T Town Tommy

A Disorder Suffered by Many in 2008

Electile Dysfunction:

The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for president put forth by either party in the 2008 election year.

15 Firefox Browser Tweaks

PC World has released 15 Tweaks for Firefox, the browser I use for almost all of my work. Currently Firefox has about 17% of the market share in web browsers and is available both for Windows and Mac OS. I use Firefox portable version browser on a usb memory stick for when I travel and I like being able to customize the browser security on my business and home systems. If your still using Explorer or Safari I would highly recommend giving Firefox a try for a few weeks.

15 Undocumented Firefox Tips

Hat tip to Allen at Nation Management Web and Video for the Article

Family Pets Latest Victim of Mortgage Crisis

Family pets are the latest victims of the sub prime mortgage fall out as hundreds of thousands of home owners are losing homes and a home for thousands of dogs and cats.

CHICAGO (AFP) - Forget about the lost furnishings and finances, the most pitiful victims of the subprime mortgage crisis rocking the United States are the family pets.

Shelters across the country have seen sharp upticks in the number of people giving up their pets in recent months because they have been forced out of their homes.

And -- more tragically -- neighbors, police and foreclosure agents are finding increasing numbers of pets left to fend for themselves in abandoned homes.

"We're finding too many animals who have starved to death," said Stephanie Shain, director of outreach for the Human Society of the United States.

While some people dump their pets on the street, others go so far as to lock the animal in a closet where their cries for help are harder to hear, she said.

It can take weeks for an animal to starve to death and desperate scratch and bite marks are usually found on doors and windows.

"They will eat anything -- furniture, or carpet or wallboard -- to try to ingest something," Shain said in a telephone interview.

"It's a very fearful and frantic and panicked situation for that animal to be in."

The Humane Society recently instigated a public-awareness campaign to offer tips on finding animal-friendly rental housing and remind people that pets are much better off in a shelter.                    Rest of the story with Mira Oberman - Yahoo News

If you know of anyone moving that has pets they cannot care for or you want to adopt a spayed or nutured dog or cat here are some regional and national web sites. Save a life today.

• Animal Shelter.org
• Pet Finder.com
• ASPCA
• Online Directory of Oklahoma Animal Shelters

Oklahoma and National LGBT News

OSU's SODA seeks LGBT Businesses for Campus Forum

Sexual Orientation Diversity Association (SODA) at Oklahoma State University (Stillwater) is seeking area LGBT businesses to speak about their companies and how they fit within the LGBT and surrounding communities, as well as how students can go about being involved with a LGBT business. If you are a LGBT business owner or know of someone who may be interested in participating in the event, contact SODA President Shane Williams at (918) 694-3280.

PFLAG National Scholarship Program

PFLAG Scholarships provide an important, positive statement to a group of young people that is coping amazingly well in an often adverse school environment. This year, PFLAG will grant three $5000, three $2500, and ten $1000 scholarships to reward the great work students are doing across the country to make schools safer. For more information, visit the PFLAG website.

Research Study for Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning Men

Dawn M. Szymanski, Ph.D., University of Tennessee is a gay researcher conducting an empirical study examining attitudes, feelings, and experiences associated with being a gay, bisexual, or questioning man. She invites men 18 years or older who have experienced same-sex attraction, to participate in this study. The online survey is anonymous, and takes about 35 minutes to complete. As an incentive to participate, all participants will be given the chance to enter a participant raffle awarding $100 each to three randomly selected participants.

Monday Morning Humor - Hillary Jogging

Hillary Clinton was out jogging one morning along the parkway when she tripped, fell over the bridge railing and landed in the creek below.

Before the Secret Service guys could get to her, 3 kids who were fishing pulled her out of the water. She was so grateful she offered the kids whatever they wanted.

The first kid said, "I want to go to Disneyland. Hillary said, "No problem, I'll take you there on my special Senator's airplane."

The second kid said, "I want a new pair of Nike Air Jordan's." Hillary said, "I'll get them for you and even have Michael sign them!!"

The third kid said, "I want a motorized wheelchair with a built in TV and stereo headset!" Hillary was a little perplexed by this and said, "But you don't look like you're handicapped."

The kid said, "I will be after my dad finds out I saved your ass from drowning."

Blog Evolution

The new look for T Town Tommy is about finished. I have always wanted to have buildings from downtown Tulsa somehow incorporated in my various mastheads and looks over the course of two years. Having some of that local flavor sets regional blogs apart.

I want to thank fellow blogger and web designer Steph Waller over at Incurable Insomniac for making some nice masthead graphic for me when I had something awful in use. I want to also thank freelance graphic designer, Oklahoma blogger and author Cullan Hudson over at Strange State for the masthead currently in use on T Town Tommy. Here are the mastheads that where developed and I will be rotating all of them around on this site.

A Random Post for Tuesday Night

Our lives are filled with randomness and one of the challenges of daily modern life is being able to process it all and move forward in some semblance of sanity. Today for example I woke up still sore from my massage therapist stopping by last night and going after the knots in my shoulders while we watched television. After this move waking up sore every morning is starting to become routine. The sound of huge mechanical tree chippers, bulldozers, cranes and that annoying beeping noise when they all backup at random is also becoming routine at sometimes 6:00 am seven days a week. Tulsa is still getting rid of all the tree limbs that fell during the ice storm. Huge parks have turned into dumps for limbs and mountains of mulch are being created. The crappy thing is the biggest make shift mulch factory is right behind my house.

The flower shop was dead today, which is a good thing in a way as we are still getting everything setup and functional. It seems like the calm before the storm hits with Valentine's Day fast approaching. So I decided to get my personal office setup and sort through a pile of papers a foot high on my desk, return and make calls and get my Quicken accounts up to date.

Unfortunately I also got pissed at one of my friends who never returns voicemail and rarely emails. When I really need help he goes MIA on me. I am sure we will work it out I just feel disrespected and ignored and I have reached an age where I don't need to take being treated that way by anyone.

I know it was just bitter cold outside today with a high barely above freezing so I opted to stay inside till almost 4:00 pm. I finally bundled up and zipped down Riverside Drive to pick up a friend then we where off to Brandon's Auction in East Tulsa.

Auctions have been a past time of mine for about six months now. I have always loved making and sealing deals and bidding against people face to face is good sport for me. I also love antiques and finding cool and unusual stuff sometimes having to ask "what is it?" from the auctioneers in viewings before the auction starts. Today we found some cool items but it was an estate sale and with all the little items like coins and jewelry as well as large pieces that can't be easily shipped we decided to skip sitting through 6 hours of bidding to get to items that possibly interested us. In total Brandon's Auction had over 570 items up for auction tonight.

My friend however had to pick up a large mirror, small cabinet, a framed picture and an area rug; all in the back of my new baby SUV. He rode with his butt in the windshield holding the mirror from 11^th Street and 128^th East Ave. all the way to Cheyenne and 15^th Street in downtown Tulsa. I wasn't expecting that when I woke up this morning, but he does have a nice ass.

I got home from the auction preview and my partner had found a 20' X 10' Persian rug for the new house. Our entire house is tile except for the bedrooms. Having all tile floors is ideal for having two labs but very cold in the winter so with the cold snap rugs have become high on the priority list. Billy bought it off a friend who got it from a friend who got it from God knows where for $350.00 and it is works perfect in the living room. So check that off of my to-do list.

Finally I get word that actor Heath Ledger has died at age 28. Ledger was Oscar nominated in 2006 for his role in Brokeback Mountain. Current reports are ruling his death an accidental overdose and that he was suffering from pneumonia at the time of his death. He was a great actor and a very handsome man to watch on the screen. His talent lost at such a young age.

Today was complete randomness how we deal with it is what keeps psychiatrist in business. If you had told me this morning that I would stay inside and do paperwork and office stuff all day, get pissed at a friend, ditch tonight's auction, have another friend's butt in the windshield all the way across Tulsa, rearrange all the furniture for a huge rug and end it with news of Ledger's death I would not have believed you. On second thought perhaps I would, who knows what tomorrow holds.

Monday Morning Humor - Excuses for Not Showing Up at Work Today

For those of you who are not working for the government, here are some excuses to leave on your bosses voice mail for being late or a no show today.

• If it is all the same to you, I won't be coming in to work. The voices told me to clean all the guns today.

• When I got up this morning, I took two Ex-Lax in addition to my Prozac. I can't get off the john, but I feel good about it.

• I set half the clocks in my house ahead an hour and the other half back an hour Saturday, and spent 18 hours in some kind of space-time continuum loop, reliving Sunday (right up until the explosion). I was able to exit the loop only by reversing the polarity of the power source exactly e*log(pi) clocks in the house while simultaneously rapping my dog on the snout with a rolled up Times. Accordingly, I will be in late, or early.

• My stigmata's acting up.

• I can't come in to work today because I'll be stalking my previous boss, who fired me for not showing up for work. OK?

• I have a rare case of 48-hour projectile leprosy, but I know we have that deadline to meet...

• I am stuck in the blood pressure machine down at the Food Pyramid.

• Yes, I seem to have contracted some attention-deficit disorder and, hey, how about them Hoyas, huh? So, I won't be able to, yes, could I help you? No, no, I'll be sticking with Sprint, but thank you for calling.

• Constipation has made me a walking time bomb.

• I just found out that I was switched at birth. Legally, I shouldn't come to work knowing my employee records may now contain false information.

• The psychiatrist said it was an excellent session. He even gave me this jaw restraint so I won't bite things when I am startled.

• The dog ate my car keys. We're going to hitchhike to the vet.

• My mother-in-law has come back as one of the Undead and we must track her to her coffin to drive a stake through her heart and give her eternal peace. One day should do it.

• I am converting my calendar from Julian to Gregorian.

• I am extremely sensitive to a dump in the stock market.

• I can't come to work today because the EPA has determined that my house is completely surrounded by wetlands and I have to arrange for helicopter transportation.

• I prefer to remain an enigma.

From Inspired Inside.com

The Last Speech Given By Martin Luther King Jr.

It is on this third Monday of January, 2008 that we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. born January 15th, 1929. Doing research on the internet into Rev. King's life I came across a prophetic short speech he  delivered in support of the striking sanitation workers at Mason Temple in Memphis, TN on April 3, 1968 — the day before he was assassinated. Listen to the words of one of American histories great leaders and perhaps you will wonder as I do if he knew his days where limited.

Excuse My Mess

So how do you like the way the new look is going? You will have to pardon my mess while T Town Tommy gets a make over well over due. How do you like the colors? Do you like the new layout? I am by no means a Photoshop wizard so I am still working on the masthead, anyone out there with some Photoshop skills?

If you don't see your site in my blog roll it's because you haven't linked to me yet! I am more than happy to swap links with anyone that puts out a quality blog. Feedback is appreciated help is desperately needed!

Peace Out,

~T

Mind Blowing Architecture for 2008 Olympics in China

The 2008 Summer Olympics will be held in Beijing, China debuting some mind blowing 21 Century  architecture for it's sports complexes. Here is a glimpse of some of the state of the art buildings we will be seeing this August.

Night View of The National Stadium
Seating 90,000

The Olympic Greens

The National Aquatics Center "The Water Cube"

Interior Pools and bubble ceiling

Leoshan Velodrome

Velodrome Skylight

Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium

Interior

My favorite, Peking University Gymnasium; built for table tennis.
They built a freaking venue for just Ping-Pong!

Check out the official site for information, construction shots, and more very cool buildings coming soon.

Fight for Your Rights

Can you imagine?

Not being able to visit your spouse in the hospital?

Living with your spouse for 25 years, and then losing everything—house, children, and benefits?

Being told you can't depend on your spouse's social security benefits, despite a lifetime of commitment?

Is it hard to imagine?

It shouldn't be – this is the reality for same-sex couples all across America. It's not fair, and it's not American. Stand up for your rights and the rights of your fellow American.

Sign the Million for Marriage Petition today.

millionformarriage.org

So far we have 872,227 online signatures; will you help break over the one million mark to help send a message to Washington?

Monday Morning Humor - Answered Prayers

The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for answered prayers.  A lady stood and walked to the podium.  She said, "I have a praise. Two months ago, my husband Jim, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't know if they could help him." 

You could hear an audible gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Jim experienced. She continued, "Jim was unable to hold me or the children and every move caused him terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation. They were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Jim's scrotum and wrap wire around it to hold it in place." 

Again, the men in the Congregation squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Jim. She continued, "Now, Jim is out of the hospital and the doctor's say, with time, his scrotum should recover completely. All the men sighed with relief. The pastor rose and tentatively asked if any one else had anything to say.

A man rose and walked to the podium.

He said, "I'm Jim and I want to tell my wife, once again, the word is STERNUM!"

Top 10 Gay Myths

From Edge New England

TOP 10 GAY MYTHS
by David Goulart

Sunday Jan 6, 2008

1. The myth of gay recruitment. I can and did find a spouse from the existing pool of gay people the Creator created. I am not out to convert you or your kids. Don’t want to. Don’t need to. God gave me plenty of people to choose from. I chose one already.

2. Being gay is about more than sex. My gayness is based in love, not sex. I have an emotional, intimate connection with my spouse. Sure, we have sex, but it doesn't define us as a couple, or as people. I admire him for his kindness, his honesty, his commitment to his family, his intelligence, and dedication to OUR family to name just a few.

3. Pedophiles come in all forms. There are "bad gay people" just as there are "bad straight people." We’ve got some pedophiles among our group; so do you - you actually have MORE. Can we agree to focus on fighting pedophilia? Gay, straight. Doesn't matter. Pedophiles are bad for kids.

4. The gay community is diverse. We are not all men in leather thongs with feather boas dancing on top of Gay Pride Parade floats. We’re not all male, all white, all rich or all anything else.

5. Some of us believe in God. If James Lipton of the Actor’s Studio ever has occasion to interview me, I have a ready-made answer to one of his standard questions. When I arrive at Heaven’s Pearly Gates, the first thing I hope to hear God say is: "Yes, David, you have a reservation - but I’m afraid I don’t see Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the list." The God I believe in is loving, libratory and downright radical. (and I know wishing hell on anyone isn’t exactly a demonstration of loving).

6. I already can get married in a church. Some Christian denominations allow for this. Others don’t. I’m not asking your church to bless me and my spouse. When it comes to "gay marriage," all we’re after is the civil stuff. You know, things like having the rights of a spouse when my partner’s dying in the hospital. Being able provide for my partner should I pass away and not worry about a distant relative taking the house and more. Those sorts of things.

7. Slurs go both ways (pun intended.) The gay community has names for you, too. I won't call you a "breeder," if you don't call me a "sodomite" or "faggot."

8. Rainbows belong to us. Please quit putting rainbow stickers on your cars. Please quit hanging rainbow flower leis on your rear view mirrors. Contrary to popular belief, not all of us are equipped with 100-percent accurate gaydar, and if you have rainbows all over your person or property, we may well assume you are a "member of the family."

9. We have the same problems you do. We worry about making a living, putting food on the table, paying the bills, staying healthy, getting ahead just like you do. Just because many of us walk around with a huge smile and seem to be optimistic doesn't mean we are not worried on the inside. It does not mean life is a basket of daisies, we just choose to keep our problems private.

10. We notice your inconsistencies. If you really, really don't like gay people and think gay sex is disgusting, quit buying porn with women having sex with women. (That's gay sex. In some cases, it's bisexual sex, if a real - not plastic - penis is involved.) Americans spend a billion dollars a year on porn; it's been a long time since someone produced a "straight" porn film that didn't have two women going at it. If you quit buying this stuff, maybe the porn industry would fold - something that, I think, might benefit women across all orientations.

Moving, Money and Feeding the Beast

Hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year and not too terrible of a headache the next day. The week seems to be grinding away. We have been hip deep in moving and getting our new house ready. My new landlord agreed to not charge a deposit if we cleaned the place up and painted. I didn't realize a pool service was so expensive! Movers are coming next week and I will be setting up shop off of Riverside Drive in Mid-Town Tulsa by next Thursday.

Working from home of course compounds the headache of any move. Regrettably a kink has to be tossed into the works when Cox Communications told us today that it would be a two week wait to get our business phone lines and internet transferred to our new address. So I believe their going to lose a nice account with the bundled services I currently have with their company. To be honest for a communications company to have that kind of disregard for a business customer is unacceptable and more than likely everything including cell phones, internet, toll free, phone and fax lines will be going over to AT&T. Hopefully I will save a little money and at worse break even with the switch and not get my teeth kicked in with charges, fees and taxes.

Finally I want to share that Sam's Club is now offering credit card merchant services for small business members and for a small fee non-members. I have been a member of Sam's Club with mixed feelings for going on 20 years. I know I am feeding the Wal-Mart beast that has dried up so many small town squares and home town main streets. However my businesses from college until today have relied on their bulk supplies and recently their gasoline, which is usually 2-3 cents cheaper than anyone else in town, for our day to day operations. And now Sam's Club is offering credit card and internet merchant processing. I am sure my business very soon will be leveraging the low rates and customer oriented services for our home floral shop and internet business. I am all about saving money and granting more options for my customers to pay me for my services and time. If you run a small business and are burdened with the ridiculous fees and rates your merchant service provider is offering, Sam's Club is worth checking out.

Some Goofing in The Middle East

This would be your face if you stuck it outside a car doing 180 mph. Something from our troop to cut the tension.

face lift

Go Sooners!

Go Oklahoma Sooners! Tonight is the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, #4 Ranked Oklahoma v. West Virgina.

Linkage

• Sooner Sports Site
• Fiesta Bowl Official Site
• Oklahoma Athletics

UPDATE: Sooners didn't show up to play; oh well there is always next year...

Happy New Year 2008

Wishing all of you a Happy and Prosperous 2008!