retard Cop: Hey boss man, check out this You Tube video.
Boss Man: Man, that is (expletive) hilarious, where did you get the cartridges?
Retard Cop: From the dumpster.
Boss Man: Why did I promote you to Lt?
Retard Cop: Because we are cousins...and you owed me for that Meth...

Fifth and finally

The incident came to light when the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Helms, Womack and City Attorney Ben Lipscomb saying it had learned from a source affiliated with the police department that Mitchell had shocked a cow and videotaped it as a joke.

Helms said defective stun gun cartridges are sometimes used for training, and he will implement new policies to better track the use of cartridges deemed unfit for street-duty use.

Wait, WHAT? When did PETA come into play? Who called those freak shows? Oh, that's right, You Tube! So, according to them it is NOT okay to use defective taser cartridges on COWS but it IS okay to use it on HUMANS? What the crap? Is this not backwards?
And here is the quote that makes the story,

"The joke was on Lt. Mitchell and his friend getting shocked, not the cow being Tased," Helms said.

In other words, man, why didn't he call me so I could see the action?

Google Me!

So, I have been using this url to host my blog for a little over a year now. I haven't been quite as active as I have wanted to be but hey, what can ya do when your employer blocks Blogger? Anywho...today I was browsing Site Meter and finding out about who is looking/reading my blog and came across some interesting things from google...The following are things that people typed into google to find me!

ACTAAP scores and Little Rock school district

Loucretia sucks

Joseph Bresnahan

Cracka from da hood

Guy dies trying to steal copper wire

Oldest man to have a baby

Photo of mouse poo

Arkansas Benchmark test (2007)

Frank Warren, bio

Facebook birth mother found "bryan" "birth mother"

Bryan McDonald baseball

Inconvenient Truth in B C schools

To give credit where credit is due...I have had several hits from over at Marks place, as well as others (Andy, Rhonda, Jenny, and Facebook).

I would do a regular monthly post to this topic but I hardly get as many hits as Elrod does in one hour!

Did I mention, Google is/will take over the free world, and I love it! And don't forget, you heard it here first!

I almost died today...

I was going to West LR this afternoon during my lunch break to purchase a thank you gift for a family member. I was eating on the way back and took the wrong exit from 630 to 30 and got off on 9th & 15th street. BIG MISTAKE! I was the only "cracka in da hood." I got some weird looks and saw several upstanding citizens with their 9's in hand! I was very scared, alert, and very light on my feet (truck). I am thankful to be alive!

Mouse Poo

This LINK is for Jenny. I LOVE you, Babe!

I think God laughs at us sometimes

When I mow the grass I usually think. Usually it is about random things. It is really my only uninterrupted time to do so.

Well back to my point.

Look at all of the natural things that God gives us: Air, Plants, Animals, etc. What do we do with them?

AIR
We pollute the air with all of our machinery, factories, vehicles, etc. I mean I appreciate having all of these things to use at my disposal.

PLANTS
Plants grow largely to provide us with oxygen and to give habitat to other animals. In the summers we mow the grass and in the winters we rake the leaves. We participate in mass deforestation for what? Lumber to build mansions, paper to print money, etc.

ANIMALS
Really, animals makes me laugh too. We harness some animals and call them "pets" while other animals are labeled a nuisance and are exterminated. Some people take this to an extreme and call themselves vegetarians. While there are others who are evolutionarily defunct and practice veganism and must take vitamins to get all essential amino acids that they are missing out on by not eating animal products.


I am still going to drive my car to work, mow my grass in the summer and rake the leaves in the fall, keep my dogs, kill the mice, and eat a nice steak every once in a while...But don't ya think that sometimes, God laughs at us?

Explosive Diarrhea

Yes, we went through not one but TWO jars of this contaminated Peanut Butter with a matching lot #. I figured, well, hey 3/4 of the jar was gone, what will be the harm in one more spoon full? Well, last night I found the harm. It was like a tiny coark was all that was holding back a massive ammount of, well, poo.

In other news, What in the crap was Britany Spears thinking? She now looks Butch.

Midterm tonight. I am ready! Bring it on! Actually, I kind of played some reverse psychology. I made an annonymous post on our class online bulletin board that I thought the test should be in class rather than take home. Everyone else in the class responded negatively to that post so it looks like the test may be take home afterall! Me so smart!