Rain Delay

Wednesday November 15, 2006, 09:10 CST

It's pouring the rain (hence, Curly considers it ideal sleepin' weather... heh), and yes, there's lightning, thunder, and the whole summertime vibe -- it's about 60°F (not atypical for mid-November in Gnashvegas, but... those days are fewer and fewer this time of year), so to save the electronics, and so as not to further aggravate the minor cold I'm trying to catch, I'm staying in all day, today. I'll be working on some promised (and overdue) web site designs, and working up the next sunny day game plan.

Scootering: About 00:50 this morning, there was a break in the rain, so I got the scooter on the road, and was home by 01:10. It was warm enough, I didn't even need gloves, but I learned a valuable scooter lesson: Wet pavement, downhill? BE EXTRA-SOOPER CAREFUL. :) Pulling into the condos, and the recently-resealed parking lot, there was considerable fishtailing at one point. I didn't come close to going down (I did have to put a leg down, momentarily), 'cause I was scootering very slow, but the braking is critical, even with the scooter's anti-lock brakes, 'cause, dammit, I'm on two wheels.

I'm loving the scooter, though -- not only does it epitomize freedom for me, and even cheaper (not to mention 1000% more convenient) than the bus, it is hella fun. I get the same exhilarating feeling I used to get in the 'Stang, with the top down, riding around on this geeky li'l bike. I love it.

I've got a call into a local joint on insurance -- liability, ~$28/mo. -- and I need to go to the license testing center to get the deets on fully-reinstating my driving privs, and taking the test to obtain the "M" endorsement on my license.

On my way to Coco yesterday, I stopped in at Auto Zone around Charlotte and 38th, and picked up a $2 bottle of Gumout fuel treatment. "Hmm... treats up to 21 gallons of fuel." Having just filled up the tank up the street for $2.67, I quickly estimated that I needed to pour about 5% of the gas treatment into the tank. :) Hey, by the time I got to Coco a couple of miles away, it was already running better. So, I'm-o use it for the next 19 fill-ups, to clean out any gunkies that may have formed while it sat in Carols' basement all these months.

I ran into a gent at Coco Tuesday who's going to help me hook up with some small-engine mechanics he knows, since we were talking about the scooter, and I mentioned that it needed a carburetor tweak (about 65-75% up the throttle, it starts acting as if it's getting too much gas in the mix; fix that, and I'll probably top out at 50 mph or so). This gent is also looking for work, and he's going to get me a resume and letters of reference (he has no Internet experience, no PC, etc.), and I'm going to try to help him find and secure a job, too. He's my age, was recently laid off from Baptist Hospital, and apparently had a minor drug conviction 15 years ago that has made the job search more difficult than it might otherwise be (healthcare folx are really screwed by this so-called War on (some) Drugs... even getting busted with a joint can fuck up a promising career, and that's just plain wrong).

In other catching-up news on the karma front...

grandefille offered up some business cards -- thank you! I may take you up on that, dear. Honestly though, the old HCA business cards have probably been a help rather than an unprofessional-looking hindrance. People here are generally familiar with the company's size and scope, and seeing the job title, folx tend to think, "He must know what he's talkin' about, RE: web sites." If they think I'm bullshittin', I can always show them my 1040s and W2s from years past. :) Besides, I've probably got 800 of them left, and I've already paid for them some years ago. Why not milk whatever I can, out of my past association with those soulless, crooked, Republican bastids? ;)

As I mentioned, I made $70 cash between Sunday-Tuesday, $10-20 at a time, just chatting, answering some questions and creating some graphics for a couple of folx while sipping flavored, $1.40/cup coffee at the Cafe Coco. Oh, and I sold a Curly DVD, too (a bit cheaper than the usual $20 price, since I didn't have to buy a mailer and ship it, nor pay PayPal their li'l cut... I think I get $19.12 from PayPal per DVD, then I spend another $2 or so shipping it; the blanks are generally only about 50 cents, each). It feels really good to be of demonstrative value, y'know? And those few beers I bought yesterday -- something called Sweetwater 420 Ale, not bad! -- those beers were oh, so sweet.

One person I met Tuesday was Shayne, a student at Nossi, who was doing storyboards for an animation project he and his friends are putting together. We discussed possible sub-contracting on web sites, where someone wants/needs illustration or caricature work. He works part-time at CompUSA, and told me he'd let me know about deals on SD-MMC cards (I just picked up a 128MB card at Eckerd for $9.99 -- up to 5 minutes of Curly video at one time now, whoo-hoo!), as he said they often have 1GB cards for $20 (!!!), after rebate.

Another new Coco buddy is Jen, who was there to hear the "staff talent night" on the Back Stage (my default hangspot @ Coco). Turns out she's the new owner of a newish Mac Powerbook G4, and she's recording her own tunes with GarageBand. I got a chance to lay hands on a cool, newer Mac, and I was able to show her something she needed to know -- free of charge, of course. I showed her how to put volume/pan envelopes on individual tracks, allowing for automated mixing and fading. She was ecstatic! Another future customer.

And now look!

The postman rang twice, today -- two packages arrived. Speaking of grandefille, she sent me a care package, with all what you sees, right heah; from top left, clockwise: Scoob... er, Curly snacks, which he loves (although like the other treats he likes, I had to put it in his food bowl to get him to eat one); a coupon for a free can of Iams kitty food; a glovebox-sized First Aid kit (for the scooter's "trunk" -- awesome!); two Hamiltons and a Washington -- $21 American, for four Swipes™ (and, not pictured, a post-paid, pre-addressed padded mailer); and a pair of nice, Thinsulate™ gloves (which, btw, fit like... gloves; oddly, they're size "L," and in spite of other physical indicators -- you know what they say... "big hands, big... gloves" -- I would have guessed my glove size to be "M"). ;) I guess football linebackers have to get size XXXXXXL.

Wow, girlfriend! This whole package rawks! I'll make good use of every bit of this. Seein' as how you only live about 20 miles from me, let us commune in meatspace, soonest, please! We can likely get nashvegasdawg, Litz and maybe Halfdan and Soprano to do a Drinking Liberally session, perhaps. What say ye?

Wednesday, November 15, 2006, 10:36 CSTAnd, not to be outdone nor forgotten, my luscious French-speakin' Canookie radio DJ buddy, Plum P had Amazon feed my haidbone, by sending me the new Keith Olbermann book, The Worst Person In The World (and 202 strong contenders). I can't wait to read this! Keith's too cool, and even though I still won't have his show after Thursday, he and Jon Stewart get most of my C&L download time. :) But, Keith must still die -- too many liberal ladies gots the hots for him, instead of me. ;)

I ask you: Is there seriously anyone who thinks they are more blessed with the greatest friends than me? I'll arm-wrestle you for the title! :)

Thursday, November 16, 2006, 06:10 CST

The landlord and I met up for beeren last night... he'd heard of a blues jam he wanted to go check out in Kingston Springs, a tiny little burg a few miles west of Gnashvegas. Seriously, I was blown away by some of these guys playing for tips. One guitarist, Don Lee Shough... this guy's as pro as anyone I've ever seen, anywhere. Jaw-dropping, monster blues, country and jazz licks, ala Danny Gatton, Steve Morse and Robben Ford, wrapped up in one guy. Chords that made me laugh out loud, hearing them voiced in the context of a straight blues tune -- this guy was NOT satisfied to play a straight I-IV-V. One tasteful mofo, just a smokin' player. And he's playing a tiny bar (a nice, tiny bar, next to a really nice restaurant) in... Kingston Springs? For tips? This guy needs a contract, ASAP.

I've lost my voice, whether because I was hollerin' like an idiot at the smokin' blues jam, or because of the cold, which has not improved. The landlord got to see the Coco Effect in full-force last night, too. I wore the mobile office (backpack w/laptop, digicam and cell phone, + goodies), thinking we might wind up at Jonathan's Grill (free WiFi) in Bellevue, on the way back... I fully expected the blues jam would end up being a schnoozfest, but we closed that mother down.

Anyway, I took some photos, and used the Dr. Shouty-Crackers Coalition notebook to suck 'em into Photoshop while at the bar. One dude came up to me, as I was scaling, rotating and otherwise setting up the photos for eventual use on the web, and was fascinated by whatever he was seeing. Turns out he owns Pardo Hearth Designs, and before long, I was giving him the old HCA card, etc. A while later, he comes by our table again, and says, "Did you say you do digital video? Can you produce DVDs?" ;) He's supposed to call today to work out the details, but we have a handshake agreement to do a 40-60 minute DVD about the process he uses from start to finish on a fireplace installation... for up to $2500. If I can lay hands on a DVcam, I could start shooting for his project as early as Monday. For that kind of jack, I think I can rent one. :)

I'm supposed to try to scoot to the Coco this morning, but the rain is lingering... the gent I mentioned above in regards to looking for work? He's left a resume and references there, for me to pick up. He'll be the first guy I try to help, via Rev. Meeker. And... the Comcast contractor is to arrive between noon and 16:00, to hook up the phat pype. So, if you don't see me the rest of the morning, you'll see me this afternoon, live (and legit) from the Curly Condo. ;) I know I have a Toshiba cable modem, but not sure I can lay hands on the AC adapter.
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