Optical Illusions

Are the black diamonds on the top or the bottom of each step?



Are the lines in this image parallel to each other? Are they straight?



What image do you see in the picture below? Do you see the woman and horn player?



How many legs does this elephant have?



I was in a cab with friends on the way to breakfast after a long night of gambling and hardly any sleep in Las Vegas when I saw a car with this license plate zoom by. By the time I did a double and triple take, it was too late for me to snap a shot (thanks, Photoshop!). What does this say?



I know California has the Golden Gate Bridge, but geez, they really do take pride in their golden showers.

Return to Sin City

Has your airplane flight ever been delayed because one of your pilots was missing? After a lengthy delay, finally I've returned...along with my closest friends.

At the Beach

Black Thursday

Fuck work and fuck the company I work for...

Over two years without calling in sick. Covering the functions of those people who did call in. Coming into work early. Leaving work late. The only one in the area who really understood both the technical and the business side of the things that are done...

And still that wasn't enough of an impact to earn a bonus.

I wouldn't be so upset if it wasn't for the fact that 45% of the entire workforce got one. The number's pretty significant because at a time when our company's sale is close to being official, a lot of people are going to lose their jobs...and since I fall in the approximate bottom half of the bonus pool, I'm taking that to mean the probability of me sticking around is a lot lower than those who earned a bonus.

It's not about the money - I'm one who believes that if you work your ass off, you should be rewarded for it. This obviously wasn't the case. Instead, you were rewarded if the person making the bonus decision knew who you were (or in corporate speak, "made an impact"). I apologize for going above and beyond what was asked of me as mentioned in my glowing review (which to management means nothing to them). Just goes to show it's not a matter of what you've done, but who you know...

With all the crap that's gone on since I've been where I'm at, I've been the calm force that's kept quiet and done my work. I've never bitched, moaned or complained...ever. I've dreaded working where I am before, but not to this extent, not like this. I'm heartbroken and bitter, and when you start feeling that much despair and hatred, it's time to move on because it's not worth it anymore - there is no more hope.

Country Music Is Better Than...

While going to this year's Summerfest in Milwaukee, I discovered that going to a country music concert (saw Tim McGraw and Keith Urban) is a lot less painful than at least three things:

1) Listening to a band that cov-errrrrrrrrs songs of the Beatles AND Metallica with theirrrrrrrrrr lead sing-errrrrrrrr giving the worrrrrrrrrrrrst Larrrrrrrrrrrs impression (yes, he really talked and sang like that)

2) Going through a Gillette Venus vibrating razor promo truck booth with the Chosen One for a free razor, only to find out that after watching teeny bopper girls strike a pose and learning about how to use the razor on a really big razor display, they weren't giving out razors at all.

3) Spending over an hour getting out of Milwaukee because Wisconsin cheeseheads and country music yodels can't drive for shit. Are all people who live in a state that starts with "W" crappy drivers?