chat.jpgNow that I’m about to retire, I can let some secrets out of the bag. No, not classified or proprietary information, but some of the little things I had to do along the way to override the corporate bullshit. I can reveal them at this time, because I will (hopefully) no longer be needing them.

Take, for example, the corporate directive to the internet Nazis to block all chat room sites like Instant Messenger. Inside the Berlin Wall proxy server, one could not access UDP protocol traffic. No more chat rooms for the incompetent morons at their workstations. Screw that! I undertook a home computer project to write an HTML-based chatroom that could operate in a pop-up window from a browser. After a few evenings of futzing with it, I got it going.

Why do I need a chat room? To keep in touch with the Better Half, of course, for important shit, like this transcript from this afternoon . . .

14:48:04 Better Half: did Hussein sell out Israel today?
14:48:31 Minstrel: i think he did
14:48:38 Better Half: Bolton sez it was very close
14:48:59 Minstrel: fear the 'stache
14:49:48 Better Half: this dumb f**k is gonna get us all killed and hated if its the last thing he does
14:50:12 Minstrel: he wants to destroy America
14:50:25 Minstrel: he's a freakin' extremist leftist
14:52:05 Better Half: thats narsissistic freakin extremist to you
14:52:29 Minstrel: radical
15:15:34 Better Half: just got hotter in here
15:16:15 Minstrel: the three pm effect
15:16:34 Minstrel: wind died down just enough to let the heat build up
15:19:02 Better Half: Sam Adams 10.99
15:19:13 Minstrel: good we could stock up
15:26:18 Minstrel: ran out of Kleenex but don't want to bring a whole box
15:26:27 Minstrel: brought up some from the truck
15:27:00 Better Half: ill bring another for the truck
15:27:10 Minstrel: OK thanks
15:30:08 Better Half: oops don't have any need to get
15:30:41 Minstrel: OK shop on Friday
15:31:00 Better Half: it's on the list
15:31:25 Minstrel: OK
15:31:40 Better Half: bwahahahahah the global warming climate session is making a huge footprint
15:31:56 Better Half: they're buying carbon offsets
15:32:05 Minstrel: yep carbon galore
15:42:23 Better Half: Krauthammer said Hussein's speech bordered on embarrassment and danger
15:42:59 Minstrel: yep it was very disturbing and post American
15:43:08 Minstrel: giving away our sovereignty
15:43:35 Minstrel: he absolutely WANTS to destroy America
15:43:57 Better Half: AARRGGHH!!
15:44:17 Minstrel: but really that wasn't him speaking
15:44:25 Minstrel: it was his teleprompter
15:44:48 Minstrel: he is just a puppet with george soros' hand up his ass
15:44:56 Better Half: cant trust that teleprompter