2009 -- Hey I'm still alive.

Still here will give 2008 update and 2009 plans soon. Later.

Photo of the Day: River Train

Quick Review: Motorola RAZR V3M

This phone is from Motorola. It cost $150.00 USD with a 2-year service contract from Alltel. The V3M as it is called has photo and video capture with a 1.3MP camera. It plays MP3s and can utilize a MicroSD card.

Alltel's service costs about $102.00 USD and with the My Circle service I barely use any of my 1500 minutes.

Overall: Good.
Sound Quality: Good.
Hardware: Good.
Software: Poor.
Service: Great.

2006 Cleveland Browns -- Year in Review

Barf... guh. Sorry about that. What was I writing about... oh. No wonder. Here we go... barf. Well that was the Scooterstan 2006 Cleveland Browns -- Year in Review.

MIA No Longer

Lost for 60 years, a B24 "Liberator" crew, members of the 63rd Bombardment Squadron, 43rd Bombardment Group, was found in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. What these men and so many others, did and gave for this country, we can only repay by dedicating our hearts and deeds to the proposition that the last best hope for mankind endures.

Thank you for defending liberty:

1st Lt. William M. Hafner, Norfolk, Va.

2nd Lt. Arthur C. Armacost, III, Cincinnati, Ohio

2nd Lt. David R. Eppright, Warrensburg, Mo.

2nd Lt. Charles F. Feucht, Reynoldsburg, Ohio

Technical Sgt. Raymond S. Cisneros, San Antonio, Texas

Technical Sgt. Alfred W. Hill, Temple, Okla.

Technical Sgt. James G. Lascelles, New York, N.Y.

Staff Sgt. William C. Cameron, Los Angeles, Calif.

Staff Sgt. Wilburn W. Rozzell, Duncan, Okla.

Please remember the care and diligence of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL). Thank you for bringing these boys home.

Read more about this recovery and identification here.

Photo of the Day: Hello

Medicare Part D: Update

We finally got my father's temporary benefit card. Because of his illness he can't work and therefore got additional help from CMS. He will get his medicine for free... hopefully. No premium is supposed to come out of his Social Security payment.

I signed him up on the Medicare website and that was fairly simple. The only problem was that his medication had two different styles: pill and injection, so I had to call his pharmacy to find out which one was which.

All in all, the sign-up process went smoother than the press was reporting.

Quick Review: Coach an Effective Team

This product, "How to Coach an Effective Team: Leadership that Gets Results," is a video (VHS) training course and viewer guide, it has a sixty minute run-time and is hosted by Joe "Coach" Gilliam.

"Coach" Gilliam leads the viewer through his management ideas with a mania that endears as it terrifies. The management lessons taught are solid as are the motivational techniques. The video has cheap production values, but it communicates Gilliam's ideas effectively.

I was lent this by one of my clients, if I had to purchase it to view it, I probably wouldn't.

Photo of the Day: Signs

Money, Money, Money... Money.

Re-signed a client to a new 2-year contract. Got a 50% price increase! Neato.

Quick Review: Medicare Part D

(Ring, ring)
Medicare: "Please hold."
Me: "Oh, ok."
(Do do do do, do do do do)
5 minutes later...
Recorded voice: "We will be with you soon."
(Do do do do, do do do do)
10 minutes later...
Recorded voice: "We will be with you soon."
(Do do do do, do do do do)
15 minutes later...
Recorded voice: "We will be with you soon."
(Do do do do, do do do do)
20 minutes later...
Recorded voice: "We will be with you soon."
(Do do do do, do do do do)
Much later...
(Do do do do, do do do do)
Me: "Aaargghh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Iiieeeeeeeee!."
(Click)
Medicare: "Mr. Scootran, thanks for holding. Hello, Mr. Scootran, are you there?"

Photo of the Day: I Do Declare

Quick Review: Maxwell House Instant Coffee

Mmm... that tastes good.

Update: Oh yeah...

Update: Just right.

Blog Update: I'm a Winner!

I got my first comment today and as it happens, it's from a friend. This momentous occasion provides me with the opportunity to plug his neat (In a geeky nerdo way.) website. Visit: beretta42.org. The direct link to his blog is here.

Why My Teams Lose: Introduction

Look, I'm a Cleveland sports fan; we know about losing. No team I support has won a championship during my lifetime. This feature is going to reveal my madness as I describe the heartache that comes with following the Cavs, Browns and Indians. These will probably be the only posts on this site that will include profanity.

Yes, I know that the Indians have a good team, the Cavs have Lebron and that the Browns have... uh, whatever it is that they have; but I'm totally pessimistic on the chances of these teams winning a championship. This is not to say that I won't be watching and cheering all along, I will. My lot, as I'm sure that many of you suffer from, is to be suckered in. I read sports blogs, watch Sportcenter, listen to my local sports-talk radio programs and watch as many games as I can.

Be prepared to read and possibly view my swings from joy to desperation. Because, one thing you can bank on is, that my teams lose.

2006 Backpacking Trip

I'm looking at going to the Hoist Lakes foot trails at the Huron national forest in Michigan. The sections of the trails that I would like to hike are a little over fifteen miles long in total. It is a loop trail. The topography is pretty tame; unlike sections of the North Country trail that I did earlier this year or the hellish mountain climbs in the Monongahela national forest's Otter Creek wilderness I slogged through in 2004.

I have already started a directory, updated my "To Do" list, created an itinerary and gathered some initial forest information (links and PDFs). Not sure when to go. Maybe late April early May. Hope I get my radio back by then.

Think I'll finally buy that L.E.D. flashlight I've been pining for the last year. Getting excited...