Thursday, January 31, 2008

LISSA’S: HEMA’s Product Page

HEMA is a Dutch department store.

You can't order anything and it's in Dutch, but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens. Keep watching... hilarious!

Take a look at HEMA's product page!

LISSA’S: Moving out of the entertainment Stone Age...

This is just a bit more proof that Texoma has NOTHING to offer the human race.. at least human beings that are still wanting to live and experience life and not ready to just die. True, all there is to do is go to Wal-Mart and blow your money, but when you go home and turn on the TV, this is the only source for "local" television that you get. Now keep in mind that KXII 12 and KTEN 10 only report on Oklahoma news and hardly ever Texas news. FOX (KXIID) and the PBS channel doesn't have any news what-so-ever. If you wonder what happens in Dallas, you might as well forget it. Dallas doesn't exist to Texoma. If it didn't happen in Oklahoma, then you will never hear about it.

Here is the options directly off of the Dish Network website. Just the cold, hard, sad facts:

Texoma choices:

..> ..>

Sherman,TX and Ada, OK $3.99 Locals Package - $5.99 per month
Station	Local Channel Number	Dish Channel Number
SHERMAN CBS-KXII	12	7521
SHERMAN FOX - KXIID	20	7523
SHERMAN NBC-KTEN	10	7522
SHERMAN-ADA PBS-PBS-S	60	7526

We will be moving to civilazation soon. I will be glad to finally live in a place that has REAL local channels that actually shows news where I live for a change! Just compare the difference!

Houston choices:

..> ..>

Houston, TX Locals Package - $5.99 per month
Station	Local Channel Number	Dish Channel Number
HOUSTON ABC-KTRK	13	8370
HOUSTON ABC-KTRK IN HD	13	6389
HOUSTON CBS-KHOU	11	8371
HOUSTON CBS-KHOU IN HD	11	6390
HOUSTON CW-KHCW	39	8374
HOUSTON FOX-KRIV	26	8373
HOUSTON FOX-KRIV IN HD	26	6392
HOUSTON IND-KAZH	57	8381
HOUSTON IND-KNWS	51	8377
HOUSTON IND-KTBU	55	8382
HOUSTON IND-KZJL	61	8384
HOUSTON MNT-KTXH	20	8375
HOUSTON NBC-KPRC	2	8372
HOUSTON NBC-KPRC IN HD	2	6391
HOUSTON PBS-KUHT	8	8376
HOUSTON TELEF-KFTH	67	8380
HOUSTON TMNDO-KTMD	47	8379
HOUSTON UNVSN-KXLN	45	8378

...... IN A NUTSHELL? TEXOMA SUCKS ALL THE WAY AROUND!!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

BILL’S: TFB (The Future Begins) Part VI: Action Figures

So the rumors going round at the moment are that Playmates has picked up the license to the upcoming JJ Abrams Star Trek movie. But what's the truth?...

Well I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Playmates does indeed have the license.

"You sound pretty confident about that," I hear you say, "how can you be so sure?" The simple reason is because I got to see the actual figure lines today.

And yes, I did say lines because, there is more than one. The figures themselves were early protoypes, so keep this in mind.

Whilst I'm not entirely sure of the scale of the figures (surprisingly, scale isn't a question distributors get asked about) but personally I put the main series at 6" (and I'm usually pretty good at scales). The majority of figures had not yet had articulation put into them, but I'd be guessing that you should be looking at something similar to the old Playmates Star Trek line.

As for the line up, I saw most of the crew: Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and I think Uhuru, Bones. Most of them were dressed in their Starfleet outfits, which seemed very similar to the designs from the original series. There also seemed to be a few other outfits for characters, as well as someone who looked like Sarek, who seemed to feature in all the Star Trek lines I saw today.

As well as what I'm calling the 6" line, there was a larger line with real cloth outfits. Again I have to guess at scale and this is the one I'm least sure on, thinking it between 9" and 12".

The final line looked to me to be a 4" line. Now the figures I saw weren't articulated and I have no idea whether the final pieces will or not, but what was on show with them was a couple of playsets.

One was the bridge of the Enterprise, with the second one being the transporter room. Both seemed like they would come with some form of electronic effects, but these were early, early prototypes with the electronics still hanging out the back of them. What makes me think the 4" line will be articulated was the fact that the bridge had a Kirk figure, sat at his chair, and it seems stupid to me to have a playset with a non-articulated kirk figure in a sitting pose. But then I could be wrong.

The movie isn't out until Christmas 2008, so we have a LONG wait ahead of us, but I've seen plenty of protoypes in my time at Action-Figure and my takeaway impression was that if you're a fan of the old Playmates Star Trek line, then you're going to love these lines

Playmates: So Who's Got The New Star Trek Movie?
Posted by adrian on Wednesday, January 30, 2008

BILL'S: The Future Begins, Part V: The Corridor

If you stay on the ncc-1701.com website long enough, the offline camera will show the above hallway. The photo has been enhanced for brightness. This site is now linked from the official website. You can see a flashing red dot on the official page. If you press it, it will take you to the "Shipyards" page.

Also, today the Forums at the official website went live.

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart: Recession Ambulance Chasers

Wal-Mart: Recession Ambulance Chasers

Posted January 29, 2008

These days are times for the Waltons of Wal-Mart to be dancing in the streets of Bentonville, Arkansas. After all, the economy is tanking and millions of people are heading for a painful few years, people are losing their homes, gasoline prices are on the rise, health care is continuing to evaporate--these are precisely the kinds of economic conditions that the Waltons of Wal-Mart thrive on. Indeed, it is the Wal-Mart economic model.

Sensing an opportunity and smelling the tragedy facing millions of people, Wal-Mart execs are moving aggressively to make sure their cash registers keep ringing:

Wal-Mart announced Tuesday that it will chop prices between 10 to 30 percent this week on groceries, electronics and other home-related products in an effort to keep its cash-strapped consumers excited about shopping.

While its rivals, including Target (TGT, Fortune 500), have seen sales decelerate dramatically in recent weeks from a consumer spending slowdown, Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) has been benefiting from more shoppers trading down to its discount stores.

The world's largest retailer recently reported that its December same-store sales rose 2.4 percent, which was at the high-end of its expectations for the month.

Not only is Wal-Mart seeing the recession as a way to draw in more cash-strapped customers, they want to exacerbate an already bad situation by encouraging people to pile on more debt:

In addition to the extra discounts on "thousands of products," the retailer said it will offer no interest for 18 months on purchases of $250 or more with a Wal-Mart Credit Card.

No interest? Does that sound familiar? Yes, that was precisely what brokers and lenders were saying to people who bought homes they could not afford--you can do so right away with almost no money down and zero or close-to-zero interest...except that the interest payments exploded to impossible levels after a few years.

In many ways, this is the perfect economic storm for Wal-Mart. Millions of people have nothing left to hang on to. They have no cash left. No home equity left to draw on. Gasoline prices are on the rise. Wages aren't going anywhere in real terms. Hundreds of thousands of workers will likely lose their jobs in the coming year.

It's a beautiful thing for Wal-Mart.

The company can discriminate against women.

It can dodge taxes that the rest of us pay.

You can be worth billions of dollars and buy expensive paintings--but not give your workers real health care.

You can keep offering low prices on goods made in China because people in China have no real protections.

And, glory of all glories, when things really get rough for most of the population, your cash registers will hum along, ringing with the sounds of misery and poverty. The Waltons will rake in billions more--even as more people become impoverished. Ain't the free-market great?

source: The Huffington Post

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart’s common practice to keep associate pay low

In November 2003, a handful of Wal-Mart employees who had been laid off learned they could soon be hired back - but possibly at lower wages and without benefits. That's small consolation for Sandra Davies, 46, a dismissed Wal-Mart cashier. She's single and said she lives paycheck to paycheck to support herself and her 16-year-old son. If Wal-Mart does bring her back, as a new or seasonal worker, the store won't need to pay benefits for several months. If workers are brought back and paid $2 less per hour without benefits, the company is probably saving $5 an hour, Brad Shefrin, an employment attorney, said.

source: Denver Post, 11/12/03

BILL’S: The Day Life Ended In Texas

Since I have lived in the Texoma region, I have made many trips to Denison. One thing I knew that really stuck out in my mind was the giant abandoned building in the center of town which was the old Denison High School. I remember driving by it several times wondering why they would keep it in such a state of disrepair. But then came the time that the city decided it was time to tear it down. The citizens of Denison gathered together to protect the eyesore. They didn't want to tear it down, but no one was willing to try to fix it up either. The city tried to sell it, but no one wanted it. The day finally came and demolition started. People gathered in candlelight vigils mourning the loss of their biggest rat nest. In the almost 10 years I have been in this region, this building has always had a fence around it, windows broken out, and the building was falling apart. If people really cared, why didn't they try to take care of it? That was always my question. People showed up from all around the world mourning the building as it slowly was torn down. And still I asked myself, why? What is history if you don't preserve it? They had a committee wanting to preserve, but none wanting to donate the time or the money it would need to do something with the building. So, they stood and cried.

But in this hodge podge of feelings and news stories, something slipped by unnoticed. And now just a few months later, I have realized something more sinister has befallen us. You see the day the last person mourning left from the old high school site and returned to her hometown in Missouri, Texas died. I have watched the news, and it has confirmed my theory. There is no longer life in Texas. We are just "wanting wishes" traveling in space thinking we are actually still in a state which exists. Since the loss of the Denison High School, KXII Channel 12, which is located in the mythological place of Sherman, TX, completely stopped reporting on Texas. This was something I tried to bring to their knowledge, but the only response I got was that the people in Oklahoma were complaining that they reported too much on Texas. I spent two weeks and broke down in a chart all of the stories of the news station. I sent the station the chart, showing how almost every story they reported in a two week time period was dedicated to Oklahoma. Again, they didn't care. I thought it was just indifference, but it was only the start.

A few weeks later, I received a copy of the Sherman Herald Democrat. This is the fictious newspaper of this make believe town. As I went through the paper, I found that there was not one single story about Sherman. Even in local news, there were only stories of accidents in Dallas, and the sports page only reported on high school basketball in Oklahoma.

Yesterday, I was watching the news on Channel 12. Come to find out, there were two fires in the Oklahoma area. At my house, it was hard to breathe. For hours we were engulfed in a smoke cloud. Fires were breaking out all over the place, being driven by the 50 mph winds which tormented us. As I listened to the official stations all around us, fire departments were being sent everywhere. Stations from Collin, Cooke, Grayson and Denton counties were all around fighting fires in Sherman, Whitesboro, Whitewright, Tioga, Collinsville, Southmayd, and Gainesville. Grayson County Sheriff's Office was out investigating smoke reports. But like I said, the only fires on the news were in Oklahoma.

So, it became official. Life in Texas has died. With all the high winds and fires, it can only mean that we are living in hell. And the only thing which supported life in Texas was the Old Denison High School.

Monday, January 28, 2008

LISSA’S: Dogs and Kids

The photographer did a great job of matching up the kids and dogs. Click on pictures to see whole picture.

....for all my dog lovers!

LISSA’S: How much longer can I make it?

Homesick... Yes I am. It's no secret that I hate the Texoma region. We have been planning to move to Houson and Galveston areas for 3 years now.. of course you already know the story as to why we haven't been able to move. I am missing what is soon to be my life... that's the reason for our current profile picture (as of 1/28/08).

Yes.. homesick. I can feel my soul die here in Texoma. I feel moments of life again when I watch videos and look at pictures of Houston and Galveston!

Click on Pictures to see whole picture.

"Moving across the state is a lot of hard work, but it's well worth it! The farther away from Texoma we get, the better off we will be!"

I imagine all the time our final trip down there... the trip where we will never come back to Texoma!

I know when I do get there, my life will actually start.

"I belong in Houston!! There is so much to do, see and experience there!!"

Another place I really feel alive is Galveston! I am so happy there! I've taken an interests in palm trees now!

It is like a whole other world there! The local people are so nice! The historic flavor is so appealing.

Everytime we are there, I take in the wonderful weather...

...the beautiful scenery....

...and the relaxing oceans!

Even the seagulls love it here!

In Galveston, we have found a local Gem! It's called 'THE SPOT'. It is located right across the street from the Seawall (the beach)!

The Spot has the best cheeseburgers and fries! Their onion rings aren't half bad either!

My whole family loves this place! Anytime anyone mentions The Spot, everyone gets hungry!

This restaurant is so classy, it has a WEBCAM so you can see their patio dinning overlooking the beach! Now that's my kind of dinning!!

So our eyes are all on the not to distant plans to our new life.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

LISSA’S: Another unhappy associate.. surprise surprise!

This morning I received a letter in my inbox from another unhappy Wal Mart associate. For her privacy, I am not disclosing a name. That's how Wal Mart is run backstage: if her management were to find out she felt this way, she would automatically be targeted in her store. I know, I am speaking from experience. This is what she had to say:

Well, in general, I am not happy with the course Wal-Mart is taking on many issues, but my main complaint is the Pay-caps on long term associates.

I have worked for WM for over 20 yrs now, and am on yr 2 of being pay-capped, at $15.86 an hour. I think it is a crying shame that the company is doing this to it's most experienced and loyal people who have been there through thick and thin so to speak.

I spent over 15 yrs in Management, as an Asst. Mngr, so I know probably more than your average associate. I got out of Mngmt. because I could not take the long hours and just flat got sick and tired of the night shifts, the stress, and the job itself. Now I am just the Ladies Apparel Dept Mngr. in the store I started out at 20 yrs ago. There are many 20+ associates in my store and we are all against the pay-cap, but always we are quieted by the come-back statement that the new bonus incentives are the "cure-all" for no raise. But my store has received the max bonus every time since it's creation and still the amount would not equal what just a simply 6% raise would do for me.

So the unhappy associates are out there. Like I said, no one really knows what it's like being a slave for Lee Scott unless you've actually been there!