Still lounging in the living room. Too hot to go on the balcony, y'know..
Monday, July 31, 2006
They All Look Alike To Him
Hat tip to Atta J. Turk:
Al Kamen writes in The Washington Post: "Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), at the White House this spring for a meeting with other senators to discuss immigration with President Bush, was surprised when Bush approached him as the meeting broke up and observed: 'Senator Martinez, you've been very quiet.'.
" 'That's Martinez,' Menendez said, pointing to Mel Martinez -- Florida's junior senator and Bush's former secretary of housing and urban development.
" 'I'm Menendez.'
"Bush turned bright red, we're told."
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Free Film Screening, Anyone?
Well, free except for I'd need you to provide me transportation there and back home (west Nashville).
Again, the film is The War Tapes. The showing is 7 p.m., tomorrow -- Monday, July 31, 2006. The screening promoter are asking everyone to arrive by 6:30, if possible.
Go read the reviews, and e-mail me (e-mail address in blog logo, top-left of page) if you'd be interested. I have two tickets. Shall we?
.
Again, the film is The War Tapes. The showing is 7 p.m., tomorrow -- Monday, July 31, 2006. The screening promoter are asking everyone to arrive by 6:30, if possible.
Go read the reviews, and e-mail me (e-mail address in blog logo, top-left of page) if you'd be interested. I have two tickets. Shall we?
.
The War Tapes
UPDATE: I have two tickets, so the first Nashvillian area person who offers me a ride to/from West Nashville will be my guest tomorrow night. E-mail address is in my blog logo, above.
From an e-mail I received this afternoon:
.
From an e-mail I received this afternoon:
I wanted to invite you and your readers to see the documentary The War Tapes (the critically acclaimed Iraq War documentary filmed by three NH National Guard troops) tomorrow (July 31st) at 7pm. The movie will be opening on Friday, but there is a free sneak preview tomorrow at the Belcourt Theatre. To get a better idea of the movie, please check out the reviews section of The War Tapes site: http://www.thewartapes.com/reviews/Does anyone here want to go? If so, can you give a poor, immobile boy a ride from the 37209 (West Nashville near Charlotte & White Bridge)? I'm assuming I can get another ticket, since it invited me "and my readers," of which there's at least one... :)
.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Even More Additional Weekend Curly
See? Right at my feet! Almost all day long! What's up with that?.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Curly Likes The Rain
He hadn't seen it in a couple of weeks, so he asked to be let out on the balcony to experience it, somewhat. That love/hate relationship with water, y'know..
Friday Catblogging
Here's more Curly in the closet... with pg/missouri bird's stuffed bird (she and her twin sis are having a birthday, tomorrow -- whoo-hoo!).
Curly in 2008!
Someone the other night directed me to a political button that depicted Curly Howard as a candidate. A short amount of time later, the graphic was modified to reflect a candidate that is more qualified than the current occupant of the Oval Office to run our great nation. :).
At Dad's Feet
His favorite sleepin' spot, now that it's hot. When it's cold, he likes the top of the sofa, or the dirty laundry pile. Why at/on my feet when it's hot?.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Bung Play
Another one of Curly's favorite games -- trying to dig the bungs out of the bungholes in the Mission-style plant tables that I use as my bedside notebook desk/nightstand. He's pretty good at poppin' 'em out, too. I really need to glue 'em in, don't I?.
Random Thursday Curlyblogging
It's been a while since we had a good paw shot, so...
Put down the camera, and pet me!.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Curly Misses You!
So, here he is, asking me to continue vigorously petting him for you, by proxy. :).
It's A Curly Morning
Where'd all my trees go, Dad?Sub-80F in the condo this morning... we'll see how it holds out. The a/c guy's coming back this afternoon to solder the leaky elbow.
.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Even More Bonus Curly
So, it's over 88F in the condo, as the landlord and a/c guy show up. Just seconds before this picture was taken, where was Curly? That's right: In the fucking sunlight, streaming through yonder window.Curly don't mind the heat.
I have a/c for one night -- the guy found a massive leak, and needs to come back tomorrow night to solder it (and refill the freon, again, of course).
.
The Offline Files, Vol. I, Chapter II
Oh, another huge post! Image uploading seems whacked at Blogger right now, so check back later for the photos referenced in this post. :)
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":
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.
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?
.
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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Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Thank You, Brittney!
Thanks for bringing me that check, girl. You solved my homelessness problem for another month. :)Also, thanks for the ride to Starbucks. You rawk.
As much as I ragged on WKRN in the megapost below, let me clarify: Brittney had nothing to do with the FUBAR on the $100 guest-bloggin' check. She has been nothing but extremely helpful these past eight weeks, trying to get this check cut and sent to me. Turns out, WKRN's AP department seems to believe that simply putting a condo unit number, sans street address, will get a piece of mail delivered. ;)
Brittney, on the other hand, rewls.
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The Offline Files, Vol. I, Chapter I
UPDATE: You may wish to skip this, as it appears it will be a rather lengthy "diary entry" outlining part of my time offline since 7/5/2006. One-way, non-interactive dialogue isn't all that exciting, IMO, but some of y'all may want to read it... I'm just trying not to forget how to type. ;)Saturday, July 8, 2006, 19:20 CDT
Well, it sucks not being able to get online just any ol' time I like, but I'll live, I'm sure. One thing that seems obligatory is for me to at least document some of what's going on in my life while I'm unable to interact in real-time. After all, I know some of y'all will want to know what's up with Curly, at least. :)
Curly's just fine, having gotten over my absence of the last few days, while helping the landlord move. He's gotten a lot of attention today. He's asleep at my feet at this moment.
My soreness, from the moving ordeal, is just about over, and with the help of ibuprofen and sittenpretty's gift of a topical analgesic, I'm weathering it well.
I saved this pizza box from Moving Day, simply 'cause I thought the label was entertaining:
Have you accepted Christ as your personal pizza experience manager? :)
20:14 CDT
I started back into my modest DVD library, having little to nothing to do, tonight.
First up was Vanilla Sky. Regardless of how one feels about Tom Cruise, I consider this one of the better sci-fi flicks of the last decade. While Penelope Cruz isn't my exact ideal of physical beauty, her character in this flick captivates me in ways I can't explain ("I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats," etc.). I think she reminds me of an exotic, flighty, artistic girlfriend I had twenty years ago. Sure, it's a Cameron Crowe Hollywood blockbuster, but at least it's not a spoon-fed story; it makes one think about what's really happening up until the end.It's also a little sad, as the main character, who has it all, is pulled into circumstances that no death row inmate could desire.
Now, I've got American Beauty paused. Gore, do I love this film. I first saw it in the theater with a lady I dated from my last workplace, and neither of us knew the plot beforehand. It was a bit uncomfortable, as she and her ex-husband had only been divorced about a year, and he'd left her for a girl that was only a year older than their oldest daughter. It really affected my date in an unusual manner, as she felt it necessary to warn me away from her daughter (as if that were even in my mind!), afterward; that was more than a bit weird for me, obviously, but the film left me changed in other ways.
I made a point of bringing that film on a vacation I took with my next girlfriend, as she hadn't seen it. When it didn't resonate with her in any way, it clenched my suspicion that the relationship wasn't going anywhere (and, it didn't; there had been other, more important indicators prior to this, but her comment, "Oh, it's just a movie," convinced me I was with the wrong woman).
I still think this film has my favorite soundtrack of all time... Randy Newman's brother (cousin?), Thomas, did the score, and it is incredible. There are two composers that use keyboard percussion in an interesting way, these days -- Tom Newman, and Danny Elfman -- and Tom Newman's soundtrack to American Beauty is, to me, a modern classic. At any rate... the storyline resonates with me. There's probably not a middle-aged man alive who hasn't been stunned by a much younger woman's beauty, but the realization that even if such a pairing were possible, there's no there there -- no real commonality -- is always foremost in my mind ("Hey, Nineteen") in the rare moments where I might fall victim to those fleeting kinds of physical infatuations.
Jeez, Allison Janney is in this! Dang. I'd forgotten that. Her character is perhaps the most sympathetic in the film. It's also a huge departure from most of the roles I associate with her.
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Monday, July 10, 2006, 18:16 CDT
I'm watching The News Hour... depressing, of course. Not sure if the depression is worsening simply due to my isolation, or what. I have a couple of photos to share, though. Here's Curly, hanging out with Dad, looking up with that "Where'd the pettin' go?" look:
Tuesday, July 11, 2006, 22:22 CDT
I'm wandering the neighborhood, tonight, seeking signal, whilst the laundry is going. I think I'm going through net withdrawal.
Back now. Signal seekage failed (obviously!).
Here's Curly, in the bathroom closet. Isn't he a lucky cat to have a completely empty closet shelf to call his own?
Thank Gore for NPR. Listening to Fresh Air, Terri Gross is interviewing Tom York of Radiohead. Now, Radiohead is one of those bands I'd always known about, but never actually knowingly heard. After having heard excerpts of most of their releases within this interview, I feel comfortable saying I'm glad I never bought one of their CDs. Like so many critically-acclaimed bands, I just don't get it. There's no accounting for taste, y'know. Even though this has nothing do do with my lack of appreciation for the music, I found York to be a horrible and very inarticulate radio interview subject. If he'd have said "blahblahblah" one more time, I may have broken the boombox. :)
NPR's bumper/filler music I often find interesting, though. Since I haven't had any real disposable income, I haven't bought new music in forever, but on the recently-departed Toshi notebook, I kept a text file of things to eventually check out; This Morning Jacket is the only band that comes immediately to mind from that file, but I had a couple of dozen entries in there, and almost all of them I heard first on NPR.
I hope I never again hear that industrial/electronica loop they used a couple of weeks ago, though. I don't know who it was, but it had the sound of an unlubricated metal part, screeching against another unlubricated metal part, which, in the loop, repeated every 5-6 seconds. After the fourth screech, I had to shut off the radio for a minute.
15:40 CDT
I'm taking another stab at retrieving files from the recently-departed Toshi notebook's hard drive, using the ultra-cool Kanotix bootable CD. I was poking around, just trying to move some test files from the C:\ drive onto the large external USB drive, when it seemed I could not gain write permissions to it. No way, no how. In trying to resolve that issue, I see that the Kanotix documentation warns the user to NOT try to write to NTFS file structures, as corruption to the filesystem may result. Dang. Of course, both the internal HDDs and the big external USB drive all have been formatted as NTFS volumes. Sigh. My next attempt will be to set up CD writing under Kanotix, and see if I can pull off the surely <700mb style="font-weight: bold;">16:30 CDT
Moot point! The HDD interface on the GWPDA Coalition notebook is quite unlike that of the HDD that came out of the recently-departed Toshi notebook. The old HDD's interface looks a lot like a normal IDE connection, but the pins are just slightly closer together. The new HDD has something similar to edge card pins, allowing for very easy removal/installation. Of course, since the old HDD had a bit of a rattle, it may well have never been mountable under Kanotix, anyway, even if it did have a compatible interface. I'll hang onto it, on the chance that I may encounter an interface for it sometime in the future. But for now, it's no-go.
18:19 CDT
Dammit -- may I ask: What the fuck is WKRN's major malfunction?
The mail has run again, today, and again, I have no $100 check for my guest blogging stint that I did in early April. Now, to be fair, I didn't send Brittney -- the NashvilleIsTalking.com maven -- my W-9 until about 6-7 weeks ago. She had indicated that she needed it to be mailed or faxed, but without a printer or a fax machine, I was stumped. In the end, I edited the PDF in Photoshop, scanned, scaled and affixed my signature, and e-mailed it to her as an attachment, and she said that'd work fine. She has been nothing but helpful and apologetic, each week promising that the check would go out on Thursday. Apparently, as she explains, there's some jihad going on in their accounting department... but I am calling them tomorrow morning to let them know I'll be coming to live in their lobby very soon, as I'm a week away from rent day, and I really fucking need that $100, right now.
I'm gonna call Sallyh later. If I recall her last e-mail, she was planning to call me, but she was going to be away for the weekend for her anniversary. I've probably scared her away from calling, telling her of the draconian pre-paid charges I have to pay. :) So, I'll do the right thing, and call her, instead.
20:10 CDT
Ever pet your kitty with your feet?
Here's Curly in the closet, again... I guess the heat has him looking for dark, cool places, maybe.
It never got up to 90F today, but he seems to be crying for me to open this closet door early each day, and he spends a lot of time sleeping right here during the day.
I tried calling Sallyh a couple of times about 30 minutes ago... seems I remember she and her hubby have dinner later, so I thought I'd be calling at a good time, but she didn't answer. I didn't leave a message, saving a whole dollar! ;) Dang... I hope I haven't alienated her in some way. I honestly have never felt quite this isolated, having not been without semi-regular Internet service for a long, long time.
Thursday, July 13, 2006, 02:42 CDT
I woke up a few minutes ago, and thought I'd switch on the TV, and start up the Star Trek tape again, to help me drift off to sleep, as I so often do. There I was, groggily watching the DS9 episode, "Take Me Out To The Holosuite," a silly story about Sisko's crew trying to beat a team of Vulcans at baseball, when suddenly, a green flash, and the TV shuts off. I switch the TV on, and again, after minute or so of normal behavior, a green flash, and the TV stays on, but no picture.
What strikes me as funny is that last week, as we were moving his TV, I was telling my landlord that I bought this base model 27" Sony when I moved to Nashville, which was nearly 12 years ago, so it was probably going to fail at any moment.
10:11 CDT
Well, the TV seems to be working okay, now. How odd. I think it caught a virus from the recently-departed Toshi notebook, and we know how that turns out...! ;)
11:54 CDT
The number I got from Sahib yesterday for WKRN has been disconnected, dammit. I oh-so-wisely recycled all my phone books, just knowing that I could always use Bellsouth's website if I ever needed a phone number. :)
Aha! I actually did hang onto the most recent yellow pages! Of course, they're not listed with every other Nashville TV station in the yellow pages -- nope, they're listed in the thin, white section in the front ("Nashville businesses, alphabetically"), and not under WKRN, but under "News 2 WKRN-TV," of course! Yep, WKRN's number has changed. I spoke to Crystal in Accounts Payable... she says my check went out on 7/7 -- last Friday. I've never had something sent USPS from in town that took a week to arrive, but Crystal confirmed the correct address w/condo unit number, so...
On another topic... I just finished listening to Terri Gross' interview with George Soros. Either Gross and her producers are being disingenuous, are incredibly naïve or are purposely trying to shape public opinion of wealthy liberals. You get three guesses which case I think is most accurate... and the first two guesses don't count.
She spent the majority of the interview constantly reformulating the question of whether it is proper for a wealthy individual to try to influence the outcome of an election. Haw!
18:36 CDT
Welp, I called and left a message for Sallyh, since I'd already had to use the phone today to call WKRN. I hope I hear from her later; it's been almost a week since I've talked to anyone other than Sahib (and Curly, of course). I'm thinking I may walk into town tomorrow to a WiFi cafe... I think the nearest one (Cafe Coco) is perhaps five miles away, so I can walk there in about 1h40m, each direction. If I wrap the notebook in a plastic trash bag, and put it in the nylon carry bag I have, it should be safe against the 40% chance of t-storms.
No matter how isolated I feel, at least I don't have to worry about artillery shells landing on my condo. How bad can anything be, knowing that?
Btw, the TV is still operating A-OK... bizarre. I got to thinking about this today, and there was a power outage that happened about a week ago, while I was watching TV. It lasted about 45 minutes, and when the power came back on, the TV also came on -- unusual, since it has a "soft power" switch. My first observation was that it badly needed degaussing; there was a huge spot of green discoloration in both right corners. Of course, over the next couple of cycles of powering the TV on and off, the built-in degaussing coil fixed that little problem.
The question remains: What caused the TV to freak out? :)
Friday, July 14, 2006, 20:22 CDT
I still have no $100 check from WKRN for my guest blogging stint in early April -- supposedly, the check was sent from in town, last Friday, and I comfirmed, yesterday, with the Accounts Payable person, Crystal, that the address wes correct. I need this money to pay my rent, this month.
I also heard back from sallyh this afternoon, thank Gore.
She and I discussed her San Francisco anniversary celebration, and Curly's status, of course. :) She seemed less than convinced when I told her I'd be online in the next few days, to update everyone, which is understandable -- I'm feeling like a complete loser at this point.
Saturday, July 15, 2006, 09:17 CDT
Well, here I am at McDonald's -- a 3.4-mile roundtrip walk from the condo, which I was assured had WiFi access. It doesn't -- or, as the manager says, they do, but he doesn't understand why it isn't working. Their tech support says everything looks okay on their end. He says normally, he could check it with his laptop, but he didn't bring it to work, today. He even took my notebook back to the access point, to see if it would see his network at close range, but no. Hey, at least I got some exercise, right?
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 15:35 CDT
I got in touch with Brittney @ NashvilleIsTalking.com today... she had my $100 check in her hot li'l hands. Apparently, their AP department dutifully put the condo unit number on the address, but left off the actual street address. Aha. That's a first. Rent's due tomorrow, so...
18:15 CDT
Fuck a duck!
Brittney was kind enough to offer me a ride to Starbucks (thanks, Brittney!)... where I get to pay $6 for the privilege of connecting to T-Mobile's hotspot! I apologize for the formatting of this post; I'm sure it's SNAFU'd.
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Friday, July 07, 2006
Another Late-Night Farewell
Welp, I'm typing this from my landlord's new place, across town... from another hitchhiked connection, on his notebook (yes, Comcast came to set him up, today, but his shit ain't workin', of course... they're apparently more concerned with keeping people off their network than with getting their customers connected).
Wednesday, 7/5 -- Moving Day. I helped the landlord pack and move. Day from hell. 14 hours. U-Haul truck. Accident with the U-Haul truck (no injuries). You name it, we experienced it. We both agreed this was the most physical work in one day either of us had performed in a long, long time (and the landlord is a top-shape, physically-fit musician guy, who runs and lifts weights regularly, and is a few years younger than me... imagine how I feel!). :)
Thursday, 7/6 -- Day After Moving Day. A few trips with the pickup truck. Easy, compared to the day before, no doubt. Soreness, stiffness setting in. To make things easier on him, I offered to crash here, tonight, to save him the extra trip across town at 2 a.m. :) Yes, of course we stopped by to feed and pet Curly, and pick up my CPAP.
Friday, 7/7 -- Landlord's crashed out, and I was trying to get his PC set up, but again, Comcast's not cooperating. So, here I am, borrowing bandwidth. How do you like them apples?
So, I miss y'all. Hope I'll be back amongst you, soon.
♥
Wednesday, 7/5 -- Moving Day. I helped the landlord pack and move. Day from hell. 14 hours. U-Haul truck. Accident with the U-Haul truck (no injuries). You name it, we experienced it. We both agreed this was the most physical work in one day either of us had performed in a long, long time (and the landlord is a top-shape, physically-fit musician guy, who runs and lifts weights regularly, and is a few years younger than me... imagine how I feel!). :)
Thursday, 7/6 -- Day After Moving Day. A few trips with the pickup truck. Easy, compared to the day before, no doubt. Soreness, stiffness setting in. To make things easier on him, I offered to crash here, tonight, to save him the extra trip across town at 2 a.m. :) Yes, of course we stopped by to feed and pet Curly, and pick up my CPAP.
Friday, 7/7 -- Landlord's crashed out, and I was trying to get his PC set up, but again, Comcast's not cooperating. So, here I am, borrowing bandwidth. How do you like them apples?
So, I miss y'all. Hope I'll be back amongst you, soon.
♥
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Re-Runs & Goodbyes, For Now
Since I don't know when I'll be back this way again, I thought the blurry Curly picture was not the best ending, so instead, I'm re-running Curly's birthday video from 6/6/2006.
I hope y'all will bookmark this page, check back, and keep an eye out at my usual haunts. I'm guessing that I will be back within a month, but... one never knows.
Take care of one another, and I'll keep you in my thoughts (and I'll let Curly know you miss him).
♥
Table Mate
I've seen this puppy advertised on TV recently, and it really looks a lot better than a plant stand (which is what I currently use for my notebook computing at bedside). The height- and angle-adjustable work surface would be suitable for any number of bedside or at-the-couch tasks, and seems plenty large enough to make your "couch time" more productive (sewing, crafts, paperwork, paying bills, writing letters, etc.).Check it out -- the online offer is $5 less than the TV-advertised price, so what have you got to lose?
Curly On Hiatus
... with little chance of summer re-runs, even. Have to get some connectivity issues straightened out, which may take some time. After today, it may be a while, guys. I'll miss ya.♥
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Weekend Curlyblogging
He's spent most of the weekend on the corner of the bed, being petted and watching previously-seen movies with Dad. Had a bit of a Kevin Spacey marathon, yesterday... The Usual Suspects, followed by American Beauty..