Welcome to The Red Bank

About The Theme

Posted by Tony on 14.Feb.2008 | general article

The Red Bank’s theme is my own handy work using my moderate programming skills to hack an existing theme. I took the credits off of the theme because in it’s current form it has been hacked so extensively it no longer resembles the original authors work. I don’t want anyone thinking they could just go download that theme and have it appear the way this one does now. If you want a copy of the original without the modifications you can get it at wordpress.org.

I edited the stylesheet file to conform to my current highlighting, colors and decorations. I edited every file changing a great deal of the php code, also the sidebar and images to produce this version. I can’t call it completely mine but it is now one of a kind. It may not be perfect but it serves me the way it is. I don’t have any plans to continue hacking it further but you never know. In it’s current form I can’t make it available for download because much of the imaging and links are hard coded specifically for my site.

Oh the Joy

My New Playground

Posted by Tony on 12.Feb.2008 | general article

Welcome one and all to my cyber playground. The reason for the name goes back 40 years ago to a little town called Laurel, Mississippi. I talk about that in greater detail in the ABOUT section so if your interested please go read. I’m a 47 year old computer geek and spend a great deal of my time hacking code on the internet. There was a time when I thought I wanted to work in this field but soon realized if I did that it would take the fun out of it so I try to keep the internet and work separate.

I have had dozens of domains over the years and frankly I am a bit tired of trying to maintain them all with current content so it has come down to a point of what domains to keep and which ones to let go. I am seriously thinking of letting every one of them go but this one and perhaps one other. I would regret letting netgems.org go because all of my rick and bubba archives are on that site. I could move them here but it would take a lot of work to get the search engines pointing here for those files. I have a couple of months to decide before the name expires.

If you would like to chat with me you can find me on gwall.org under the username of “gowron” .

Starting Over

Posted by Tony on 13.Dec.2007 | Uncategorized article

Once more I am starting a new job in less than a year since starting at Lowe's and I am not really happy about the prospect of having to form so many new working relationships. I think I will stay more to myself this time around and just do my job and whatever is asked of me rather than trying to lend my expertise to anyone other than myself. Anytime your the new guy everyone wants to treat you like your completely stupid so why not just let them and get it over with. 

It takes time for people to form an opinion so I will let my work speak for itself. The key is keeping your trap shut unless you have something positive to contribute so that's what I am going to do. It seems like yesterday I started my first retail job at Big Lots and then Wal-Mart and to think that was over three years ago just seems crazy.

So the question now is what's the new job? well if I told you Fred's would you believe it? you might as well because it's true. A low paying job where I will be doing exactly what I love to do, stock. I mean what the hell, it's not big bucks but I will be happy for the first time since I left Wal-Mart back in April. I think there is something to be said about personal happiness rather than trying to scrape every dime you can out of a job.

I will be making about 75 bucks a week less than Lowe's was paying me but will be 100 times happier doing it and financially we will be completely fine.  So what about Wal-Mart ?

Well I waited over a month for Wal-Mart to re-hire me and there were a couple of attempts by them that fell through. The first time the job that I was supposed to be hired for just went away and then the second time they called my house and I wasn't here yet they left no message. Now they are telling me it will be after Christmas and probably after New Years before they can pick me back up. I can't see waiting that long, over 2 months, for a job unless it was something I wanted desperately.

I'm not saying I have ruled Wal-Mart out forever but if this job turns out to be what I think it is going to be then I may stay put at Fred's for a very long time because the job I am hiring into is exactly what I am wanting and the hours will be great. Who knows for sure what the future holds? I am just going to take it one day at a time and for now I am just happy to have a job, I start first thing tomorrow.

Star Trek XI

Posted by Tony on 08.Dec.2007 | Uncategorized article

There is a good post about the coming in 2008 next installment of Star Trek Movies along with pictures of the new cast. Just click on the link below to see it ….

 http://fbbs.org/showthread.php?tid=61

ReFlux

Posted by Tony on 17.Oct.2007 | Uncategorized article

Well I have come back to my old internet home after months away, it seems you can't escape your past or your future no matter how hard you try. This theory seems to apply to real life as much as it does your cyber life.

Posted by Tony on 06.May.2007 | Uncategorized article

Well it had to happen eventually

A small group of people, myself included, were using an IRC ( internet relay chat ) channel to talk mostly about nothing. Anyway the network died so we were left out in the cold so to speak. There was only about 20 of us on there so it wasn't that big of a deal but not having our own home to do with as we please left a bitter taste in our mouths so we decided to start a forum. Introducing chatnet.ws, the first intergalactic chat forum, lol

We have just opened the doors and are still doing some cleanup but everything is running now so please come by, take off your shoes and sit a spell with the rest of us cyber bums. The current members are me, that's me as gowron then there is cloak, ghost, brian,izzy, wolfman, 7of9 and iceman. It's all informal, talk about anything and everything. We are trying to get more people to join so please come by and make yourself at home.

Jessie, Snake Killer

Posted by Tony on 22.Apr.2007 | Uncategorized article

We had a bit of excitement today, a 4 to 5 foot black snake I have no idea exactly what it was but I do know it was not a water moccasin like I first suspected as the colors and markings were no where close to those of that species. The photo to the left was the closest picture I could find on the net that fits. This is a Spotted black snake which is not indigenous to Mississippi.

The curious thing was the blue under belly which does not appear on any breed of black snake I can find other than the spotted black snake.

Anyway so I am out mowing the lawn on my John Deere just enjoying the sun and occasional cloud when out of the corner of my eye I spot something black moving in the grass near the pool. At first I thought I had just thrown a stick or something and made the brush move that way but as I moved closer the damn thing took off like a bolt of lightning across the yard running at speeds that even the Deere could not keep up with. I cornered the beast near a stump and dismounted my trusty Deere to go for the shotgun cause there was no way I was going anywhere close to that thing.

My good neighbor and new best buddy Jessie was standing in his front yard yelling at his kids when I came around the corner and yelled HEY JESSIE GOT A GUN?!!!, lol, well no he said but what is the problem? I told him about the snake and was about to go for my shotgun when he said wait a sec, I will be right back, he goes and grabs a sidewalk edger, thats a garden tool that looks like a Hoe except the blade is straight like a shovel. I direct him to the stump and watch in amazement as he engages the beast in hoe to snake combat. He makes a few wild stabs and the beast turns as if to attack but Jessie is relentless and continues his attack on the beast with precision thrust. In a few moments the battle is over and the beast is dead much to my relief.

I hope that was the only one and I hope it laid no eggs.

New Job? Holy Crap!

Posted by Tony on 07.Apr.2007 | Uncategorized article

The world is moving way too fast for my comfort. I still can't believe it but after only 4 interviews, lol, I have landed a job with Lowes as receiving clerk. I have no idea what to expect now and leaving Wal-Mart in such a short time is a little scary. I wanted to leave with notice and do things the right way however my new job can't wait for the old one and my orientation begins next Wednesday (shock) so this will be a permanent move, no going back if it doesn't work out, no safety net.

As I write this it is 4am, I can't sleep, I have no idea how to break this to my current employer where it doesn't make me look like a heal. The new jobs hours are Mon through Fri 8am to 5pm and off on Weekends and starting with a pay rate that would have taken me 5 more years to achieve at Wal-Mart. I can't turn all of that down and I have to think of my own family and not what is best for Wal-Mart. April 11th will be my first day.

I kills me to have to leave like this but I have no choice and with the way Wal-Mart is set up now they can't even try to match my pay so there is little point in bringing it up to them. Everyone in the family is excited about the news, Mom says her prayers were answered. This new income will mean a lot to us as we have been scraping by for so long now so this is a welcome change.

New Bonus System at Wally World

Posted by Tony on 16.Feb.2007 | Uncategorized article

We are now getting our bonuses quarterly as opposed to the old yearly bonus system. It seems like Wal-Mart is doing everything they can to save a few bucks here and there and this is the latest in a series of what are clearly money saving moves. The whole thing is making me and the rest of the associates nervous because we know when a company this size starts looking for ways to cut cost, they are in trouble.

Wal-Mart has 3500+ stores in the continental United States and has bitten off into nearly every aspect of retail including taking over their own internal contractors, TLE and the photo lab. I’m not sure if this is a case of too much too soon or what but we can feel the pressure growing. What will happen next is anyones guess but I hope for all our sakes that Wal-Mart gets back to it’s roots soon. I think this is the only thing that can save the company from K-Marts fate.

DVD’s For All

Posted by Tony on 02.Oct.2006 | Uncategorized article

I bought a new DVD recorder the other day and I am still learning how to use all the software that came with it but it has come to my attention after looking for appropriate software to backup some of my DVD movies that there seems to be controversy in that regard. While there is software available for making backup copies of copyrighted material it seems the U.S. courts have decided that web sites can’t host or link to the sites that host such software.

I find this a complete croc of B.S. because under current U.S. law it is legal for you to create up to 3 archival copies of any copyright protected software yet because of another U.S. law we aren’t allowed to know how to get such software. It’s perfectly legal to possess it but noooo we can’t tell you where to go get it because that would be bad.

How much crap can one country take?

Anyway if you are looking for the software to use with your DVD burner just go to your favorite search engine and look for DVD SHRINK.