Rants – Oddball Update

Insurance Fragsters

October 9, 2012October 10, 2012 Chief Oddball 4 Comments

Over the summer, the company I work for began offering group health coverage for the first time in 18 months. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as affordable as the coverage they offered previously, which was based out of Kansas. The new Texas-based coverage was literally three times more expensive, to the point where I couldn’t even afford to insure my family.

But Who Will Represent You?

July 14, 2012July 14, 2012 Chief Oddball 1 Comment

If there’s one word that I’d pick to describe the mood of the United States citizenry today, it’s “polarized”. Increasingly, it seems like we’re split nearly right down the middle on most of the big issues, with equally loud voices on both sides trying to drown out their opponents.

My (Xbox) Kingdom for a Power Supply

March 2, 2012March 2, 2012 Chief Oddball

You've probably heard Microsoft tout the redesigned Xbox 360 Slim as being "whisper quiet". So I was a little surprised when I powered up my new Slim console and discovered that it sounds not unlike my Jasper-based Final Fantasy XIII Super Elite.

My Kingdom for a Visor

February 16, 2012March 2, 2012 Chief Oddball 1 Comment

Oh, faithful GTO. For what do your initials stand? Ay; for thou would have me believe your name is “Gran Turismo Omologato”, I suspect truly that thy moniker be “Gets Troubled Often.” Or perhaps it is I to whom that nomenclature refers?

Furious

February 12, 2012February 12, 2012 Chief Oddball 3 Comments

I never really posted about it here, but when our son was born this past November, the delivery didn’t go quite according to plan. Actually, that’s a bit of an understatement: we had planned from the beginning to have a natural childbirth at a birth center with the help of a midwife.

Escape Hatch

February 24, 2009May 8, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

It’s been a long time since my last update, folks, which means there’s a lot of verbal spew that’s accumulated in my mind and needs to be released. This post comes with the usual warning labels attached about excessive length, and possibly excessive bitching.

Redefining “Commercial” Radio

June 18, 2005October 2, 2011 Chief Oddball

When I say “redefining commercial radio,” I really mean “putting the commercial in commercial radio.” I mention this because our local AM news/talk channel received my coveted Strangulation-Inducing Advertisement Overload Award this morning. I simply cannot believe how many commericals there are on that station—but what’s far worse than the mind-boggling frequency with which advertising breaks are taken is the fact that they only have about five ads that they run OVER and OVER and OVER.

The DMCA Is Fucking Idiocy

July 6, 2004October 7, 2011 Chief Oddball

A while back, I posted a rant about our local UPN affiliate for not airing the Star Trek: Enterprise episode called “The Council.” This was a pivotal episode near the end of the third season which contained details critical to the story arc.

UPN 8 Sucks

May 17, 2004October 3, 2011 Chief Oddball

The local UPN affiliate in my area sucks donkey gonads. This isn’t anything particularly new, since they’ve always really blown (I mean, when your call letters are “WEVU” and you make jokes in your bumpers like “We View TV!”, you have to be pretty far down on the totem pole of TV station professionalism).