Tuesday, July 18, 2006, 23:02 CDT
Tonight, I spent some time with y'all, online, thanks to Brittney and Starbux. Brittney brought me the $100 that WKRN has owed me since early April, and she dropped me off at Starbux around 5:15 p.m. It's now 10:40 p.m., and I just got out of the shower, and still, I'm a sweatin' motherflocker. After a shower, it ain't right to still be sweatin', especially when, since 5:15 p.m., you've had 12 oz. of coffee, and 24 oz. of tea, 72 oz. of beer, and have only tinkled once. Water! Water!It took me about 1h40m to walk 4.4 miles, with three beer stops interspersed in there. First beer stop was almost across the street from Starbux (Shell @ the corner of White Bridge & Harding; the 24oz. Busch there was $1.39, rather than $0.99); second beer stop was at Citgo on White Bridge; 1 @ $0.99); third was at Citgo on Charlotte (3 @ $0.99).
Yet, I feel great. It was awesome to get to talk with y'all again!
As for the heat, I've reversed the fan, so it's blowing in, directly on me. I'm pretty much dry, now. ;) I'll need a wet washcloth any moment!
Curly is extremely needy, so I'm taking my time typing this out. His petting and reassurance is paramount; sorry. :)
Some walking around town observations; things I'd missed when I was driving by these places):
1.) Metro cops turn on their lights/sirens simply and solely to get through traffic (surprise!);
2.) There's a neat looking shop on White Bridge named "Artifacts," that looks like a cool place for rich people to shop for eclectic decor;
3.) There's a scary-looking viaduct/concrete stairs structure just north of that shop, on the west side of White Bridge; it looks like the perfect place to get mugged;
4.) There's a Japanese/Vietnamese restaurant on Charlotte, and that combo isn't unusual, at least not in L.A. (according to Sallyh, whom I spoke to on the walk home);
5.) The Fat Mo's on White Bridge (near Charlotte) has a "walk up" window, and it's open until at least, I'm guessing, 10:00 p.m. Fat Mo's has the BEST fuckin' burger in Nashville, for those of you wondering, and it is HUGE, and it will hurt you. If you're like me, and have issues digesting good beef, take 75mg of Ranitidine 30 minutes prior (if I fail to do that, 12 hrs. of near-lethal GERD is the result). There is no questioning that this is the finest burger in town, at all. Fuck Rotier's -- if you visit here and do not treat yourself to a classic Fat Mo burger, you have missed more than you can know. Don't order there alone, if you can help it -- for two people, only get one order of fries, and two burgers. They give you at least 3x the amount of (tasty, spicy) fries any normal human being would ever wish to eat in one sitting.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Sallyh! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
As I said, I called her on the way home, after beer stop #3, but she didn't answer... I worried that I'd called during dinnertime. But within seconds, she called back! We discussed the spare phone she had, and many other things. She's hoping that her family plan cell phone will enable me to get online nights and weekends, but I'm not at all up-to-speed on cell phone Innernets connectivity. We'll cross fingers, and hope for the best, but even if this does nothing but keep Sallyh and I connected for a little while, at little or no additional cost, I would have to consider that a 100% success.
I also got two applications for jobs today, just noting "help wanted" signs in their windows -- the first was for a cash advance place, and the other was at a Citgo. I'll fill those out and get 'em back in tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 11:09 CDT
Hey! Just heard Atrios on NPR's On Point. I didn't follow it closely, but the featured guests were a bunch of CT college guys who've started what they characterize as a moderate political website, where people can discuss issues and ideas, and leave partisanship behind. Heh... yeah, I bet that works very well. ;)
14:32 CDT
My very cool landlord has agreed to take my Hamer Special FM for $400 credit towards this month's rent. He'll be over in about an hour.
I'm gonna go topless in public, I think... the heat's soooo bad, I may have to dip into the pool, later. WARNING: Visible Scars! But no tattoos. ;)
Interesting new PC discovery -- the Roxio DVD Max player software allows screen captures! That's how I got Samuel L. in that last post, btw. Gotta love the Samuel L.!
Does he look like a bitch? ;)
Funny thang: The frames in Fight Club where Pitt's character pops in-frame subliminally (oh, surely, you saw them! The first one I noticed is while "Jack" is working the photocopier in his office in the first few minutes of the film, just as the supply boy wheels his cart into the frame)? Although I can pause the DVD directly on the frame, I can't get a screen capture of any of those frames! Dang.
How 'bout some classic NCC-1701? These are from the ST:DS9 episode, "Trials and Tribble-ations":
I thought it was pretty neat how they managed to splice the DS9 cast into this old episode. They even to get most of the shadows right. What strikes me about the original Star Trek is how vivid and oversaturated (by modern standards) the colors are. I wonder if that's because the original was shot on film. Hmmmm.
Still, they ain't never beamed a cat. ;) Or did they? Trek Trivia! Terri Garr episode? I don't remember.
I do remember reading one of those "The Making of Star Trek" books long, long ago, and some of the production staff being highly upset with the developing department at Desilu (Lucille Ball's studio, yep). They'd gone through this horrendously painstaking task of painting a woman completely green (an Orion slave girl) in the pilot, and first time the film came back, she was flesh-colored. The developers were color-correcting it. :) I bet I'm not the only nerd in these parts who read those books. Own up, homies.
16:21 CDT
The landlord just left. We had a nice visit -- I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd have grabbed the guitar, the cash, and hit the road, as hot as it was, but we had a nice chat. Man, I am very fortunate that he's willing to take a guitar as the majority of this month's rent. He must have somewhere near a dozen guitars and at least four basses by now. He's got a music store in the making.
He told me that the last gig he did with Schroeder's Revenge, there were people in the audience who found the video clip that I posted on this here bloggie thang, and decided to come check 'em out. Cool! That's gratifying from the standpoint of my having been partially-paid to set up a website for them, back when they were still calling themselves "The Synthesized Hendrix Experience," but we hit a wall when the main guy (the keyboard player/lead singer) couldn't seem to come up with any content to fill up the pretty wrapper I built for the site. Since there seemed to be no eagerness on his part to either provide content or additional money, the project has just been dormant. He's never been online, and really doesn't fully grasp the concept of a website... yet he would still like to have one. :) I've tried to explain that he could think of the content as like the liner notes to a "greatest hits" collection, but he's still not in a hurry to work on putting that stuff together, and it almost seems to me that he thinks I should be able to come up with the content for his site. As a web guy, this is roughly the equivalent of someone asking me to write a letter to that someone's grandma. ;) Hey, I can take dictation, but, c'mon... WTF?!? ;)
The landlord's other other band (he's recently left Sticky Kim, after some gig-scabbing/poaching incidents became known) is playing at a bar that's about three miles from here Friday and Saturday night. I may try to bus or hoof it. This is a new band... I think they're calling it "F.P.O.," maybe? "For Parties Only," I think. Something like that. I only heard them rehearse once, and they supposedly have a babe or two in the singing roles (it was pitch dark when I "met" them, so, I couldn't pick any of 'em out of a lineup).
The local NPR outlet is saying it's 98F out there... Hell-Hot. It's a relatively cool 94.7F in the condo. :-/ The landlord's got a call into his a/c guy, but I explained to him that the situation hasn't been terrible, since it's reducing the electric bill. Wet rags and fans, baby!
18:25 CDT
Post-dip-in-da-pool. Dang, that water's warm! You get no relief until you get out of the water. At least I got to pet a friendly black lab, who belonged to a fambily who were already in the pool. Schweet. I love the dawggies, too, y'know.
Curly's so hot, he's on the bathroom tiles, trying to nap.
I see a cool shower in my very immediate future.
Wednesday's a shit TV night, right? Oy. Diggin' through the DVDs... it's too freakin' hot to sleep, that's for sure. Water! Water!
19:55 CDT
Yes -- shit TV night. I'm heading back for a dip in the pool!
Thursday, July 20, 15:05 CDT
I think today will be another frequent dip in the pool day.
Here's Curly, watching TV.
Still, they ain't never beamed a cat. ;) Or did they? Trek Trivia! Terri Garr episode? I don't remember.
I do remember reading one of those "The Making of Star Trek" books long, long ago, and some of the production staff being highly upset with the developing department at Desilu (Lucille Ball's studio, yep). They'd gone through this horrendously painstaking task of painting a woman completely green (an Orion slave girl) in the pilot, and first time the film came back, she was flesh-colored. The developers were color-correcting it. :) I bet I'm not the only nerd in these parts who read those books. Own up, homies.
16:21 CDT
The landlord just left. We had a nice visit -- I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd have grabbed the guitar, the cash, and hit the road, as hot as it was, but we had a nice chat. Man, I am very fortunate that he's willing to take a guitar as the majority of this month's rent. He must have somewhere near a dozen guitars and at least four basses by now. He's got a music store in the making.
He told me that the last gig he did with Schroeder's Revenge, there were people in the audience who found the video clip that I posted on this here bloggie thang, and decided to come check 'em out. Cool! That's gratifying from the standpoint of my having been partially-paid to set up a website for them, back when they were still calling themselves "The Synthesized Hendrix Experience," but we hit a wall when the main guy (the keyboard player/lead singer) couldn't seem to come up with any content to fill up the pretty wrapper I built for the site. Since there seemed to be no eagerness on his part to either provide content or additional money, the project has just been dormant. He's never been online, and really doesn't fully grasp the concept of a website... yet he would still like to have one. :) I've tried to explain that he could think of the content as like the liner notes to a "greatest hits" collection, but he's still not in a hurry to work on putting that stuff together, and it almost seems to me that he thinks I should be able to come up with the content for his site. As a web guy, this is roughly the equivalent of someone asking me to write a letter to that someone's grandma. ;) Hey, I can take dictation, but, c'mon... WTF?!? ;)
The landlord's other other band (he's recently left Sticky Kim, after some gig-scabbing/poaching incidents became known) is playing at a bar that's about three miles from here Friday and Saturday night. I may try to bus or hoof it. This is a new band... I think they're calling it "F.P.O.," maybe? "For Parties Only," I think. Something like that. I only heard them rehearse once, and they supposedly have a babe or two in the singing roles (it was pitch dark when I "met" them, so, I couldn't pick any of 'em out of a lineup).
The local NPR outlet is saying it's 98F out there... Hell-Hot. It's a relatively cool 94.7F in the condo. :-/ The landlord's got a call into his a/c guy, but I explained to him that the situation hasn't been terrible, since it's reducing the electric bill. Wet rags and fans, baby!
18:25 CDT
Post-dip-in-da-pool. Dang, that water's warm! You get no relief until you get out of the water. At least I got to pet a friendly black lab, who belonged to a fambily who were already in the pool. Schweet. I love the dawggies, too, y'know.
Curly's so hot, he's on the bathroom tiles, trying to nap.
I see a cool shower in my very immediate future.
Wednesday's a shit TV night, right? Oy. Diggin' through the DVDs... it's too freakin' hot to sleep, that's for sure. Water! Water!
19:55 CDT
Yes -- shit TV night. I'm heading back for a dip in the pool!
Thursday, July 20, 15:05 CDT
I think today will be another frequent dip in the pool day.
Here's Curly, watching TV.
18:39 CDT
The landlord just called; he'll be here with his a/c guy in about an hour (whoo-hoo!), so relief may be on the way. Of course, they're calling for temps in the 80sF this weekend, so that'll be better to the near-100F temps we've been having.
22:48 CDT
Man... it's under 82F in the condo for the first time in many, many days. It feels really, really good. :) It's the fact that the air is dry, more than the coolness, though, I think. It was 94.7F inside when the a/c guy got here at 19:20. When I noticed, just a few minutes ago, that it was under 82F, I moved the thermostat up to where the a/c kicked off (the thermostat mark is at 86F, so it's ridiculously innacurate). 82F is plenty cool. especially with a fan. I'm not sweating, and I almost feel hydrated! :) The local news just said it's still 88F, and feels like 94F outside... 82F is a blessing at this point.
The landlord just called; he'll be here with his a/c guy in about an hour (whoo-hoo!), so relief may be on the way. Of course, they're calling for temps in the 80sF this weekend, so that'll be better to the near-100F temps we've been having.
22:48 CDT
Man... it's under 82F in the condo for the first time in many, many days. It feels really, really good. :) It's the fact that the air is dry, more than the coolness, though, I think. It was 94.7F inside when the a/c guy got here at 19:20. When I noticed, just a few minutes ago, that it was under 82F, I moved the thermostat up to where the a/c kicked off (the thermostat mark is at 86F, so it's ridiculously innacurate). 82F is plenty cool. especially with a fan. I'm not sweating, and I almost feel hydrated! :) The local news just said it's still 88F, and feels like 94F outside... 82F is a blessing at this point.
Now, switching topics... anyone else seeing these new DirecTV commercials for the NFL Sunday Ticket, with Peyton Manning? Colts vs. Titans? Point being, in the spot, Colts are running away with it, and Manning sez, "Hey, it's 28-3; you could be watching my brother kickin' the ass of the Cowboys," paraphrased. Now, I'm not an idiot -- I understand this is trying to reach a completely captive audience, but... could they not have made another version of this commercial to air in Nashville? :) It could have only been more offensive to Titans fans if they'd used the Ravens instead of the Colts.
Still, I love "Cut! That! Meat! Cut! That! Meat!" :)
Friday, July 21, 2006 22:06 CDT
Dang! We had some kickass wind come through, ahead of some needed thunderstorms, a few hours ago, and one person was killed by a tree, falling on their SUV. It happened right here in my neighborhood, 100 ft. from Sahib's. It was a family, returning from vacation, according to the local news... the mother's still in the hospital in guarded condition, but the kids are okay.
The wind also took down a pine tree right outside my bedroom window. It fell harmlessly into the parking lot. No people, pets or vehicles were harmed, apparently.
I heard it fall, since I had the window open; yep -- the a/c lasted less than 24 hours, meaning that the system probably developed a massive leak around the time that power outage first knocked it out. I hate that I have to tell the landlord about that. I know in refrigerant alone, it cost him a minimum of $45, yesterday.
Saturday, July 22, 2006 01:00 CDT
In other news, the TV seems to be working pretty okay, again. The bad news: 2/3rds of the Sinclair stations are off-the-air here. The UPN affiliate has been off since about 18:00, and the WB affiliate has been on-and-off since then (currently off, so no Drew Carey Show tonight!).
I wonder: Will I have one less channel when the WB & UPN merge into CW this fall? Probably.
The tree guys worked all day today, cutting up the fallen tree, and cutting down the tree next to it. I love the sound of a chainsaw outside my open window all day long. ;)
See, this is my boring life. I have nothing to report.
Sunday, July 23, 2006, 10:48 CDT
I'm wondering if I can sell my car and get a sub-125cc scooter (shoutout to Vestal Vespa!). See, in Tennessee, small scooters aren't licensed, and require no license to drive. And, of course, they're very fuel-efficient, of course. They're not allowed on the interstates, but hey.
Curly's still a beast -- a fuzzy, affectionate beast.
Here's the treeless view out my bedroom window. Now the only trees left on this side of the building are the two pines near my balcony. Where there were five, now there are two.
Monday, July 24, 2006, 12:45 CDT
Temperatures are on the climb, again... but nothing like my pals in SoCal and AZ are having to deal with, of course.
The landlord stopped by last night to drop off the speakers to a boombox he gave me as part of his downsizing effort during his move. He's getting his a/c guy back over this week to see what the problem is with the cool air.
I'm going to catch the bus tomorrow into town and do some WiFi cafe bidness, so y'all will have the opportunity to read all this, then. And of course, you'll be wantin' some more Curly:
Yes, that is a rolling pin, propping up my window. :) What? I'm gonna make pies? ;) I don't even know why I have a rolling pin. Yet, I do.
Monday, July 24, 2006, 12:45 CDT
Temperatures are on the climb, again... but nothing like my pals in SoCal and AZ are having to deal with, of course.
The landlord stopped by last night to drop off the speakers to a boombox he gave me as part of his downsizing effort during his move. He's getting his a/c guy back over this week to see what the problem is with the cool air.
I'm going to catch the bus tomorrow into town and do some WiFi cafe bidness, so y'all will have the opportunity to read all this, then. And of course, you'll be wantin' some more Curly:
You know it's hot when Curly wants to be right on Jeffraham's feet. :)
21:22 CDT
I've heard that my former employer is pulling an old trick -- staging a private buyout of its very public company, by one of its co-founders, with the backing of Wall Street heavies, of course. I have to wonder which Republican presidential candidate for 2008 this might be engineered to benefit, somehow. Hmmmmm.
21:22 CDT
I've heard that my former employer is pulling an old trick -- staging a private buyout of its very public company, by one of its co-founders, with the backing of Wall Street heavies, of course. I have to wonder which Republican presidential candidate for 2008 this might be engineered to benefit, somehow. Hmmmmm.
Yes, that is a rolling pin, propping up my window. :) What? I'm gonna make pies? ;) I don't even know why I have a rolling pin. Yet, I do.
They were always into record-breaking... first, the largest fine ever paid to the DoJ; now, the largest private buyout of a public company!
Sallyh confirmed for me that when she called this former employer, she was referred to two people, to whom I suspected a prosepctive employer might be referred... but neither would return her calls. That's perhaps a good thing, since there seems to be no active campaign ongoing to besmirch me. However, how would a prospective employer perceive no response?
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1 comment :
Jeffraham! Curly! Good to see/read you! -- as for the last question there, as far as I know, all a reference-question-answerer for some place that's got an HR department and lots o' lawyers can say is, "Yes (or no), he did (or did not) work here," and "Yes (or no), he's eligible (or not) to be hired here again," and that's about it. And I think to get that second question answered with a no, the person in question has to have literal bad paper in the files. Someone who knows more about the law in your state can say more, but that seems to be how it works in Illinois.
And I'm sure reference-checkers are used to getting no callback from that outfit. It's probably their standard MO.
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