We are without the internet still, so this post is coming to you from the in-laws house. A Verizon phone technician came out on Thursday because I thought the problem was being caused by noise on the telephone line. He came out and checked things, and basically told me it had to be a DSL issue. He also said the noise can be caused by the DSL. Unfortunately Verizon is terribly organized, and even though this guy also does DSL tech support, he couldn’t touch it because he was out for phone service. I then had to call Verizon DSL tech support. They tested the line for two days, and still no improvement. I called back on Saturday night and my problem was elevated. That lead to being put on hold for 45 minutes. They’re supposedly testing it again for 24 hours, this time from the central office, after which I will receive a phone call from tech support.

Friday night we went out for a friend’s birthday from work to the Storyteller’s Cafe at the Grand Californian Hotel at Disneyland. Afterwards we went on a few rides, including back to back runs on Space Mountain. Saturday night we went to Lonestar to celebrate Kevin and Christie’s engagement. I got put on hold by Verizon as we were leaving the house, and wasn’t helped until we were seated at our table in Long Beach. Afterwards, much to Stacie’s delight, we went to Golden Spoon.

Now it is Sunday at Stacie’s parents. Stacie is working on some things and I’m utilizing the internet to post and pay bills. Not sure what we’re doing for Halloween. Last year a few people came over and we watched Donnie Darko. I’ve got Monster House, so we talked about watching that. If anyone wants to come over or has a better idea we’re open to suggestions. Look for more proposition posts soon.

I’ve said before that I am a conservative first and a Republican second. Because of this priority, there is something about President Bush that has made his presidency a little "off." Peggy Noonan hits it on the head in her newest article. While I think the President is a good and sincere man, Noonan points out how Bush has done many things that are contrary to conservative values. She does a great job of looking at how Bush’s policies have alienated the very people that put him in office.

The biggest obstacle facing the Republican party is not the Democrats, but instead returning to the basic conservative values that it’s members believe in.

Prop 84 – Water Quality, Safety and Supply. Flood Control. Natural Resource Protection. Park Improvements. Bonds. Initiative Statute

My Summary: Money for "water quality," parks, and wildlife protection.

My Opinion: I’m still willing to reverse my vote on Prop 1E, but I would definitly support that bond over this one. The money from this bond doesn’t go to dams and resevoirs. This bond also would give state dollars to local communities to pay for parks. Local government should pay for local projects. I don’t want to pay for some park in the ghetto that I will never use. And also, to beat a dead horse, it’s a BOND.

Bottom Line: Stop wasting money and raising taxes!

I am voting NO on Prop 84.

2006 California Election Page

The Blarg is annoyed. Over the weekend the internet started acting stupid. I’m pretty sure it’s a phone line issue because I hear crackling on the telephone, and listening to the dial tone actually helps the dsl sync back up and start working again. I called the stupid tech support line and it’s entirely automated and annoying. Supposedly someone is coming out by Thursday.

Not only has the internet sucked, but the router/modem Verizon supplies really sucks too. My new Snazio networked media player keeps getting dropped off the network. For absolutely no reason it will all of a sudden be unable to contact the computer upstairs. We’re talking mid-use while it’s working fine…then all of a sudden BAM, nothing. I’ve read about all kinds of horror stories people have had with this modem, so I’ll be calling to try and get a replacement (and hopefully a modem only version if they have those). I don’t want to get into that crap until I get the phone line fixed. Arg!

At least Heroes rocks! OMG! Nathan is flying, Hiro meets Nathan, Peter paints crazy future stuff, scary dad guy can walk through walls. WOW!

Big congratulations to Kevin and Christie for officially agreeing to tie the knot! You can see a picture and get ready to check their progress over at their website.

You guys are great together, and I know your marriage will be a happy one. Stacie and I are really happy for both of you. After all, it would be kind of weird if we were only happy for one of you. Is that even possible, to only be happy for one person getting engaged? I don’t know, but I’m very confident we’re happy for both of you.