Also The Day Before Tomorrow

It's turn out, looking at the list of books I've read, that I already read "Old Man's War" last year in March. What's up with that? I've been looking to reading it for several months and now I find I already read it. And LIKED it! So why don't I remember it? Talk about lame-o!

I got the bills paid. Another tramatic event dealt with.

I REALLY appreciate how my employer decided last year to finagle our paychecks so that we don't get paid for several days in December that used to come out of our vacation balance. We still get to work the days (10 month contract), but in June. Which is nice for June, but December comes up 500 smackaroonies short. Since we got a retro pay raise THIS year, it's pretty much covered. But it would have been nice to be able to apply the retro pay to something fun, or the xmas credit card bill, or any EVENTS that are coming up in, March, say.

Anyway, I've TONS of vacation days, I lose them every year because I don't take them. I think I'm going to start taking a few weeks here and there this coming year.

Libery Day

I HAD to go grocery shopping today (out of Pepsi, you know!). I stopped by the library to see if my books were in. They were!

I checked out:

• Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
• Mortal Engines, by Phililp Reeve
• High School Confidential, by Jeremy Iverson

I also picked up a copy of the East County Gazette to abuse myself with.

I'm still (It's VERY slow going!!) reading The Risk Pool by Richard Russo. In fact, after the bike ride today I sat in the sun and read for a while. It was rather civilized.

Sat Ur Day

I just found out that Xmas is on MONDAY! That means I can put off Xmas shopping for one more day!

I decided the best way to induce a B.M . (Who calls it that?) is to do something, like firing up the blog-machine or going on a bicycle ride. So far, no joy...

Crud

Just came back from the uro-doc. Crud, the PSA is up. He wants me to talk to the radiation guy. I understand that I may lose my continance. Or is that gain incontinance. And lose other funtionality, which isn't all that functional anyway.

Saw a discussion on another bike thread, I think it was The Fat Cyclist (it was), wherein someone (chutneyboy) mentioned that wearing bike shorts with a chamois looked like one had a diaper on. I wonder what wearing bike shorts with a chamois AND a diaper will look like!

Baby, It's Cold Out There!

The boy called Sunday and suggested we take a little road trip to see the International Space Station pass over. I readily agreed, as I was BORED outa my skull, having not left the apartment for two days, except to WALK to Vons to pick up a case of Pepsi, a hunk of cheese, and some non-fat cottage cheese.

So, we headed up to the windmills.

We parked very near top windmill in the picture. It was very cold, and there was snow in the shaded areas. It wasn't as clear as we hoped, there were clouds moving in from the north. We finally saw the ISS pass over. It's like a fast moving star.

Next time I'm bring my long johns and something warm to drink!

And the scanner, we could have listened to any ham radio yakking going on.

Back in the day we used the scanner to listen to the Dove satellite. We had the tracking program going on the computer in the house and the scanner outside hooked up to the four element quad, pointing into the sky. The neighbors thought we wuz crazy!

People...

It's not just my rantings here, you get links to OTHER peoples' rantings too!!

Ran across this link on Bike riding Donut Guy blog:

Two Phrases That Destroyed American Culture on the Violent Acres blog.

Rated "R" for language.

The Bike Riding Donut Guy always has some good links, but I suspicion he is farming fark.com for them sometimes.

breakfast in the library

What's for breakfast in the library?

Only for staff, of course!

Waiting For The Man

I was going to post some real whiny stuff here because I've been TOTALLY depressed all afternoon for various reasons, and then I had to go do my labs afterwork, and it was a big hasszle getting out of the parking lot, not really, it was making the left from (Couldn't DSL be just a LITTLE faster loading a map?) ... (still waiting...) (went to Google maps instead of Live Local) ... from Center Drive north on to Grossmont Center Drive. There's no turn arrow so youse gots to waits untill the people from the spa and the hospital go straight, and then all the yahoos that would have been behind you go STRAIGHT and make a u-turn and come back so that messes things up EVEN MORE!!!

Needs a turn signal.

Anyway, I see on fark.com that the Velvet Underground record that was on ebay turned out to have a bogus bidder, so there was some discussion about THAT. But the good thing was a fellow named manhandler posted a link to a this youtube video.



Funniest thing I've see all day, and cheered me up IMMENSELY!!

Hope it does the same for you.

Unless you don't like the VU... I've heard some people don't.

Reading

I'm reading Hemmingway's A Farewell To Arms. It isn't terribly interesting, but it's not as bad as Moby Dick, so I guess I can stick it out. What was that book I quit reading once, oh, yeah, my favorite pre-diabetes cookie, Lorna Doones. Good movie, boring book.

Hero

There was a discussion on a fark.com thread on the use and misuse of the label "hero".

It reminded of a fellow I had the priviledge of meeting once, John Finn. Mr. Finn is 97 years old and is the oldest Medal of Honor receipient. He was awarded the medal based on his actions at Pearl Harbor.

An article by Diane Bell in the San Diego Union, December 7, 2006, he was quoted as replying when asked if he was afraid, "I was too scared to be afraid."

I thought that was pretty good!

You can read about John Finn at Kaneohe Bay -- The First Attack Of World War II

Open wide!

I'm trying out a new image host.

It won't make the content any better, but it gives me another place to stash photos on the internets.

Oh, yeah, you're probably wondering. That's a shot of a blood blister in my mouth. I get them more than I think I should, and they just seem to appear magically! Last, last night, I was eating a zillion oatmeal cookies, probably a bad thing since I have diabetes, although the cook SAID they were made with Splenda. And all of sudden there was another blood blister in my moufs!

If you clikety on the image you should be taken to zoomer.com where said image is hosted, and there you will be amazed by the humerous notations I have affixed to it.

I AM the erudite individual!

Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

Saw this link at Dorothy's place!

Seen on tv

I was just watching some silly movie and something they said struck home. "We can't keep wondering what we will be when we grow up, we ARE grown."

That probably shouldn't be in quotes,it's not an exact quote.

Fish On Sunday?

Actually got out this afternoon at the wife's request to driver her to the fish store to get a Beta to replace what 'is name that died a few months ago.

Had to honk at a big red pickup that was easing through its red light nearly on top of me, then a few seconds later I pulled out a bit too soon in front of two, as it were, trucks, coming from opposing directions. But we made it to the fish store ok. And back.

A Walk On The Wild Side

Ran across this interesting article about walking a 50 miler while I was looking for a sign to warn people I am videotaping them. Don't ask...

Turkey DAy

Happy Turkey Day.

My mother called to wish me Happy Thanksgiving. I talked to my brother, the one who was cooking the bird, he told me I get my holiday "pessimism" (putting it mildly) from my mother.

Now I know who to blame!

I'm reading "Predator's Gold", by Philip Reeve. It's pretty good.

Garbarge Day

I was wandering around snopes and found an article in the Lost Legends section about mobile homes. It said that mobile homes were so-named, not because they had wheels, but because they were first built in Mobile, Alabama.

This was so amazing, I spent two hours trying to verify this fact. The only thing I found was an article on blog.duder.net repeating the snopes information.

Eventually I found this page that explained what the deal was, as Airman Adorno might say.

--------------------------------------------------------

I've read three books so far this weekend:

1. The 2nd book of Abarat
2. Christopher Mouse
3. Becoming Naomi Leon

I am going to start Aretmus Fowl : The Lost Colony as soon as I finish this.

TTFN!

Double b7eek

Finished "Son of a Grifter" Saturday.

Finished "Best Science Fiction Of The Years 6th annual collection" (1976) this afternoon.

Some good stories in there.

Crude, I was going to type some other stuff, but terminal ennui just overcame me.

Sorry.

Reference Interview Of The Week

A patron asked me to help them find a book. They said it was a small book, VERY small. They didn't remember the title, or the author, but maybe it was by Judy Blume. But it was small. VERY SMALL. And it was about a girl. We looked at the Judy Blume books, but no joy. Oh, and there were TWO books. They said last time they saw it on the other side of the room, which is the other end of the Fiction alphabet from 'B'. I thought, and said, that the only SMALL books I could remember were in the 'W's'. Turned out where the wuz, wuz in 'V'. Vail, Rachel Vail. The Friendship Ring series.

I rock!

Tuesday? Wednesday?

I don't know what day it is. To paraphase that kid in that movie, "I see garbarge trucks". On Jackson Drive. But yesterday was garbage day here, so, the world moves on.


Looking for Huell Howser on YouTube, I discovered this little movie. Huell is so fabulous, and his shows about California are so interesting. Every state should have their own Huell!


From The Pocket Dictionary Of American Slang, compiled by Harold Wentworth and Stuart Berg Flexner

French-inhale. The act of exhaling a mouthful of smoke and then inhaling it through the nose. Considered exotic and ultrasophisticated by teenager and students.

Liteweight

This isn't much of a story, but I was at the libery this afternoon, looking through the new books. I could hear the reference librarian in her office talking to a patron. Apparently the patron did not like the answer she received to her question. The librarian got an "edge" in her voice, said something like, "Ma'am, I looked up this question yesterday for another person, and now you are questioning my answer."... After a bit she ask the patron if she would like to talk to another librarian, so she transferred her. I couldn't hear any more...

How would I have reacted? Probably would have started speaking R E A L S L O W . . . and loud. And the "edge" would have been there, too!


I checked out a Jane Heller nove, "Some Nerve" and a William Tapply mystery, "Cutter's Run". I JUST THIS MINUTE (Monday, while fixing typos) see on my Books Read list that I have already read the Tapply book! Oh No!

--------------------------

I've been fixing broken Apple ProMice for work, on my own time. I got some hints on how to go about it at Opening And Repairing An Apple Pro Mouse and at Apple Pro Mouse Repair. Their articles are pretty complete, but I wanted to post this picture showing an actual splice, as I accomplised it.


(Click image to visit flickr and see the BIG version, with comments!)

It's a pretty nifty feeling to have the mouse actually work after I've had it apart!

I was going to put a picture of me wearing my magnifier hood, but the image has disappeared!

This is last night's dinner:



Clicky on the image for the rest of the series (three more, pretty much the same) with Clever Captions and Humorous Mouse-Over Text, at flickr.com, of course.

I actually enjoyed eating this pizza, it wasn't THAT burnt. It was neat letting the hard bits soak in my mouth and gnawing away at them. Must have been like eating hardtack, back in the day. Without the weevils.

Smoking Tax Redux

On Fark.com there was a discussion about a proposed tax increase on cigarettes in Missiouri. Check out the discussion here. There were a lot of interesting opinions.

I looked up cigarette taxes for each state. The lowest was South Carolina (surprise!) at $ .07 per pack, the highest was Rhode Island at $ 2.46 per pack. California was number 23 at $ .87 per pack. SOURCE: Federal Trade Administration

I thought California would be higher than that.

I had a cigarette last night at 7:00 P.M. That breaks my 7 week stretch (I don't know what that means, but "stretch" seemed to fit nicely in there.). I took down the QuitMeter. I'm starting over again.

Vote No on 86

If you are in California, please vote NO on prop. 86, the tax on cigarettes iniative. I believe it is an unfair tax, because the tax on cigarettes was raised by several dollars s a few years ago.

I think it would be fair to raise taxes on alcohol, as the abuse of alcohol is a very bad thing in society. I do not recall the tax on alcohol be raised, ever.

I would not be opposed to a tax on movie theaters, either.

In the spirit of full disclosure, let me say that I do not drink alcohol (for no particular reason, actually I had a beer this summer, don't tell my diabetes doctor!), and I don't go to the movies much (saw the first Lord of the Rings, and I THINK I saw Star Wars Episode 2. I think I fell asleep...), but I DO support a three hundred dollar a month smoker.

Whither reading?

I was searching teh intarweb for "textbook storage" and found these articles.

I'm just gonna pick some quotes out, you can read the articles if you wanna.

Reading for Fun will Boost Scores

"The kind of reading that really counts is free voluntary reading"

But in many, many homes in the South Bay and throughout the state, I also know there are homes without books and newspapers. Homes where no reading is done by anyone. Homes where young children are never read to in the crucial lap position. Homes where children never see an adult reading a book or a newspaper in any language.

They come to school without having heard the language, any language, in complete sentences, in stories told, in looking at printed words while a loving person says those words aloud. They have never participated in family discussions about what's going on in the world. These children have no idea of the structure of language. They don't know that sounds go with the printed symbols.

In the United States, there is one school librarian for every 900 children. In California in 1992, there was one school librarian for every 5,000 children.

And in California in 1999, there is one school librarian for every 6,200 children.

And most importantly, re-open all elementary-school libraries all day with trained librarians.

Library a chapter in school's past Computers seemingly replace

If students at Castlemont High School want to check out "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" or find books on Polynesian culture, they'd better have a bus pass or some good walking shoes.

"I think it's unfair," parent Chavone Johnson said. "I can't see a school not having a library. ... That's denying them a part of their education."

"We ain't been able to checkout books or nothing since I've been here," senior Erik Fuller said recently.

Some books appear to be randomly organized -- on one shelf you can find a book called "Herpes" right above a book called "The Right Dog for You."

"That's not a library, not what a normal high school is supposed to have," said Johnson, whose son attended Castlemont this year but is now in juvenile hall.

Many books in Castlemont's former library are gone -- it's not clear where they are. Some books may have been sent to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, and one teacher may have sent some to Africa, school employees said.

Rick Gaston, principal of Castlemont's Business and Information Technology school, said computers have supplanted traditional school libraries, at least when it comes to doing research.

In Oakland middle schools, librarians have become scarcer over the last few years as the schools choose to spend their resources elsewhere, officials said.

Here's another article on an un-related subject:

ANN BIANCHETTI Diary #12 Indirect Lessons learned at a one-day workshop.

I don't have anything to say here, it's just my dooty to point you towards informative stuff out there!

Day After Yesterday

Yesterday I drove the vehicle to work, because I had a class to go to, and just because!

I noticed the mileage was 2,018 at one point (rather near Montgomery Field, if it's any of your business!), so I thinking I must have turned over 2,000 miles on the odometer some time on Tuesday (Grocery Day) when I drove to work. Since I've had the vehicle about a year, and the starting mileage was 500 (yah, I KNOW!), that means I've driven around 1,500 miles in a year.

Since (According to my inprecise figures) I've ridden 2,098 miles on both bikes total) in 2006, that means, well, I don't know what it means.

And I've ridden 2,633 miles in the last year.

So I guess my bike mileage is sorta almost total the vehicle mileage.

My daughter says I'm ranting too much.

I saw a very pretty sunset Thursday night. And it was very pleasant outside. I do not usually go out at night, for various reason, plus, I live in a sort of a hole, so I don't see sunsets often. Sunrise, I see nearly every morning!

One of my favorite television show that never made it, was a short-lived series titled "United States", starring Beau Bridges. My favorite episode was "Sometimes".

------------------------------------------------------------ (to lazy to remember the html...)

Sometimes when I am riding the bike...

"I really don't care anymore
About all the Jim-Jims in this town
And all the politicians making crazy sounds
And everybody putting everybody else down
And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds"
---Lou Reed

Ham Radio Humour

I was looking for the text of a joke I heard (Two antennas got married...), found it on the AC6V Amateur Radio Humor page.

My favorite funny line:

"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history -- with the possible exceptions of tequila or a borrowed Vibroplex key." --K0HB

A fairly narrow niche in the humor field, but not as narrow as Humor For Library Employees...

The Drama Dept. is putting on The Pajama Game at work this year. I remembered hearing something on the radio this weekend about a protest in Saudia Arabia about a production of said play. I wanted to share this with the Drama Dept. Head. I spent an hour looking up Public Radio sites and stories. Turned out it was on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, on the Bluff The Listener segment, presented by Moe Rocca. And that would be one of the bluffs. So I so vividly remembered a bluff story, but not the source.

Typical!

Mail Crude

I would consider it an acceptable proof of a divine prescence if every purvayor of mail order spammer and marginal charity would drop dead at the same time. Horribly, horribly, dead.

Also, why are the SO MANY organizations dedicated to the welfare of pets? How many "Save The Felines" organizations can our society support?

Warm Enough

It was rather sunny this morning, AND I slept in till eight, so I didn't go for a bike ride. Whoops, wrong blog!

I added the QuitMeter to the top of the blog, let us see how it works there.

I pulled ivy from around the stupid palm tree this afternoon. I also water the tomato, and also the tiny compost pile. I wish a tornado would come and take the stupid palm tree away. It stopped being an amusing tree many years ago.

I have been musing on the meaning of friendship, and levels of friendship. Someday I might write about it.

Watt hertz?

For some reason thought I might enjoy watching "Men In Trees" on television. The catchy title, I guess. I almost spit up when the innkeeper said he had a 10 megaHertz radio station. So, he has a shortwave broadcasting station? Ok, I guess. Really aren't too many of those in the United States, around 27 by my cruddy interweb count. I'm thinking, NOT!

Maybe he meant the station's power? Ten megawatts? That's 10 million watts. The highest power station I could find on the internets was 2.5 million watts. A typical high power station might be 500,000 watts. KCBQ in San Diego was a high power AM broacaster, back in the day, with a daytime power of the legal limit of 50,000 watts.

So a lame misteak starts the turn off from the show, for me. I guess it's back to the computer.

And here I am!

LATER: Stupid me! I plum forgot radio station WWV is on 10 mHz, with 10,000 watts of time-station goodness! I've GOT a QSL card from them, what the heck was I thinking? There is NO WAY he would have a station on that frequency. So, it is indeed just another stupid TV writer boo-boo. And this is a rant!

Plugged In

The telephone guy came out to our work site today to see why the phone wasn't working in our tiny storage room. It used to. Eventually he figured out that the computer guy that had been out the other day had disconnected the phone in the network cabinet when he was tidying things up and replacing cables. While he was working on the phone I noticed Horizon stopped working, but I thought it was just because I had a big data thing going on. Then the internet stopped working. Then the patrons starting complaing that the internet wasn't working on the Macs. I told the phone guy, but he said he didn't do anything to the network. Well, he showed me what he did to get the phone working, then he had to go. I went over to the main office to see if they were up, and they weren't having any problems. I told the Data Tech. (Steph.) what the deal was, so she came right over. She checked the routers, checked to see if we had rebooted, then called *T*h*e* *H*e*l*p* *D*e*s*k*. They couldn't think of anything, so a Service Request was filed. I suggested I show Steph. what the phone guy had done, in case I wasn't there when the repair guy came. We looked in the cabinet, checked the power connections. Everything was plugged in (remember this point). Steph. noticed three power cords that were plugged in the outlets, but not connected to anything. I remarked those must have been from the routers that the network guy had changed out the other day, he must have forgotten to pull the plugs, as it were. It's a very messy cabinet. I noted one of the routers had no blinkies, looked in back, saw its power cable was not plugged in, and was rather short. It looked like the network guy had carefully taken up the slack with a velco wrap, but took up too much slack, so when the phone guy opened the cabinet the power plug popped out, but the phone guy didn't notice it!

Paragraph.

So then we went out to check the computers. No joy. Went back to the cabinet. Noticed that the blickie-box for the Optical cable/interchange whatever was unlit. Checked the back, yah, the power cable is unplugged and way too short. Fixed it. Now we got power, and eventually we got network.

Steph. cancels work order. I finish fixing my data screwups.

Later I got an e-mail from Vick. saying she was going to e-mail us that Horizon had gone down, but by the time she got teh e-mail written it was back up again.

Foggy

It was pretty foggy this morning. I drove the truck because I had to run errands in the afternoon, like buy cigarettes and groceries (Importance in that order...). I had my headlights on, but then I usually do when I drive to work because it (and me) is usually dim.

I want people to see me.

I don't understand those people who drive with their "parking" lights on.

In the fog.

It's like, oh yah, your're twenty feet away, I can see your lights now.

Morons.

What are they thinking? They're gonna save a penny's worth of gas not having their headlights on?

Then there are the people with NO lighting what-so-ever!

Guess what, people, if I'm on the bike I CAN'T SEE YOU in my rearview mirror in the dim predawn. If you don't want me in your lap, turn on your headlights!

Yes, yes, I do a mirror check then and then a head turn. But if it doesn't attract my attention in the mirror I'm less likely to "see" it when I turn my head. The head turn is more to see "where" a car is, and to judge our closing speed, as it were, than to see if anything is there. Sort of a double check.

In other words, my vision sucks, so turn on your headlights!

**************************

In a "lighter" mood, I noticed the moon out today. I supposed I've seen it out during the day many times in my half-century (I REALLY must look up the proper use of the hyphen!), but it struck me today as a new and wonderful thing. I pointed it out to several kids and adults, and we were amazed.

And TODAY I didn't bring the camera!

Smooking

Had a dream last night, I dreamt I had a cigarette.

Quote of the day--"I'm becoming a nonsmoker"


QuitMeter Counter courtesy of www.quitmeter.com.

smokin' Tuesday

It's really hard to concentrate on blogging and listening to television when someone smoking is coughing and wheezing in my ears. I feel so virtuous having not had a cigarette in two or three days. Three days, that's it! I'm sure.

I wish I had a picture of me not smoking to put here.

I want a motorcyle.
I don't NEED one.
I don't DESERVE one.
I just WANT one!

Nobody stole the garbage can today. That's good.

Day before garbage day

Saw this on another blog, thought it was interesting enough to make the effort to put the link here. (Oh, OK, it was Slow Brave Athena's OTHER blog.)

Did you notice the title box that popped up when you pointed the linked text? I just learned how to do that! I am SO proud. But I probably will forget to do it the next time...

Did you have a good summer?

That's what people ask me.

Did I? Well, if the criteria was, did I accomplish anything, let us look at the list:

THINGS I PLANNED TO ACCOMLISH THIS SUMMER

• Learn Javascript. Nope, didn't happen.
• Learn MySQL. Nope. I DID get it installed, though.
• Ride bicycle. Yeh, I rode about half as much as I wanted, and achieved some minor goals.
• Wash vehicle. Nope. I did buy washing fluid. Need a mitt.
• Get mulch. Didn't happen.
• Get summer job. Ha, ha, on THAT one!
• Stop smoking. Off and on, but not stopped. Don't tell the kids.
• Visit Deety and Linh. Nope.
• Gardening. Well, I DID chop that darn root out of the ground!
• Tour de France. I spent most of July watching the race. That's what July is for!
• Oil change. I got the oil changed in the vehicle. Second oil change in less than 2,000 miles, FYI.
• Work on railroad. I got the hoist finished and rebuilt the background panel.
  

THINGS I ACCOMPLISHED THIS SUMMER WITHOUT WANTING TOO (Huh?)

• Blogging. I did a bit of blogging.
• Youtube. I made several silly (as in lame, not humorous) little movies.
• Reading. I read a bunch of books.

So I leave it up to you, did I have a good summer?


Saw this on the Warrior Librarian site.

Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Theresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.

--Life's Little Instruction Book, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Down by the old mill stream

I heard someone sing this song on television this morning, and it made think of the Hardy Boys mystery books. Then later on during "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" it occurred to me (why then?) that all those adventures couldn't have happened.

There just wasn't enough time.

All the books take place during high school. There are 58 eight books in the original series. I figure each mystery averaged three weeks to solve, what with trips to Puerto Rico, Mexico, Alaska, Blythe, and who know where else! That comes to 164 weeks, I figure.

That doesn't leave a lot of time for school.

Either that or those boys never slept!

And it's no wonder their relationships with Callie and Iola fared so poorly, the boys were always off on another adventure!

Freighters! I forgot the frieghter trip! I loved that one, I always wanted to go on a freighter after that!

Youtube and old people

There has been a guy who calls himself geriatric1927 on youtube for the last two weeks. He has been posting videos every other day, reminiscing about his life. He has had quite a following with tens of thousands, maybe HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS, views. There are fan websites and internet news articles about him. There is even a wikipedia article about him. He gets thousands of comments from viewers expressing their, well, love, for him! I think he is great, too, and eagerly wait for his next video (he is taking a break, for now.)

Many of the people, and they seem to be the younger ones, wish their grandparents were like him. Or even that they had grandparents that they knew.

I just wanted to say, there are wonderful people all over the place out there. I would suggest they talk to the people they see on the street, or volunteer at a hospital or rest home. Our seniors have lived a lot of life and they have great experiences and stories to tell. There are a lot of lonely people out there that would like someone to talk to, I bet.

Cranky Tuesday Yesterday

I was ordered to put this on here. It's from an e-mail I sent.

*************************************

So, how did my day go, you ask? Well, you didn't, but I got to complain
somewhere!

Got to work and two monitors were turned on, a printer was on, and one computer
was on and TRYING TO REBOOT over and over. So I guess it's been trying to do
that for several weeks, as I heard later some "office staff" were using the
library while the office was being cleaned.

So that computer is now dead.

And to start the day, I went to the credit union to deposit my $50.00 ATT DSL
rebate, thinking now we will make it through the month, grocery-wise, and I
look in the check register and find SOMEONE sent $50 to charities a few days
ago.

Just shoot me!

Flowers

No rants, just flowers today!







You can click the image to see a larger version and comments at flickr.com.

Nothing Much To Report

Nothing much to rant about (Well, the usual, but who wants to hear it?).

Got my teeth cleaned today. No cavaties. Technician said I need to floss more.

Painted another coat on the background side panel for the RR.

Finished Holy Trinity by Richard Marcinko.

Back to work Tuesday!

It's Garbageday!

Drove someone to the E.R. last night around midnight. Don't worry, it was nothing. It wasn't too crowded, but of course we had to wait quiet a while. While we were waiting we saw(or heard) the following people:

• A bartender who had skewered his hand with a wine glass he was cleaning.
• A homeless lady with back pain who lives in a van.
• A twenty-something with possible appendicitis.
• A younger woman being released who had no cab fare. The bartender's boss gave her $30! Wow!
• A 600 pound woman they had to get a regular bed for.

We got home around four in the morning. I finished my John Mortimer book and fell asleep till eight. Then:

1. I got up
2. Ate breakfast
3. Put the garbage can out on the curb
4. Cashed in the recycling cans
5. Bought a piece of hardboard at Home Depot
6. Bought time-release fertilizer at Dixieline
7. Bought bird seed, both sunflower and regular at Petco
8. Bought cigarettes at the cigarette store
9. Bought acrylic flow releaser at Michaels
10. Bought groceries at Albertsons
11. Forgot to return library books

That's about it for my errands. Now I need to do something with all the stuff I bought!

Games

I've been getting Sudoku confused with Sokoban. But it is all straightened out now.

On to my next problem!

Hot stuff

I put it off no longer, I bought a hair dryer and defrosted the refrigerator. This may sound like no big thing to YOU, but it has been preying on my mind for a couple week now. It only took 20 minutes to melt the ice enough so we can close the door to the fridge! Now maybe the ice cream will stay semi-soft, instead of melted!

I had been looking at heat guns at a big-name hardware store but the lady there said she recommended getting a cheap hair dryer at the grocery store. She said that's what they did, there in the paint department, because the heat gun they sell put out WAY too much heat.

So that's what I did!

So now I have an extra hour a month of my life back!

Not So Hot Sunday

Yesterday was a real scorcher! Check out this temperature graph for yesterday:



I walked to the library around 3:30 to return a book and get some more supplies. The breeze was blowing nicely and I had my geek sun-hat on. It didn't feel too bad, but it was nice to get into the air conditioning at the library.

Hot Friday

It's not as hot as yesterday, but less than tomorrow, I hear.

Went to the urologist today. My PSA is still at the same (low) level, not rising. So he told me to come back in six months for another check. Of course, those of you who are in the know are aware they took out my prostate last year (with the fabulous Da Vinci machine), so the PSA is SUPPOSED to be zip, I understand.

So I keep thinking I'm dying.

Which I am not, of course.

But sometimes I just feel OLD!!!

Bloody 'ell!

Just stabbed my self on a tiny icicle stick out of the ice cube tray.

How come I don't bleed that much when I'm doing my diabetes testing, huh?

Hot water

I've had a hot-water faucett in the bathroom that didn't give much volume ever since I fixed the washer. This was several years ago. I've been thinking about replacing the faucett with a high-quality one, but that costs money and something ALWAYS go wrong when one try's to do plumbing.

Since we have a drip in the kitchen sink (no shut-off valve!)I was going to call the apartment manager to get it fixed, and take a look at the bathroom too.

It occurred to me that I ought to check the shut-off valve under the sink. This occurred to me several months ago. I finally checked it. Now we have full hot water pressure...

Now about that drip in the kitchen...

Sunday morning

I started a new blog, the "secret" blog, where I put the stuff that "names names"! Too hot for here!

Friday

I had something to rant about, but now I can't remember what it was. Too bad for you!

Observations on an old man

I've been reading some books by Ralph Moody. He wrote a series of "fictionalized" autobiographies of his life as a young man riding horses, cowboying, and helping to support his mother. He has some good insights, I think.

"I couldn't help thinking he and I were a good deal alike. Maybe he was trying to do things too big for him so people wouldn't call him an old man. Maybe he bragged about things he used to do because he couldn't do them any more, and because he wanted the same thing I did: to have other people think he was as smart and able to do things as they were." -- The Home Ranch

The books remind of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Litle House On The Prarie series.

MPG

M. said the tire on the vehicle look a little low. I have not checked them in six months I have owned this sucker, so I thought I had better. I finally found the air pressure gauge (from the Citation) in the bicycle tool drawer of the tool chest, of all places. I checked the air at the gas station today, it was a little low, but the tire were heated up so I will probably have to bleed a little out when they are cool, tomorrow.

I filled up with gas, too. Since I don't have a pen stashed in the vehicle, this is mostly from memory. 13.4 gallons(@$35.25), in 192.8 miles equals 14.3 mpg. And the odometer sez 1,305 miles. It's not much better than the sainted Citation. And it certainly COSTS (15 grand or so) a lot more than the Citation( which was essentially zero, thank you Kelly!). But it's got brakes! And steering! And a decent stereo. And I can carry a lot of junk in the back!

Reading the Illuminatus! trilogy I came across a name, Steve Brodie, that I was intrigued to look up on the intarweb. Seems that the expression from my youth, "doing a brodie", comes from Steve claiming to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge (and survived) in 1886. Apparently there was some doubt that he actually did it, but the notoriety helped him when he opened a bar.

I seem to remember the expression referred to sliding sideways in a car or on a bicycle . I didn't get too many hits on Yahoo! on it, but there are a few and that seems to be the way others use the terms, pretty much.

The cable guy came today and fixed the cable. He was supposed to come between 3 and 5, but when I got home (I left early to be here) the wife said he called around noon, asked if that would be a good time, and so came and fixed it. He had to crawl under the building and replace a cable. I hear he was quite a sight when he crawled out!

So now we get UCSD channel clear! It always awful before!

I was looking in the garage Sunday and found an old bottle of Torco Fork Oil, and an old plastic squeeze container labled "The Dirt Rider". That old squeeze container brought back some memories. As I recall, you ordered from Carl Shipman (The Dirt Rider) and you got the container and a bag of molybdenum that you mixed with oil to get chain lube. Those were the days! I've still got the spark plug air pump, the handlebar bag, and somewhere a copy of The Boonie Book (the thin white one, not the HP publication.)

There should be a shrine to Mr. Shipman.

I was shown this article in American Libraries today, about a Pennsylvania school librarian who was fired for selling discarded magaines on the internet with permission. And then combining the profits with his own money to buy computers for the school. Fired High School Librarian’s Legal Record Cleared

Here's a poem I found and liked.

Peas
by Anonymous

I always eat peas with honey,
I've done it all my life.
They do taste kind of funny,
But it keeps them on the knife.


Now THAT'S poetry!

Here's part of another.

Qwerty-U-I-OP
by Arthur Guiterman

My typewriter, I gather
from her lettered row on top,
Should answer to the comely name
of "Qwerty-u-i-op."
She clicks away as gaily
as the cricket in the dell.
And at the proper moment
titinabulates a bell.

And it goes on...

I can't believe I just noticed I misspelled "Leftist" in the blog title.

Now, since no one pointed this out to me, I have to assume one of the following:

1) People are too kind to point this out.

2) People are too stupid to notice.

3) No one is reading this blog.

To stay in charactor, I will have to assume number two...

Since the t-shirt contest is over (and no one even entered!), we will now have a non-prize survey. Should I fix the spelling in the blog title or not?

That is the question...

Oh my aching...

Went for a colonoscopy last Tuesday, what I call a "Katie"...

I was pretty nervous, even though I had been through it before. It wasn't as bad as I had worked it up in my mind, even though the "cleaning out" process is fairly ucky. Last time they found something, this time it was OK. I'm still waiting for full functioning of the plumbing, but there are signs it's going to work.

So Tuesday night I'm sitting around, and I feel a lump under my shirt on my arm. I check it out, it's the bandage covering where the put in the I.V., I guess it's called. So I take it off, but I'm thinking, that's funny, I don't remember actually getting dressed after the ceremony, as it were.

So we call my son, who had the honor of driving me that day. I told him I didn't remember getting dressed, he said "Really?" I said, "Yeah, I really don't. I remember someone telling me you had my keys, and I remember getting in the wheelchair and going out to the car, and I even remeber very hazily some of the procedure, but I don't remember getting dressed." He say's "Well, I help you get dressed." "Well," says I, "that's embaressing!"

So that's my funny memory of that day!

Now it's your turn!

We went to Boulevard to see the wind generating windmills there. They are quite impressive! You have to drive a bit on a dirt road to get there, but it's not too bad. The mighty Hyundai did it ok! This picture is from another visit of Matt's, that a Camry at the base of the windmill.



The blades are enormous, I estimated about 120 feet across. They are almost silent in operation, just a whooshing sound as they go by. There are 20 something windmills in a long line. You can see them from the road, but we drove right up to them for a close-up view.


We went by the Wisteria Candy Cottage in Boulevard. We didn't stop there, but I've been there before with Kelly and they have some fine stuff. Of course, being sorta-diabetic, I couldn't eat too much of that stuff anyway, right?

We checked out Carrizo Gorge Road. Turns out it dead-ends at a clothing-optional resort. Woo hoo!

We took the old road, took a look at Desert Tower, almost hit a little kitty, then took the S2 back. Stopped at the Box Canyon monument. Didn't see much of a trail, can't imagine taking wagons through there in the 1800's!!

Came up the Banner Grade through Julian and then home again.

No entries so far in the t-shirt contest. The only explanation I can see is that now is reading this blog! Probably just as well!

I was watching Alan Jacobs on Book TV talking about his book "The Narnian", which is of course about C.S. Lewis. He said something about Lewis taking his responsibiliities seriously, recounting anectdotes about Lewis dilegently answering his fan mail every day and visiting an elderly woman friend who was in a nursing home. This struck me, and I found it worthy of note.

So over in Dago it appears they are thinking about banning smoking on the beach. Not that I care, having stopped smoking about three week ago. I am thinking a simpler little law isn't going to do much, though. I think that people who would obey the law are the ones who probably don't drop their butts anyway. It's the scofflaws that throw their butts in the sand. And that's probably the least of what they do! Probably run stop signs and speed, too!

I believe the only solution is to execute people who litter. And let the good smokers smoke in peace.

And raise the alcohol tax, too. But that's another topic.

I was looking at the statistics for my Books I've Been Reading page.
What's up with that Top search word used...

"Music to stun pigs by"?

Is that weird or not"?

A Contest!

Someone gave me this shirt. They didn't know quite what to make of it. Neither do I. I want to give it away.

Who ever comes up with the best explanation of why someone would print this, can have it!

LIMITATIONS:

1. There is only one shirt.
2. Free shipping only within the continental U.S. of A.!!
3. It's not a new shirt. It's been worn. By a sweaty fat guy. A lot. Probably smells of cigarette smoke, too.
3. All entries become the property of Tropical Serpants and may be published!
5. Offer void where prohibited.
6. Employees of Tropical Serpants and their families are not eligable.
5. Anything else I can't think of right now.
6. Oh, yeah, the contest ends February 25, 2006.

Oh, I forgot, it says "Naturally baked" on the back.

I had some brilliant stuff here but hit the "back' button on the mouse and lost it!

I've been sharing with people my little "I.T" success story. After for months of fooling with, and two hours of INTENSE scrutiny by TWO people, I discovered that two computers sitting next to each other, each with connectivity issues, were connected together with the same Eithernet cable...

I help a guy who had an electrical outlet go dead (one word: microwave popcorn), using some trouble-shooting strategies I learned while in the pay of my Uncle Sam. To wit: circuit breakers don't always show they are popped, reset them all.

Sunday evening, 8:30, two chicks show up at the door claiming to sell magazines for a school project. Yah, right...

I haven't had a cigarette for almost a week. I'm sure my kids will be glad to know I was smoking again in the first place.

A reacurrent thought-thread I've had is how much of a jerk I was as a kid, and as a adult, saying and doing things that hurt people's feelings. I suppose there is a dividing line between jerk-kid and jerk-adult, but it isn't a sharp line, more of a transitional phase, I guess. I think part of the 8-step process is to apologize to people. Well, I did apologize to someone, but I guess there are many more to go. And do they want to hear it? Just because I feel bad, doesn't mean they even remember it. So it would be rather egotistical to go sticking my apologies in their face, I think.


M. came up with the expression "pity-link". I though maybe we had a new Intarweb catch word there, but no joy, there are several hits on Google already...

This is an e-mail thread from work. It is in REVERSE chronological order. That is, the latest one is first, the first is last. Isn't that Biblical?

Also, I have un-characteristically refrained from making comments...

The names and the locations have been edited to protect the guilty, and the innocent.
[The King] refers to me.

------ Last Message -----

Hello [The King], I hope you realize that you have replied to the all-inclusive list, when you should have only made your comments to the guilty individual senders. If you don't already know how to do this, please ask someone to teach you how to "reply to sender only" on the set-up of your e-mail. thanks

----- Previous Message -----

[The King], AMEN TO THAT!!!!
[name deleted]
[deleted] Elementary Librarian

----- Previous Message -----

Warning: A CPR e-mail virus has been unleashed on the district mail system. Although our recently updated Outlook Exchange server is highly secure and protects against these viruses, recent mass messaging has shown a serious flaw. Early reports seem to indicate the USERS are to blame!!!

The solution for this virus --

PLEASE LEARN TO PAY ATTENTION WHEN YOU REPLY-ALL!!! BEFORE SENDING MASS REPLIES, READ ANY FOLLOW UP MESSAGES AND POSSIBLY EVEN ASK SOMEBODY WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE DOING.

For the sake of our kids -- quit wasting district resources and staff time.

Yes, I deserve all flames and criticisms for wasting even more time composing this message and causing you to delete it -- but maybe some humor will get YOU to pay attention.

I welcome any replies -- (HA! I know how to create a filter... do you?)

BUT PLEASE DO NOT REPLY-ALL -- reply only to ME

----- Previous Message -----


How do I get this to end? Every day I have to see this bull crap. Stop including me in this little nightmare! [name deleted]., DC, Life Skills, [deleted] HS.

----- Previous Message -----

Thank you oh so much for the 5 pointless emails. I am sure every employee of [deleted] is more than happy to spend their ample extra time to delete the product of your technological ignorance. Thanks again! [directed to the sender of five “CPR” e-mails with no content]

----- Previous Message -----

See....they can't read.
[name deleted]
Principal
[deleted] High School

----- Previous Message -----

Hi [The King], Those people can't read. Any good [deleted] gossip?
[name deleted]
Principal
[deleted] High School

----- Previous Message -----

What is wrong with you people? Knock it off!

----- Previous Message -----

Got the messages, thanks!

----- Previous Message -----

Take me off this list

----- Previous Message -----

Hi [The King] Miss you
Only you would want to save the bandwidth....
[name deleted]
Principal
[deleted] High School

----- Previous Message -----

Please put your recent notices (re:CPR) and comments in the employee bulletin. We receive enough email as it is and your recent "reply all" comments are not needed by the entire district. Thank you.
[name deleted]
Vice Principal
[deleted] Elementary

----- Previous Message -----

For those of you that are asking to be taken off the list; PLEASE only reply to sender not reply to ALL. Thanks and have a good day!
[name deleted]
School Clerk I
[deleted]
[deleted]Magnet School

----- Previous Message -----

Good idea! Stop putting so much Mocha in your Coffee! It's making you cranky!
[name deleted]
[deleted] Supervisor
[deleted] High School

----- Previous Message -----

Please Take me off this list also. [name deleted]

----- Previous Message -----

Please remove me from this list! Thanks!
[name deleted]
[deleted] Resource Specialist

----- Previous Message -----

Take me off the list, this is getting OLD!!

----- Previous Message -----

DO NOT REPLY TO ALL WHEN REQUESTING TO BE REMOVED FROM THIS LIST! NO ONE WANTS THOSANDS OF RESPONSES TO THIS ONE MESSAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! REPLY TO THE ORIGINAL SENDER!
[name deleted]
Case Manager
[deleted] Health and Social Services Center

----- Previous Message -----

please take me off this list also

----- Previous Message -----

Please take me off this list
[name deleted]
Resource Specialist
[deleted] Unified School District
[deleted] Elementary School

----- Previous Message -----

Hi, not sure why you are emailing me.
[name deleted]
Teacher 3rd Grade
[deleted] Elementary

----- Previous Message -----

Its a BUSINESS, not a free service! [name deleted]

----- Previous Message -----

[The King], Surely we don't know eachother, but I detect a bit of anger and hostility in your message. I don't know who may of sent the 'reply to all', but if it wasn't on purpose this time....WHOA.
Thank you,
[name deleted]

----- Previous Message -----

THANY YOU. If you didn't send that email, I was going to!!! Geeeesh, people.....figure it out :)
[name deleted]
[deleted] Middle School

----- Previous Message -----

You said what I wanted to, thank you.
[name deleted]

----- Previous Message -----

[The King], I miss you! Tell [name deleted] Hi for me. [name deleted]

----- Previous Message -----

Hi [The King],
Thank you for sending that email!!! I don't see how so many people send their emails to EVERYONE... I think it's hilarious when they're rude in their emails also :)
I just didn't have the nerve to respond to everyone and tell them :)
Thanks!
[name deleted]
5th/6th Grade Teacher
[deleted] Elementary

----- Previous Message -----

What is CRP?
[name deleted]
[deleted] Middle School
Supervising Admin. Assist.

----- Previous Message -----

[The King],
You are still way too logical for this business we call education.
How are things? Still riding your bike?
Take care.
[name deleted]
[deleted] Math/Science Magnet

----- Previous Message -----

Thank you!
[name deleted]
[deleted] High School
[deleted]/Mathematics Dept.

----- Previous Message -----

What is this referring to? Use English.
[name deleted]
[deleted] Middle School

----- Previous Message -----

HERE! hERE!

----- Previous Message -----

Thank you so much, I am so tired of getting these messages that I am not a part of.

----- Previous Message (My Message) ------

I have an idea! Instead of everyone hitting "reply to all", let us send our comments to the orignator, [name deleted].! Save the bandwidth! Sincerely, [The King]

----- Previous Message -----

Why does this CPR email need to be taken off [deleted].net??? CPR is a needed service to staff who work with children.
[name deleted]
[deleted] High School

----- Previous Message -----

What's the reason not to?
[name deleted]., [deleted] Environmental Science Teacher
[deleted] High School


------ The First Message, The One That Started It All !!!! -----

Please do not use [deleted].net for CPR correspondence. Thank you, [name deleted]