Breaking Up In a Digital Fishbowl

I meant to put a post on this subject a few weeks ago but it kind of got lost in the sauce. But I came across it again, so here goes. A few weeks ago I was flipping through the Thursday New York Times and saw this article in the Thursday Styles section called Breaking Up In a Digital Fishbowl. As I read this, all I could do is shake my head at some of the things that were described.

First off, how people who want to prove their devotion and trust to their partner share the intimate details of their email, bank and other passwords. Really now. Give me a break. I have a joint bank account with my wife that we use for house expenses. the account is linked to both of our personal accounts. But when I log on to the bank website, I can only access the house and my personal account. The same with my wife. She has her's and I have mine. The mistake people make is that sure you can trust your partner now, but after a breakup, please change the passwords. There's no point of having an "ex" access your personal information. Ever.

Second, maybe I'm too old to care but the article talks about the digital trail about the backup online. How sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace can announce the breakup to friends and let the ex know of any new developments in the life of their former partner. Again, really now. So your ex has a new man. So what. Get over it. Go find a new chick and move on with life. People will always (well almost always) move on with life. Come on now, are we in High School? Please.

Third, folks using a service such as Loopt to keep track of your ex-partner through their phone service borders on the psychotic. The website Crunchbase.com described the Loopt service as so:

Loopt is a mobile social mapping application. Using cell phones and mobile devices, it displays the locations of a user’s friends along with their presence status (available, away, etc) visually on maps or on lists. Based on GPS and related data, users can request alerts when friends are within a certain distance, send messages to groups of friends in particular area, and be able to tag and blog physical locations in a way that’s accessible to friends through Loopt.

I mean sure, the program sounds innocent enough when used for its intended purpose but man I have to say, but this is some crazy technology. Give this kind of information of the wrong person and...So what do you do.

The article quotes an attorney who gives the following advice:

he advises divorcing clients to change their passwords, stop posting on social networking sites, acquire a new e-mail address, and secure or make copies of whatever is posted about them online. Users, of course, control what they post on private accounts. Where it gets tricky, though, is when photos, videos and comments have been forwarded, retweeted or reposted to friends’ accounts or on public Web sites.


Ok, easier said than done. For those of us who maintain sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace our activity on these sites has become something of a daily ritual. We can't imagine our day without accessing our friends comments and status updates. So cutting off is easier said than done. We hope that those who we spend time with in a relationship now, is the person who we believe to be mature can be so when we are no longer involved with them.

For those couples who chose to share all your information with your partner. Just stop. Privacy doesn't mean cheating. Just because you keep your phone password to yourself doesn't mean you're hiding phone numbers and steamy texts. It just means that you have your personal space and he/she has their own personal space. If they can't understand that, then maybe they should just hit the bricks.

Whatcha think. Let me know.
FH

People Have Some Nerve

Part I
Ok, so I'm at the front door and had the most bizarre experience. I just had some foreign chick correct me by saying that I didn't ask her for her ID with a "please". If any of you that know me have seen and heard me work, I always ask for ID's with courtesy and respect...that includes saying please. I live by the theory, you treat them nice coming in, they treat you nice going out, but I digress.

So after I told her that I said please, but to amuse her I said Please again she shows me her passport. I thank her making sure that I listen carefully for the "You're Welcome" that I knew would not come. Of course, I find that those who correct someone one their manners never really have any to begin with.

So in a little piece of petty snobbery, I loudly said "You're welcome" and corrected her by saying when someone thanks you protocol dictates you say you're welcome.And to top it off, she left not a red-cent on the bar.

Proper decorum prevents me from describing her as I would like to.

Part II
Once again, these two foreign chicks come in as I just finish changing a keg. As I approach one of the ladies and ask her for her ID, she points her finger up gesturing for me to wait as she storms by me headed to the bathroom.

I have to admit, she caught me off guard leaving me telling the other young lady that was with her that she was rude. As tempted as I was to pull her back by her long hair, my being the gentleman that I am, caused me to hold back and just let her use the bathroom.

I mean, I would never dare go in a bar to only use the bathroom and not ask if I could. The nerve.

Is it a full moon tonight?
Later,
FH

Been a while

Wow, just realize that its been a while since I've updated my rant site. Now please don't fret you good and fine folks, things have been pretty hectic as of late and I promise to resume chronicling some of the craziness that makes part of my day. Hope the holidays were fun filled with family and friends. See you soon. FH

And with the final pitch...Winter is here

Last night The New York Yankees won their 27th World Series Championship against the defending World Champions Philadelphia Phillies. As a Yankees fan I am happy at their achievement. As a baseball fan, I am saddened by their victory. The sadness is due to the realization that with the end of baseball season, The Boys of Summer have departed and winter is upon us.

No longer shall we see the gleaming white bases offsetting the coarse brown of the dirt paths separating the green blades of infield and outfield grass. The familiar sounds of the cracks of the bats and the pop of the ball smacking the leather of the glove have been replaced by the howling of the lonely winter winds. The days will seem shorter, the sun will seem dimmer and the weather will feel colder.

I await with anticipation for the day that pitchers and catchers report to Spring training. Until they return in February. Until the day that the Boys of Summer return bringing the Spring and Summer with them. Until then...

Stories from the Bar on a Saturday Night

Story I
So during the Serena/Clisjters US Open semi-final, something happens that causes Serena to walk off the court. As the drama is unfolding on the screen, this dude takes a stool and stands on it to reach the TV over the vending machine. He proceeds to raise the volume. When I ask him what he's doing, he says "I'm raising the volume". I proceed to tell him that the least he could do is ask since its not his bar or TV's to touch. He says but its a bar (Like its ok to do so) and I retort that I would never touch a TV in a bar if I never worked there. The dude waves me off like its no big deal and half-assedly asks if I can raise the volume. Any guess on my answer? NO, in spite I wasn't going to raise the volume and HE says that I was rude because I wouldn't grant his request. The presumptiousness of some people. Maybe I was raised differently to respect other people's property. As they left, he says to me "Where did I learn my manners", to avoid any escalation I just told him to have a good night. What a turd.

Story 2
So we have a line for the men's room (as is prone to happen on busy Friday and Saturday nights) and I'm getting the dudes in and out as fast as I can. So as I'm almost done on the line, this dude tries to shoot past me into the ladies room. I tell him "Sorry bro, can't let you in there". The "Bro" had a short haircut, a plaid shirt and shorts. So "he" looks up at me and says in a woman's voice "Oh, I think I can prove that I can go in there". I take a double take and look at HER chest (there were breasts there, little ones mind you) and just laugh with her. As she goes in, I open the door and tell her that's a dirty trick which got her to laugh harder. As she comes out I ask her "How often do you do that" and she goes on to say "Every chance I get" as she squeezes my arm. Well, that made up for the turd in story 1..

September 11, 2001-September 11, 2009

Once again the calendar has traveled a full year and landed on the somber day of September 11. Eight years have passed since that fateful day that changed the way we New Yorkers live. The sky is bare in that patch where the twins once stood. The hearts of those who lost loved one still ache from their untimely loss.We remember them fondly, prefering to celebrate their lives than to mourn their deaths. May they rest forever in peace.

XBox360 Trials and Tribulations

So after 6 months of smooth gaming with the XBox 360, my voyage has hit a bump which feels more like a brick wall. I bought the XBox360 as a family present for this past Christmas. Now I've heard about all the problems the XBox360 had with the Red Rings of Death (RRoD) and other problems that plagued the console since its release. But compared to the Sony Playstation3, the XBox360 was much more economical and has a better game selection. Plus since I was able to get it 3 months before Christmas on my credit line with Dell, it was a fairly easy purchase.

So off we went for a smooth 6 month gaming tour, when the weather started getting rough (Boy that sounds familiar, LOL). My XBox360 stopped loading entirely. It generated an E73 error message which (from my research online) meant it was a hardware malfunction, probably from the ethernet connector. I figured that with 6 months of usage, 3 months of being put away after buying the console and who knows how long it stood in Dell's warehouse maybe the malfunction had more to do with time. So I send the console in for repairs on June 26th and to my pleasant surprise I got it back on July 9th, a little less than 2 weeks. And off we go on our gaming voyage...or so I thought.

My son was playing a game on July 10th (Mind you, the day after I receive the console from repairs), the pesky multilanguage error message which reads "To play this disc, put it in an Xbox 360 console" pops up. Once I got home from work, I checked the console out and saw that it would play no games whatsoever. It wouldn't play DVD's. CD's or even the disc drive cleaning disc. It would just read and say open disc. I go through all the online troubleshooting suggestions to no avail. I call customer support.

After going through the lengthy automated B.S., I get a live person on the line who walks me through the same steps as I had done earlier. As we proceeded through the steps, I could feel my blood pressure rising since I knew what was coming next: I would have to send the console in for repair...AGAIN!!!! To make matters worse, as I rant about how unacceptable and irresponsible that my having to return a repaired item 2 days after it was received the call was disconnected. If I was using my Blackberry, the phone would have gone through the wall.

So I call again getting a live person in a faster amount of time and I guess the prior customer agent updated the computer information as to my call. The agent walked on eggshells as he spoke to me but told me as the last agent that I would have to send it. That the last repair may not have been done completely due to a "Misunderstanding" whatever that means. LOL. By sending it in, it would have a Primary status for a full and complete inspection...Umm, shouldn't they do that anyway? So I resigned myself to the fact that I had two choices: Send it back or throw it out the window. I was seriously tempted to let the XBox360 fly but the kids would have been upset. So here I am riding my favorite Filly: Iron Horse#6 trying to get to the UPS Store on 91st Street and 3rd Avenue by 3:30pm to catch the last pickup for the weekend. What a charmed life I lead!!!

BTW, they don't pick up UPS Ground shipping packages on Saturday so the box will sit at the store until Monday. There goes the rest of my Saturday. LOL. All I can do is laugh, right?