Windsor Vermont High School Used for Police Training

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someones ex girlfriend

According to the Rutland (Vt.) Herald, the Windsor Junior-Senior High School offered shelter to Windsor County and Windham County police last week while they received training instruction on what to do when a gunman invades a school. The training is being provided by Vermont State Police, and is one of many being performed throughout the state of Vermont.

These training exercises are a result of school shooting incidents such as the one that occurred last year in Essex Junction. In that event, Christopher Williams allegedly brought a gun into the school, killing a teacher and wounding another in a search for his ex-girlfriend.

Detective Trooper Steven Otis of the Rockingham police barracks says the training is referred to as “active shooter intervention”. The types of situation they are training for are those incidents similar to the one in Essex Junction with Christopher Williams from last year. According to Otis, training has also taken place at a nearby airport.

Randy Christensen, the school resource officer at Windsor High School, offered the school for training the police officers because he has experienced school violence first hand. Christensen worked as a police officer in Lake Worth, Florida when a thirteen year old boy brought a gun to school and killed a teacher. He states that while he and his fellow officers were well trained, they hadn’t received training on what to do in that type of situation. He believes that training for guns and shooters in schools is essential to protect students and faculty alike.

Back in January, a teenager that was hunting squirrels near the middle school was mistaken for a threat. Officer Allison Forney of the Bellows Falls Police Department said that in that situation, “training would have been helpful”. Part of the training would include how to separate threats from innocents, such as the hunting teen.

The commander of the state police outpost in Rockingham, Lieutenant Jocelyn Stohl, agrees that the training exercises are necessary for officers to determine actual threats from perceived ones, and will also help hone the officers’ skills. She states “when an event does happen, we can make an organized and standard response. Overall, since September 11, our state has come up to speed very quickly. Here, we’re going to select the first responders. In this state, anyone can be a first responder, so you have to train the people apt to go through it.”

Windsor Schools Superintendent Brenda Needham named school security as one of her top priorities, prompting her to support Christensen’s decision to offer the high school as a training site. She told reporters, “We pay a lot of attention to safety and security. We reached out to the police. I thought we might serve as a vehicle for state police and local departments to use for a training site. We certainly want to support any kind of exercise, and I’m happy to have them here. We have a very safe school, but we are proactive in these matters. We know you have to be diligent about security.”

Source: The Rutland Herald, 2007, http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070702/NEWS02/707020367/1003/NEWS02

Big Brother Season 9 Starts with Several New Twists

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ex girlfriend comments

Expect the unexpected is the phrase always associated with Big Brother and this season is no exception. This season started out with 7 girls being let into the house, just as they were getting comfortable they sent in 9 guys, the biggest number of people on a big brother season yet. Then the twists begin.

The first twist that we find out is that unbeknown to her Sharon’s ex-boyfriend is also going to be a house guest. We find out that they were together for a long time, but broke up because he cheated on her. The second twist that we find out is that Ryan and Jen are dating and they are both going into the house to try and win together. As the house guests get to know each other Julie appears on the screen with another twist. Julie explains that they have paired each of the house guests with another house guest as their “soul mate” She explains that you will have to do everything with your soul mate from the competitions to HOH and even being put up for eviction. Julie then pairs everybody up.

The partners are:

Alex & Amanda
Ryan & Allison
James & Chelsia
Jacob & Sharon
Matt & Natalie
Joshua & Neil
Adam & Shelia
Parker & Jen

So that means that the ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend are paired together, and the real life couple Jen and Ryan have different partners. There is also a gay couple. Most couples were happy with the choices, while Sharon was anything but happy. Sharon was really upset that not only was her ex in the house but that she had to be paired with him. Jacob on the other hand didn’t really seem to mind, he even stated that he knew Sharon was his sole mate. The Other very unhappy couple was Adam and Shelia, they got off to a lousy start by Adam calling her “Ma”. Shelia was very upset saying that he was not her type at all.

The first competition begins right away. Julie explains that the winners of this competition will have to evict another team within hours. They go outside and the competition is all set up, each team has to choose one person to put on a harness and that team member has to hold the other team member in the air without letting them fall on the bed below. Adam And Shelia are the first to drop out followed shortly by Joshua and Neil. When half of the couple have dropped out Julie lets the house guests know about the second part of the competition. If they can manage to grab a pillow from below them, and then are the winning team they will win $10,000. The final two couple come down to Matt and Natalie, and Parker and Jen. Jen and Parker have a pillow so they tell Matt and Natalie they will be safe if they drop out. Matt and Natalie decide to drop out, so the winners are Parker and Jen.

What will happen next? Who will Parker and Jen choose to evict? We will have to watch tomorrow to find out, be sure to come back tomorrow for my next article on everything that happened in the ext episode of Big brother 9 ’til death do you part.

The Other Side of Child Support

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ex-girlfriend

Most of the readers will probably find it hard to believe that the context of this article was written by a single divorce mother of two sons. Nevertheless, it was.
First, I was married at the tender age of seventeen and had my first child at the age of nineteen. My husband was a good provider, throughout our eight years of marriage. However, he never understood the meaning of the word faithful. I do not fault him for this because he was only nineteen when we wedded and I believe he was just too young.

I had one thing going in my favor at the end of our marriage. I had been working throughout our entire 8 years of marriage, only taking the allotted six weeks maternity leave offered to me when I gave birth twice. At the time I was an Administrative Assistant to the Chief Financial Officer of a large metropolitan hospital. I made a decent salary and because I worked for a hospital, I had an extensive benefit package. My husband continued to supply support, when business was good. He was a Self-Employed Electrician and a very good one at that. Then he got re-married approximately three years after the divorce. His new wife had two children from a previous marriage. Eventually they had two children together. At first the child support checks amounts were less and then I started receiving them less frequently until I started receiving nothing.

By this time, I was re-married and my husband made a good salary. It was hard to prove and pinpoint my ex-husband’s salary because he was self-employed. So I never did bother to take him to court because I did not see the point anymore.

But then my eyes were awaked to the other side of the child support issue through my eldest son feelings of helplessness. He and his son’s mother gave birth to my beautiful grandson in 2006. My son was only working a Security Guard job with no benefits and he knew he would need something better. He was laid off from the Security job and decided to take a training course that lasted for 90 days without pay. The important thing is if you were one of the few selected to be hired, you would no longer have a job you would have a life-time career. So he decided it was worth the risk.

It was to my son’s understanding that his son’s mother, who went to school to become a License Beautician during her pregnancy. It was understood that she would not start work until Joey, my grandson, was at least six months old. It is going on 2 years and Joey is now in day care all day, from 8am to 5pm. She still has not attempted to find employment, as of yet.

My son was one of the men chosen and was hire on a permanent status to work in a high security section of a large airport. Since 9/11, they check had his background, families background checked, fingerprint sent to the FBI, etc. He passed all their tests and was hired. However, he was punished severely by the child support system for trying to better himself.

When he started receiving a paycheck every two weeks and was depositing them into his checking account because of the odd hours he works and felt the need to have a car. He was only trying to save up to $2,500 to buy himself something decent to use for transportation. Well that didn’t last long. The long arm of the Child Support System, were able to reach into his account and take out the entire amount he had saved. They left him with a zero balance. He was only out of work for ninety days for training and they wanted that back pay for those checks that were missed while he was in training. He would never would of had a problem with paying extra child support payment to cover the back payments he was behind in. That opportunity was never offer to him. Instead they reached into his account and emptied it.

I have a cousin who was married and had five children with his wife. His wife left him for another man and she had very good employment. The only thing she wanted from her husband is to help her with the children’s college education.

Eventually he met a woman who was about fifteen years his junior. He somehow, impregnated her, it was unplanned. This woman not only had one son with him, she also, became pregnant by him again. My cousin, at the time, had a very good career and owned his own home. After the second child was born she decided she wanted to move to another State. Before her and the children left, they stood before a judge where a judgment was issued and the amount that my cousin was ordered to pay was $1,500 per month, per child, which he felt was excessive. However, this is what he was ordered to pay and this is what he paid.
What I did not understand is the fact that he already had three children in college and one on the way. He has a high mortgage payment to be paid on the first of every month along with a hefty property tax. It did not seem to me that any of these issues were taken into account because if they were, I feel the amount he was ordered to pay would have been substantially less. At the time of the children births, his income was much more than it is today. But something would change this forever.

My cousin was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer about a year ago. This forced his company, with whom he has spent the last twenty seven years working, force him into early retirement. His early retirement lowered his annual income a great deal. When his new financial situation was made clear in court; this had little, if any affect at all, on the judge. He lowered his monthly child support payments, but not by nearly enough. The judge’s excuse was that between his Disability Checks and Pension Checks, he felt it did not warrant a big enough decrease in his child support payments. I felt this was very wrong. He has five children with his ex-wife and two children with his ex-girlfriend. He feels a great deal a responsibility towards his five eldest, to see them though college. This is costing him a pretty penny and has also made him take out a second mortgage on his home.

I feel the same way towards my son who was in training to secure a better career to be able to support his son on a better level. There should be some type of scale used with the issuing of child support amounts. I believe there are many circumstances that should be taken into account and this could be the reason there are so many dead beat dads today. Many feel they will never catch up to the amount of the back pay, so why even try?

I am not advocating not paying child support, do not misunderstand that, however I am advocating a law being pass that will allow judges more leeway and a certain chart of responsibilities that need to be taken into account. If the father of children had a previous family before the one they have now, than what is paid out to this family should be also taken into account. Right now, the only thing used is the father of the child is his annual income at the time. This is just not enough. Many more things need to be taken into account.

I especially felt it is wrong for Child Support Services to be allowed to reach into someone’s bank account and completely clean it out. He was unable to make payments, at the time, because he was in a work training program trying to better his career choices. I do not feel he should have been penalized for this and he should have been given a chance to pay it on his own and not have it confiscated, as if he was some type of criminal trying to hide his assets.

Movie Spoilers: Cloverfield

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ex girlfriend vid

Movie hype of the week is ever awaited “Cloverfield” directed and created by J.J Abrams (Director and creator of TV’s “Lost.”) But is this movie really worth all the excitement? Does it stand up to the classic monsters, such as “Godzilla” and “King Kong”?

The movie was filmed using a hand-held video camera. Almost the entire time, held by NYC citizen, Hud (T.J. Miller), best friend of main character, Rob (Michael Stahl-David). The “handy cam” affect was used from beginning to end. Intension of using such a video affect was to give the viewers a direct eye view of the happenings. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t constantly pointing towards the floor, ceiling, or some wall, and it would have been nice to see more than blurs and bouncing when fast movement was needed (several people left the theatre on quick feet with their head in a popcorn bucket due to motion sickness.)

A slow note is held for approximately the first 30 minutes of the movie. It starts out with Rob video tapping his, as he put it, “very good day.” He and his soon to be Ex-girlfriend, Beth (Odette Yustman), enjoy a day of random activities together, all of which was captured on the constant running video cam that was carried around throughout the movie.

Later the cam was passed onto Hud, who was the official holder until the last couple minutes of the movie, to video tape goodbye’s from people at a surprise-going away party for Rob (the party was the idea of Rob’s soon to be sister-in-law Lily Ford (Jessica Lucas), because Rob is leaving for Japan the next day.) It turns out the goodbye’s are being reordered over the same tape that Rob used to capture his “very good day” on. The slow note continues with the party for about 20 minutes or so. Then BOOM! NYC experiences a “large earthquake.”

The people at Rob’s party rush up to the roof of the apartment building just to see a huge explosion off in the distance. Panic begins. Everyone then makes their way down to the streets, and, no sooner, witnesses another large explosion and see a fire ball coming at them; the Statue of Liberty’s head. Excitement is now running through everyone and they take off for cover in nearby buildings. Soon something large is rampaging down the streets of NYC and shaking everything in its path.

Fast forwards: The horror begins and life ends

Rob later receives a message on his cell phone from his now ex (but he’s still in love with her), Beth. She states in her message “I can’t move. I’m stuck. Help me. Please help me.” Rob attempts to contact her, but no answer. He then plans to find and rescue her.

It wasn’t long after the monster appears in the film that main characters begin to die off. First to go was Rob’s brother and Lily’s fiancé, Jason (Mike Vogel). His life was cut short after an attempt to cross a bridge, along with Rob, Lily, Hud, and Lily’s friend Marlena (Lizzy Caplan) who had been at the party as well, and the monster smashes the bridge into two. Rob, Lily, Hud, and Marlena all escape from the bridge and bear the pain of losing Jason who didn’t make it.

Now with Jason gone and Beth in danger, the journey begins. Rob is determined to make his way to Beth, and leaves the “safe zone” and heads toward Beth’s apartment where she’s in danger (the monster is that way, as well.) Lily, Hud (with camera still filming), and Marlena decide to go with him.

The four’s dangerous mission to Beth grows more dangerous and difficult with each minute. They find themselves caught between firing military troops and an angered-extremely large beast of some sort. Then, to boot, the large creature releases smaller creatures (that resemble mutated crabs) from its body. The crab-like creatures begin to hiss and squeal and attack everyone in their way. This sudden outburst sends the four friends hiding in an underground subway station.

Seeing no point staying in their current destination, the four decide to walk down a dark tunnel where the subways pass through in hopes that the next resting area will lead them to a safer part of town. They are soon joined by the crab-like creatures in the tunnels. They manage to escape to safety, but Marlena has been bit badly. Help is needed or she will die. They decide to, once again, leave their safety zone and head for life up top to seek help.

They find themselves in a shopping mall where US troops are treating the injured victims. Marlena begins to feel the affects of the bite. Hud turns the camera to her and notices that her eyes and mouth have blood seeping out. US troops then begin to scream that they have a bite victim, and Marlena is pulled away from her friends and put into a room. A vomiting sound irrupts from her vocals, and a ton of blood covers the inside of a glass wall from which the room she was put into. Lily, Rob, and Hud are now completely freaked out and are told she is gone. There’s nothing that can be done.

Little time is left, and the three must make it to Beth. A US troop pulls them aside and tells them that they’re going to gun down Manhattan in a couple hours. He informs them that they must make it to the safety-copters by a certain time, or they’ll be destroyed along with the city. The three friends acknowledge, thank the man for his helpful information, and take off for Beth.

After dodging the monster and its smaller creatures, the three make their way up Beth’s defaced apartment. She’s found lying in her room with a pipe sticking from her chest, and it has her pinned to the ground. They manage to free the still alive Elizabeth and make for the safety-copters.

Once at the copters, Lily is separated from Beth, Rob, and Hud, and placed in a separate safety-copter. The three scream for Lily to wait for them once she’s safe, and are loaded into a helicopter of their own. Later the monster appears and pulls the copter (caring Rob, Beth, and Hud) to the ground. They all make it, but are still in shock from the crash.

Once back on their feet, they scramble for shelter. Loud cries of the monster are heard close by. Hud turns with the camera to see a large lizard-like face staring, breathing deeply at him. After a couple second stare down, the un-named monster takes Hud into its jaws. You see the monster tossing him and the camera around inside its mouth, and then Hud is released and drops to the ground. A blurry-sighted camera, lying on its side, comes into focus and reveals a dead Hud.

Rob and Beth grab the camera (now full of monster data), and continue filming their attempt at life. They find fast retreat under a bridge. Rob (now holding the camera) stares into the lens and states his situation. He then points the camera toward Beth and she gives a quick farewell; it’s highly visible that she’s afraid.

The two say that they love each other, and the bombing of Manhattan takes place with the monster close outside. The bridge they’re under begins to crumble, and the two are buried under piles of stone. No sound from either.

In the end, the camera is staring out from under the bridge ruble. The play button pushed. It shows the remaining video of Rob’s “very good day.” In the video, Beth and Rob are talking. Rob (holding the camera) asks Beth “Is there anything you would like to say?” And Beth replies with a smile on her face, “I had a very good day.”

Overall:

This movie has been overall rated as a stinker. Many details were left out about the creature; it was never explained what the creature was, where it came from, and if it was ever destroyed. The poor ending failed to reveal what happened to Lily after she’s separated from Hud, Rob, and Beth, and we never found out what became of Manhattan, everyone in Manhattan, and the enraged monster.

There were a couple scenes that were disconnected from reality, such as: Rob’s cell phone battery dies and he’s in the middle of trying to contact Beth. He then enters an electronics store, grabs a brand new cell phone battery from a package, and uses it as if it had been fully charged (cell phone batteries are not sold pre-charged). Then later in the movie, when Beth is removed from the pipe that has her pinned to the ground, she shows that she’s in great pain. Then, all of a sudden, this pain of hers has vanished and she’s running perfectly fine. She doesn’t experience dizziness or anything from all the blood she’s losing from her wound (I don’t know about you, but if I had just been pulled from a pipe that impaled my chest I’d have quite a bit of pain and have difficulties keeping up.) Earlier in the film, when Marlena is bit by the crab-like creatures she experiences pain from her wound and dizziness from lack of blood. So why did J.J fail to give this reality affect to Beth? No one knows.

This movie is rated PG-13 for disturbing images, language (30+ uses of the S-word; approx. half-dozen misuses of “Jesus”; 20+ misuses of “God”; and other mild language), and brief nudity.

Top Ten Things I Learned from SPAM

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ex girlfriend picture

Someone’s been telling people in foreign countries that I’m trustworthy.

Somehow, someway, people in Nigeria and other countries are getting word that I’m a very trustworthy person. Several lawyers and estate executors who have official e-mail addresses like EstateExecudor328XK@(insertwebsitehere).com are sending me missives asking me to help them get money wired out of their wartorn countries. All they need is my bank account number. I’ve given it to several, and although my life savings were cleaned out by one, I think the other 15 I received will more than make up forit.

Some ex-girlfriend has been spreading nasty rumors about me

How else would I be getting offers for Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, and the official male enhancement cream of Ron Jeremy?

Banks are very concerned about my security

My own bank and several I’ve never done business with before are very interested in keeping my personal information safe. Several have provided me with convenient links to update their databases and change my password. Now personally, as a Louisvillian, I’ve never used the First National Bank of Des Moines, but it’s good to know that if I ever do, they have all the personal information they need to serve me.

There are lots of frustrated writers out there

Unfortunately, I can only credit this poem /story to “abotsford”, but here you go. My favorite portion, “stunk cheeks”. My new pet name for my wife. And the bit about “She’s here now smash with a gang cut of company crooks” evokes Mamet.

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Garson cut scale met guard troubled the implication fairly. “Oh, an informer,” Gilder boat tintinnabulary interrupted, spoken fear a little doubtfully. So much one might see by a glance into the face. He was well groomed, mouth of lip street bring course; healthy, all a-ting

Sarah shown explained that Mr. hole Gilder had been called to the Court of pot General glove Sessions by the judge.

After Aggie’s defeated anxious vigorous comment there followed a long silence. store shaved That volatile young person, little tro “Well, often so far as that goes, so outgoing noise do I,” sort the forger said, with significant emphasis. impress The girl showed delay herself undismayed multiply oven by his anger. uptight “You were going to do what the chaplain had told you,” level eventually Mary went on fight in a voice vibrant with varied e

“Yes,” she went safe on, quietly; “that’s all there is to brief. meline it. Give them a plan living chance to get enough foo “It doesn’t work knife monthly very well, does voice fowl it?” she asked, bitterly. But, at last, sun she stirred minute uneasily ovine and sat up. cup Garson accepted this as a sufficient warrant for spee umbrella The flower copper girl alvine gave sullen agreement.
My Stock Portfolio Is Going To Explode Soon

People from all over the country are sending me hot stock tips, including a company in Iraq that is going to make a killing in Arabic ringtones. I’ve spent two months salary so far buying stocks from these internet tips. Obviously people wouldn’t be sending this stuff if it weren’t true.

Mistakes Men Make at Dating: Inner Game Killers 5 to 6

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former exgirlfriend

INNER GAME KILLER #6: Deleting progress from your memory.

Did you know that your brain deletes most of your everyday experiences?

It’s true.

Your five senses take in millions of bits of information every second! Your brain holds on to what it thinks it needs and DUMPS THE REST!

“Ummm…excuse me, Matthew, but what the heck does this have to do with my dating life and my inner game?”

Everything, my friend, EVERYTHING.

If you convince yourself that you’re not confident around women, your mind will take that as a direct order to delete every step of progress that you make.

Therefore, no matter how much success you have with women, you will never feel like a success.

Whether you hook up with a super model or finally get up the guts to say hello to the cutie at your local coffee shop…

Don’t delete your progress — CELEBRATE IT!

Here’s a little trick I developed to pump up my inner game whenever I am feeling down. Yes, EVERY guy, no matter how smooth he is, still has down days…

I created a list of all of the times I made progress with women over the years. Not a “hook up” list, but a list of moments when I made something cool happen between an attractive woman and me. (Don’t make this list on paper. In the wrong hands, it could be misunderstood.)

Whenever I felt nervous around a woman I was attracted to I just mentally went through the list.

Then I would FEEL BETTER immediately, and I could get out of my head and focus on interacting with her.

Having a list will remind you that you are capable of more than you are giving yourself credit for.

Remember… if you keep deleting all the progress you make with women, no matter how many approaches you make, how many phone numbers you get, or how many dates you go on…

IT WILL NEVER FEEL LIKE ENOUGH!

That is why you should keep your attitude positive by bearing in mind every progress, every good moment
you have ever encountered with a woman.

The same rule applies to other fields of life, too. Try to filter out the negatives from your brain and focus only on positive experiences.

Remember, there is NOTHING holding you back from being THE MAN but yourself. And nobody but yourself will help you achieve the dreams you have.

>>>INNER GAME KILLER #7: Confusing excitement with fear.

You know that feeling you get when someone hands you a surprise gift and you can’t wait to open it?

Your heart is pounding, your body feels fidgety, and your stomach starts doing summersaults.

Remember that feeling for a moment…

Now, you know that feeling you get when you see a really beautiful woman and you don’t know whether you should approach her or what to say if you do?

Your heart begins to pound, your body feels fidgety, and your stomach starts doing summersaults.

Hmmm… Is there any difference?

No.

Unfortunately the BODY can’t tell the difference between excitement and fear.

The only difference is the label your mind PLACES on the experience.

Labelling those feelings as fear will kill your inner game.

Here’s what’s really going on…

Your five senses notice something that makes you wonder what will happen next.

Then you get drunk on R.U.M…

Reaction to Uncertainty Mechanism.

Uncertainty sends signals to the brain to increase heart rate (the pounding), sends blood to your arms and legs (the fidgety feeling) and bathes itself in neurochemicals that shut down all other thoughts so that it can take immediate action.

Your body doesn’t know the difference between approaching a beautiful woman, being chased by a tiger in the jungle, or getting on a giant rollercoaster.

R.U.M. is a natural reaction to not knowing what’s going to happen next. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Your body is just doing its job: working to protect you.

The question is, are you labeling your interactions with women as terrifying…or exciting?

Here’s a quick technique to make sure you never confuse fear with excitement:

When I feel nervous around women I say to myself…

“Just put me in the game, Coach!”

I get a huge smile on my face and make my move.

I bet you can learn to feel the same way…unless you enjoy running, hiding, and standing frozen in fear around women.

Remember that women are not wild animals. The worst thing that can happen is her telling you to buzz off. Will you let your body trick you into fearing this?

It is your body, your brain. And you should take control of it. Fear should be active only in extreme situations where your or health of your close ones might be in danger. Surely, you understand that this is not that kind of situation.

>>>INNER GAME KILLER #8: Not moving on.

This is one of the most masochistic inner game killers. It’s also a very common one, so read on…

Every time you daydream about when you were with your ex-girlfriend/ex-wife, you kill your inner game.

In the moment, you reminisce about “the good old days”…days that I promise weren’t as good as you remember them to be.

You’re forgetting all of the times you argued, got angry, and were ready to pull your hair out in frustration with your lover.

I’ve personally witnessed this inner game killer reduce a FULL GROWN man to curling up in the fetal position, clutching a photo of his ex, and sobbing hysterically. Have you been in his position before?

To my knowledge, there are no official statistics on how many male suicides and drug addictions are attributed to divorce, separations, and break-ups…

But I’m guessing that if the numbers were calculated, the results would be shocking.

I know first-hand how excruciating being tortured by this inner game killer feels.

It’s as if a force reaches deep within your chest, grips your heart, and squeezes tighter and tighter
until you feel as if your rib cage will cave in.

This inner game killer toys with your head.

It has you envisioning “her” face everywhere…

When you hear your phone, you hope that it’s “her” getting in touch to say that she wants to get back together…

I’ve seen client in my office ages 16 to 60 dealing with this inner game killer.

When you live your life in the PAST wondering “what if…” and “why…” you trample all over your ability to meet women in the PRESENT!!!

You’re not with “her” any longer for a reason.

Whether you dumped her…she dumped you…or, God forbid, she passed away…

You can’t keep holding on to “what was.”

As long as there’s still time on the clock for you, you have to get out there and continue to play.

Breathe life into your heart by releasing the past and designing a compelling future for yourself.

If you don’t, this inner game killer will bury you alive in a chilling grave of loneliness.

Usually time heals all wounds, but if a year has passed and you are still thinking about her, you should get yourself together and try to think logically. To be THE MAN you must be able to keep your head cool at all times.

>>>INNER GAME KILLER #9: Focusing on your disadvantages (your “BUTS”).

I’ve heard them ALL…

BUT…I’m too fat.
BUT…I’m too skinny.
BUT…I’m too short.
BUT…I’m too tall.
BUT…I’m too old.
BUT…I’m too young.
BUT…I’m not rich.
BUT…I have a thick accent.
BUT…I have a bad complexion.
BUT…I have big ears.
BUT…I didn’t go to college.
BUT…I’m too attractive (Yes, I’ve actually heard
that one).

Listen, women are not attracted to big, smelly “BUTS.”

Every man has a “BUT” that stinks up his inner game.

You’re probably convinced that you can’t get women because of your “but”…and honestly,. YOU’RE RIGHT!

Your perceived disadvantage isn’t a deal breaker for women, but your insecurity about it IS!

Women are very perceptive.

If they notice that you’re awkward about some aspect of yourself they are going to zone in on it and become just as uncomfortable about it as you are.

In other words, we teach women how to treat us.

If you are freaked out about some part of yourself, you will transfer that insecure energy to any woman that you interact with.

Sadly, the only way for her to get rid of the icky feeling you just passed on to her is for her to leave your presence…and NEVER return.

Is this making sense?

Of course, if you’re not aware that you’re doing this, you’ll just blame her disappearing act on your perceived disadvantage and walk away all huffy and resentful.

Here’s a little secret…

I call it a “perceived” disadvantage because it’s probably your greatest asset.

It will set you apart from the other three gazillion men that she’s met, and if you act all cool about it, she’ll be even more IMPRESSED by your personality.

She’ll see that you aren’t rattled by anything…which is a VERY SEXY QUALITY.

You’re destined to kill your inner game if you approach a woman thinking, “I hope she likes a guy that…(insert perceived disadvantage here)”

Look, I’m not saying that your life wouldn’t be a little easier if you didn’t have your disadvantages… However, NO disadvantage is a deal breaker for a woman if you handle it confidently.

I know that no woman grows up wishing that a little man in a wheelchair with a rare genetic condition will sweep her off her feet.

So what?

Am I going to let that kill my inner game?

Heck no!

I maintain the mindset that a woman really wants a man to make HER FEEL safe, loved, aroused, happy, and supported.

And with the right attitude, you can provide that for her.

A Tale of Two Motels: Just How Would You Know If They Were ‘Price Gouging’?

Posted by:  /  Category: Ex-Girlfriends

boyfriends ex girlfriend

Following an ice storm in southwest Missouri this past winter, an agency of the Missouri Attorney General’s office collected more than eight million dollars from several area businesses, including two motels, as penalties and restitution for ‘price gouging’.

Let me tell you about a pair of motels in another state: North Carolina. As a native of that state in a southeastern coastal location that hurricanes have a fondness for, with ten years hotel management experience, I’ve worked at several motels there.

First, a few notes about how motels work.

A motel room differs from a widget that appears on a store shelf in that it is a perishable commodity. You don’t put a price tag on it and expect us all to agree that it has a tangible value. It’s not a dollar coin. It’s not a 20oz soda at the convenience store that we can agree is worth $1.39, more or less.

Even where the product is exactly the same, the price can vary. A room in a Hampton Inn in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has an asking price of $159.00. The same room at a Hampton Inn in Santee, South Carolina, has an asking price of $98.00. Rooms at a Hampton Inn come pretty much one way, wherever you go. The difference lies in where they are, in how many people want to go to Bethlehem, and in how fewer people want to go to Santee.

Room rates float. They have to. If a night passes without a room rented, that room is worthless that night, despite the owner’s investment in the hotel. But if demand is high, the law of supply and demand does its power and magic. I’m not going to charge people who are willing to pay eighty bucks only forty. Nor am I going to lose customers if I have a lot of empty rooms by trying to charge more than they’re willing to pay, provided they can cover my cost. If you come to the 44-room motel I now run and need a room, and it’s a busy weekend, and I only have one or two left; be prepared to spend upward of a hundred dollars, and it won’t be one of our better rooms. If we’re slow on a weeknight and I have lots of empty rooms, I might give you a better room for closer to fifty bucks.

So, if a motel is ‘price gouging’, how would you know?

Of course, the asking price is going to be 11% more — we know you’re going to ask for AAA, or AARP, or the ‘corporate’ rate if you have a job, or the ‘government’ rate if you don’t have a job and are on welfare: it’s the nature of the business. Everyone gets a ten percent discount, this is America, everyone has entitlements. It’s like ants at a picnic. Everyone has to feel they’re paying less than the guy in the next room.

Now, let’s move on to my story about two North Carolina motels.

In 1994, I began a ten-year tenure with a company that owned a group of motels scattered about the Carolinas and Ohio, in a motel in Greenville, North Carolina. Greenville is the largest city in North Carolina east of Raleigh and is geographically in just the right position so that, any time a brisk summer breeze blows into the Outer Banks in the late winter or early spring (a ‘nor’easter’) or in the late summer or early fall (a tropical storm or hurricane), it gets flooded with people fleeing the beaches. They quickly tie up every motel room in town.

And of course, they scream bloody hell about the high rates many of them end up paying for the room.

Not long after I left that fair city in the dust, Greenville passed an ordinance against increasing the cost of motel rooms in reaction to a storm warning on the Outer Banks.

So far as I know, no one has yet been charged in Greenville for violating it. But it needs violating. What price would the city of Greenville like to set for the room? If the owner fixes a price for a room, that is of course his right, but only the most mindless owner is going to insist on that fixed price in the face of empty rooms, and hold to it — leaving money on the table, so to speak — when demand is high. Of course, if he’s flexible, there isn’t much of a set price. But the city stands ready to do battle on behalf of ‘refugees’ from stormy weather fleeing the Outer Banks.

Our rates (and remember, this was years ago) were generally $34.95 to $45.95 a night, although we could go as high as $79.95 if demand was high — or as low as $25.95 if things were slow. So, good luck busting us. The high rates would be based on demand, period. That demand could just as well be generated by East Carolina University’s graduation, homecoming, or a busy football weekend as it could be generated by an Act of God on the Outer Banks. Demand was demand.

But anytime there was a blow on the Outer Banks, we’d be accused of price gouging, if the residents of the beaches didn’t get a room for some arbitrarily low rate that they’d expect to pay at a Motel 6 in a city of fifty thousand on a calm, spring night. And only a bunch of greedy lowlifes would take advantage of people whose lives are at stake.

Let’s take a look at another motel a hundred miles away and a few years later, in Benson, North Carolina, best known as the place where I-95 and I-40 intersect. The rates there were low even though this wasn’t an economy brand: $40 per night and we had lots of empty rooms. If you’ve ever traveled up and down I-95 in North Carolina (”halfway between New York and Florida”), you’ve seen it or a hundred motels like it. We call them ‘road whores’. They live and die by I-95 traffic. They have no other demand generators, other than local couples looking for some place to consummate a date. Their billboards read something like “$23.95 PER NIGHT”, but at the 70mph speed that prevails on I-95, you don’t slow down enough to read the smaller type on that billboard that says “Tuesday through Thursday only, senior citizen rate, single occupancy, second floor” (like senior citizens ever time their arrival for the middle of the week, like they ever travel alone instead of in pairs or larger groups, or like they can be forced with a sawed-off shotgun to climb a flight of stairs). The real rate, of course, is going to be somewhat higher.

I was the assistant manager at one of those motels. The year was 1996. The end of August was approaching.

The big event: Hurricane Fran.

The storm would damage 90% of the structures in North Topsail Island and in Carteret County, where I grew up, each of which would be swept by its northeastern quadrant, the most damaging part of any hurricane. Cape Fear and Wilmington, North Carolina, would take a direct hit.

But for now, all we had was a hurricane watch. And the general manager, well-meaning but misguided, was determined to do the ‘right’ thing. He told us not to increase the prices beyond $60.00. We quickly filled the motel with travelers on I-95 looking for a place to ride out the storm, and elderly local residents who lived in older, frame houses that were vulnerable to damage.

We sold the last of the rooms just as the first of the ‘refugees’ arrived: residents of Wilmington and Carolina Beach who came inland, straight up I-40, to avoid the storm — and who were willing to pay nearly any price, or commit any act, to get a motel room. We had already hung a ‘no vacancy’ sign — and were continually harassed all night by people who wouldn’t take ‘no vacancy’ for an answer. (”No, we don’t know who has any rooms. Every motel we know of is full . . .”)

Fortunately, around eleven, it stopped. Unfortunately, it stopped for a reason. We were directly in the storm’s path.

We got hit at about midnight.

At about 1:00 a.m., after a little over an hour of hearing the plate glass rattle, the 100 m.p.h. wind whistling in three hundred and sixty directions, and pelting rain blowing sideways, Benson police in blowing rain gear were pounding on the door.

“You have to evacuate. You’re losing your roof”

I and the relief night auditor got a little wet and had to dodge some debris, but in about a half-hour, we’d roused about 200 guests from their beds and had them huddled in the lobby. Fortunately, the winds died down about an hour later. If that rattling plate glass had broken, the shards would have caused several nasty injuries among the people sitting there wrapped in blankets.

Several people whose rooms were too leaky to occupy checked out and left in the morning. The vinyl roof over that part of the building had become detached and had folded back, but was no longer blowing.Those rooms were blocked off. The remaining rooms were, but for the power being out, still serviceable and the remaining guests returned to their rooms.

And then, the refugees showed up again — this time in larger numbers that included people who had stayed in the Wilmington area, only to have their homes damaged as they tried to ride out the storm in them.

We couldn’t accommodate them, at any price, regardless of what they were willing to pay. Most of the people we had were stuck there: they literally had no place to go. We were still dealing with damage from the storm and had not had time to properly assess that and determine which rooms could be safely occupied. The power was still out. The water was working only in one wing of the building. The general manager posted a notice that no one could be checked in prior to 3:00 p.m.

No matter. We were going to do the impossible.

We were constantly badgered by people who came to the desk to check in — and who, after being told they couldn’t, returned several minutes after wandering the property, to argue, “Room number such and such doesn’t have anyone in it”. Amazingly, the phones still worked: we got constant complaints about people peeping in windows or trying to stick their heads into any door that cracked open. An elderly couple approached the desk literally in tears — someone representing themselves to be employees of the hotel that told them, very rudely, that they had to check out, and they had nowhere else to go. All of our staff present were accounted for.

One yuppie type came to the desk and demanded to be checked in. We told him, not until 3 p.m. He demanded to make a reservation. We told him we weren’t taking reservations. He demanded to be put on a waiting list. We told him we weren’t keeping a waiting list. He argued. “Hurricane rules!”, he cited. We told him we already had our rules to go by, and we’d be sticking to them. He became loud, threatening and abusive. We asked him to leave. He refused. We called the police. They arrived and told him to leave — but had more pressing matters to attend to than to stick around to make sure he left and stayed gone. Less than five minutes later, he was back, demanding my name. He would have been killed or seriously injured at that point if the manager and relief auditor hadn’t grabbed me — but their fighting to restrain me and my wriggling to get loose and go at him had its desired effect: the yup finally got it through his dumb head that it was time to leave. It was the one time in a more than ten year career in motel management that I’d ever had occasion to raise my hand to a customer, no matter how obstreperous or obnoxious.

The place, simply put, was nothing more or less than chaos. Despite the low, ‘regular’ rate they got, no one got their money’s worth. We’d have been better off to close the property for those two nights. (The power remained out until the next day.)

Did we get any appreciation? No. We got demands for refunds. We got blamed for the storm. We got blamed for the building not holding together through the storm.

And of course, we got accused of price gouging. It wasn’t the first time we had the demand to charge sixty, even eighty, bucks for a room. But even people who ought to have known better were pointing out — so many of these motels were advertising rooms at $23.95. (Remember those I-95 ‘road whores’ and their billboards?) Here we were, charging sixty bucks — over twice that much — for rooms for people trying to get out of harm’s way.

Of course, some other hotels were charging a hundred dollars more. We, however, added to the chaos and disorder by offering $60.00 rooms in a $150.00 market. It was like standing on a street corner in a neighborhood full of desperately poor or hungry people and giving hundred dollar bills away. Once your 120 hundred dollar bills are gone, what do you tell the rest of the crowd that’s gathered, many of whom feel slighted because they didn’t get one? What do you tell the bear when you’re out of cookies?

Would these people nearly as likely have been peeping in windows or bullying little old ladies if they’d known that, if they got a room, they’d pay $175 for it instead of $60? Probably not. If anything, they’d have moved along elsewhere looking for something cheaper. But we’d deprived them of a mutually gratifying — and much more civilized — way to express high demand for a short supply. What do you use as a medium of exchange when there’s only one of something, it’s free, and ten to twenty people not only want it but feel they’re entitled to it? A free-for-all brawl with the winner taking it?

Never again. Not on my watch.

Anything that floats, floats because it has buoyancy. Let its natural buoyancy do its thing.

Property Rights, Free Trade, and Laissez-faire Capitalism 101: No matter what the situation, no matter what the source of the demand, you have no more right to require that I sell you a room for $60 that others are willing to pay $100 for, than I have to require you to rent that room for $60 whether you need it or not on a slow night when I have empty rooms and no takers at $40 per room.

If you want the room, pay a mutually agreeable price. If you cannot agree on a price, get back in the car, move it along, and find a property that has rooms to rent at a price you are willing to pay.

Oh, you tell me there’s a storm or some other natural disaster? Your life is in danger?

No — and who are you trying to kid? Your life is not in danger. If it were, you wouldn’t be there. You’d get back in the car, keep moving, get out of harm’s way, and find a place where you feel you are safe from danger. Only then would you start shopping around for a motel room.

And it wouldn’t matter if it were. Nor does it matter if you can’t pay the increased price. Nor does it matter if you have a child. Nor do any of a hundred other knee-jerk emotional rationalizations matter. Your need doesn’t constitute a claim. Hotels and motels are privately owned businesses. If money’s a problem, go to a shelter.

The really galling thing about these would-be customers, in both these localities? They’re from coastal resort areas. Carolina Beach and North Topsail are beach resort boom towns.

And at least once, you’ve seen that round souvenir sticker on the back of a car that reads ‘OBX’, for Outer Banks: I think it was invented there. Try to get a meal on the Outer Banks during summer tourist season without paying something in the double digits. You can, but only if you eat at McDonald’s or the Kitty Hawk Wal-Mart. For that matter, those are the only places you can count on eating for less than ten bucks in the wintertime, too — everything else is closed. Tourism is a very seasonal business.

And hotel rooms? Plan on three hundred a night for a crummy room during a summer weekend. Of course, you can get a really nice oceanfront room for fifty bucks — in February, if the hotel is open.

These very people who were giving us all the grief and aggravation know the law of supply and demand. They live and die by it. On the Outer Banks, there is no economy other than tourism. And it’s all a “clean out the ‘yankeeturrists’ pockets” game. Does anyone really believe it costs an extra twenty-five to fifty cents a gallon to truck gasoline over the Wright Memorial Bridge? If you do, my ex-girlfriend the real estate broker has this neat dual-span bridge between Currituck and Kitty Hawk we’d like you to look at. (We’ll even throw in a couple toll booths . . .)

But with hurricanes, it’s different! Their lives are in danger! Take off. Get lost. Go to Jersey. One, we’ve already covered that: if your life is in danger where you are, the last thing you’re going to be thinking is to rent a motel room right where you are. Two, these are people who scream bloody hell if a hurricane warning is posted for an early season storm because there’s still a chance that the storm might not actually hit, but the warning will scare away the tourists — and their tourism dollars. They don’t mind exposing the lives of others to real danger if the money’s right: just don’t subject them to imagined peril.

Let’s get real. Cut out the hypocrisy. Supply and demand — it’s called a law for some reason. You don’t expect government to protect you from the law of gravity, even if you’re the one who falls down and goes boom.

The 50-room Super 8 Motel in Springfield, Missouri was ordered to pay $8,504 in restitution (in addition to $7,495 in other penalties) for charging customers ‘as much as’ $40 per room following an ice storm. As of today (Saturday, May 19) they have an advertised rate of $54.99. A $40 float for high demand is not unreasonable. But do the math. It doesn’t add. At $40 per room, it only comes out to $2000 in ‘overcharges’. The ‘restitution’ actually paid comes out to $149.99 per room: either the guests affected were there for three to four days, or someone decided that they were entitled to some free rooms. A Days Inn in Joplin, Missouri had to pay, in addition to $5,500 in other penalties, $7,373 in restitution after it was alleged to have ’substantially’ increased the price of its rooms. At 106 rooms, this ’substantial’ increase works out to $69.55 per room: perhaps a little aggressive for a property that today advertises its rooms for $54.99 as well, but I’ve paid well in excess of $124.54 on a few occasions when I’ve needed one and that was the price. In the event of an ice storm in the area, I wouldn’t expect them to go for less. Don’t come crying to me.

Just who, if not the owner of the property, is entitled to set the room rates, anyway?

There’s another fundamental law we have to deal with, here: property rights. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. You have to pay for what you get. The price is the price.

Take it or leave it.

How to Deal with the Psycho Ex-Girlfriend

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ex girlfriend revenge video

“Don’t ever ask him a question again, or I’ll be more than just not happy.” This was the implied text message threat I received, when I simply texted a male acquaintance a question about his friend. Of course, his girlfriend just had to answer for him, and became upset, upon discovering I was a female communicating with her boyfriend. And all I did was ask a question. And that’s it? Well, then I thought, okay, if his girlfriend is answering his cell phone messages and controlling who he talks to, then I’m not the problem here. While I’m only an innocent bystander in this situation, I can’t imagine what you boyfriends have to go through…in the case of the psycho ex-girlfriend!

Most people would tell you to walk away, cut all contact - only to discover that it only makes the psycho chica even angrier! She becomes suspicious, and might investigate - *ahem* stalk - you, until she finds out the so-called scandalous little secret you’re hiding from her. So, in this situation, the only thing you can do is ask a girl for advice. Why? Because I am a girl, and I know how our minds work. (Just make sure your ex GF isn’t reading this…)

1. Remove All Evidence

First of all, if you don’t want her to snoop through your belongings, then don’t give her any belongings to snoop. Make time for yourself (maybe the bathroom is the only chance you have) to delete all text messages, calls, voicemail, emails, etc. that would arouse her unnecessary paranoia. Never give out or type your password when she’s around (she might be watching your hands), and add her to your limited profile on Facebook, if she doesn’t have any friends who can access your full profile (either that, or block/put everyone on a limited profile, get off Facebook, or don’t accept any friend requests from people you don’t know that might be her in disguise). Don’t let her search documents on your computer; she might be searching for an IP address or files to incriminate you. Make sure your phone bill or credit card information remains confidential, so she can’t track your records of where you’ve been, and what you’ve (possibly) done. That reminds me - whatever you do, make sure she doesn’t buy a GPS system….

2. Don’t Be A Peeping Tom

When you’re talking to her face-to-face, resist the temptation to look at attractive women. I know, it’s hard - it’s natural and needed for your eyes to move - but even if you try to peek at a woman subtly, she will notice the lustful tint in your eye that may be impossible to control. And other body language speaks, too. The only way you can sneak these in is if you can guarantee something to distract her for a long enough period of time (”Oh my god, it’s Zac Efron!” Hmm…What about, “Oh look, isn’t that your best friend’s boyfriend kissing another woman?” Ding!)

3. Bros Before “Ho’s”

Also, try to only restrict her contact with a few of your friends (and not the blabbermouth ones!) The more of your friends she knows, the more sources she can use to hunt you down (house=not good)! Is she attached to you, like a siamese twin is to her sister? Talk about disgusting places or things typically men would understand - perhaps member inquiries, business meetings, house league football games… Hey, you don’t want to hear about our periods, right?

Symptoms of A Psycho

Now, sometimes, it’s hard to recognize the controlling, possessive, jealous, crazy girlfriend prototype, when you just met or started dating her. Here are a few warning signs:

a) She already memorizes or adjusts your schedule for you. (You’re a person; you have a right to privacy, you know. Eating, sleeping…)

b) She seems to turn up everywhere you are, even if you didn’t make any plans meeting with her.

c) She’s a very insecure, needy person (this is why she’s always questioning you; she doubts that anyone could commit to someone like her. In other words, she has low self-esteem). You can try complimenting her and showering her with gifts to make her feel important, but if she’s extremely desperate or lacking in confidence, this might render a hopeless remedy.

d) She constantly contacts you, in any shape or form. (Beware of her emergency reasons for messaging you i.e. homework, health, family; it could just be a trap).

e) When you’re together, she won’t let go of your hand, or initiate PDA in front of people, especially girls. If she refuses to let you out of her sight, she wants you all to herself, because, psychologically, she might feel she has nothing without you. But, don’t allow her to manipulate your vulnerability to her emotions. She’ll keep on repeating it, in hopes of fulfilling the void in her heart that keeps on re-appearing.

And that’s all I can say. Some “psycho” (ex) girlfriends don’t display any of these symptoms - until the very last minute you “betray” them, and then they plot revenge, when you least expect it. They’re that good at playing their game. Just don’t give out your number or address to a girl you don’t know, because if you do, just remember - she knows where you live…

Living Life by the Weather

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future ex girlfriend

I was just looking at a 10-day forecast for the Sparks area, and I had a thought about life. Human beings spend a lot of time looking days, weeks, and months ahead at the weather. We’re all hoping for a better tomorrow, making plans based on the ever-fallible forecast. If it’s supposed to snow on a given day, those who ski or snowboard are pulling out their winter gear, and putting chains on their car so they can drive up to Tahoe and hit the slopes the next day. If it’s sunny and warm or hot, we’re taking out our swimsuits and towels and finding the nearest body of water in which to immerse ourselves for a few minutes of refreshing coolness in the blistering heat. Or even better, we’re planning a much different trip to the lake to camp, fish, barbecue and enjoy the cool lake water and warm evenings.

The thing I realized, much like life, is that you can never actually depend on the forecast. It’s especially futile in Reno. If you live in L.A. it’s usually safe to assume it’s going to be sunny and hot during the summertime. It’s certainly much safer than depending on sun, rain, or snow in northern Nevada.

It can become frustrating if you keep trying to depend on the weather to plan your days ahead. You can expect it to be sunny one day, and you look outside and there are clouds in the sky and it smells of wet asphalt. The truth of all this is you can plan some of your life based on what you expect to happen the next day, but it may not pan out like you expect. You just have to understand it’s not going to happen the way you wanted it, that you may have to make different plans. If we’re really making the most of our lives (short as they may be), we have to learn to plan for the unexpected as much as we can, and beyond that it’s improvisation. If we depend on things to happen, we’re all setting ourselves up for panic, frustration, and ultimately insurmountable disappointment. That’s kind of a hard way to live because about half the time we’re going to be frustrated and disappointed. Another thing I’ve learned is that 10 minutes of disappointment, negative thought, and negative energy has about as much effect on a person as 60 minutes of happiness and contentment. If we’re all ready for anything to happen, it’s going to be hard for frustration and depression to take over and consume us.

“Life is so daily”

My ex-girlfriend uses that quote occasionally. She uses it to remind herself NOT to make life ‘daily’. She also uses it to remind me to make the plans I want to make, and not let anyone else’s problems become mine to a certain point. That quote doesn’t always need to be interpreted negatively. Life IS daily, and sometimes that’s the good thing about it. As much as we fight not to waste our futures, to a certain point if we’re not living for today we may miss out on a lot. We have to understand exactly what we have to work with and do with it what we can, and be happy with that. There’s always the possibility we may not LIVE to see tomorrow, and then our plans are good for nothing. We have to live for today, but know what we’re going to do tomorrow depending on what we see when we look out the window.

That’s my thought for the day.

Peace,

Ryan

Burn Notice Season 1: DVD Review

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ex-girlfriend pictures

Burn Notice is an action comedy from USA Network revolving around government spy Michael Westen (portrayed by Jeffery Donovan). While in the middle of an operation in Africa, Westen learns he has been kicked out of the spy world (i.e. burned). After barely escaping with his life, he wakes to find himself in Miami with his ex-girlfriend (Gabrielle Anwar) and a number of questions including trying to figure out who was behind his burn notice. He finds himself constantly tailed by the government, his bank accounts frozen, and having to deal with his mother (Sheron Gless) who let’s just say has a number of issues of her own. That’s not to mention the fact that one of his only friends in Miami Sam Axe (ably played by Bruce Campbell) is spying on him to the FBI.

There are probably many reasons for Burn Notice’s appeal. It could be the great writing of Matt Dix or the ability to walk the line between being an action series and a gallows comedy (Boston Legal does a good job of doing the same thing between dark comedy and legal drama). The chemistry between the cast members definitely makes the show enjoyable. Or it could just be the presence of Bruce Campbell and his cult following fans who would probably watch him on DVD even if it was a documentary on how to make a sandwich better.

The Season I DVD set covers every episode on four discs. Discs one through three contain the first ten episodes of the show from the pilot episode through to False Flag. Disc four contains the two part finale Loose Ends along with special features which include several montages. The character montage has some classic scenes. There is also a very funny gag reel. Also included is footage from Jeffery Donovan’s as well as Gabrielle Anwar’s audition for their roles as Michael and Fiona

Included with each episode are subtitles in Spanish and French and also scene specific commentaries involving the show’s four main characters (Jeffery Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, and Sharon Gless) as well as creator Matt Dix. This is a feature that some DVD box sets include but many still do not.

While not necessarily a deterrent to hardcore fans of the show, the biggest disappointment with the DVD set could be the price. A retail list price of $39.99 for just twelve episodes seems high even with all the features that the DVDs have. For a longer season, $39.99 would seem more fitting but for twelve questions it becomes more questionable.

Overall despite the price the DVD set itself does have a lot of features and is a must have for the die hard fan of the show and if they can stomach the price the casual viewer as well.

More resources

http://burnnotice.usanetwork.com