Feb
16
2009
So today, it’s my day off. I’m all content, thinking “Clean the fishtank, little housework, and we’re set.” Easy day, right?
Wrong. I couldn’t have been more wrong if I were the king of all Wrongovia and wearing a shiny hat to prove it.
So I run to the pet store. Tank 1 needs lighting. I get the one I think is the right size, and then haul ass to another store where I can get some other fish tank cleaning and treat supplies I needed.
Hop in the car to go home. Car doesn’t want to start. Hop out, try it again. Still no thrill. Finally I gave up and called Wonderwife for a jump-start. Jumpstart doesn’t work. So finally, I get out and stared at it. (Little known fact. Men can pretty much fix anything mechanical if they stare at it long enough.)
During the last crank it over episode, I’m told to stop, as there’s some smoke coming out of the engine. Knowing that the magic smoke that makes the car go comes out of the tailpipe and not the engine compartment, I dutifully stop. And yes, there’s wisps of smoke coming out where there ought not to be. More staring.
Finally, tow truck gets there, and they haul it off. Hour later, I get the estimate. $380. They don’t take Monopoly money.In the meantime, I’ve got a fishtank that needs cleaning. I got a new hood. It was too big. But workable. Fast-forward, and the pipes under the sink decide they’ve had quite enough and don’t want to do their job anymore. Water starts backing up, and the sinks are kind enough to do their job.
So after 30 minutes of draining and gagging on fumes from water that was stagnant in the Bronze Age, I finally get everything drained and doing what it’s supposed to do. I’m not fixing another goddamn thing this weekend.
Comments Off on There are days, and then there’s bad days. | posted in Misc
Feb
15
2009
For those of you following along at home, here’s the thoughts. If you haven’t seen it, here there be spoilers. Deal.
Cavill is seriously disturbed. It’s interesting how he can remove some subroutines, but not others. It’s like he gets a kick out of being the leader and making others suffer, but he plays the victim card as the excuse for his own failings. It’s also kind of interesting that the Cylons don’t know enough about their own resurrection technology to be able to rebuild in the event of hub-fall-down-go-boom.
Ellen has achieved a third dimension. In some ways it’s kinda creepy. Lee may actually be forced to have a spine in an occasion that doesn’t require him to shoot. This could be a good thing.
Tyrol kicks so much ass. I mean, he’s working on saving a 70-year-old battlestar that was being turned into a museum. And damn he’s doing a job.
And they still haven’t figured out the deal behind “that frakkin’ song.” To be honest, neither have I. Anders has until Friday to wake his ass up.
Comments Off on BSG and weirdness. | posted in Misc
Feb
13
2009
So baseball really does amuse me. It’s almost comical to watch the commissioner waffle and try to bury the screamingly obvious problem of steroids in baseball. Yeah, A-rod did a bad thing. So did 103 other players. It does kinda make me glad that the NHL’s incompetent commissioner came from the NBA. So now the real question; punish the theoretically anonymous, or give them a free pass? If you punish them, then the players union has a conniption because the results were supposed to be anonymous. If you don’t punish them, then the fans get all honked off.
And of course, at the heart of the matter is money. The bare minimum salary for someone in major league baseball was $390,000 last season. That’s as low as it gets. Which can quickly become millions and even tens of millions. Seriously, the financial incentive of an 18-million dollar salary jump? Who has morals that are that rigid? When the punishment is enough to remove the financial incentive to the players and the owners, then we’ll see some change.
Brief proposal. Joe Ballplayer gets busted for steroids. His contract is immediately invalidated and reverted to a minimum salary. The team owners get fined an amount equal to the contract, payable to a local charity or a fund for retired ballplayers. Probably never fly, but hey. A guy can dream.
Comments Off on A quick glance at baseball | posted in Misc, Stupid
Feb
12
2009
Okay…so today, we received letters in the mail. One was to tell me that my insurance rates are going up…based on my credit report. Admittedly, it’s going up by about 6 bucks a month. But I’m still a tiny bit confused as to the logic of this.
Also, the fastest way to make me drop a credit card is to bump the rates up about 8% without any explanation beyond “because we still can”. I can get better rates from a loan shark.
Comments Off on Financial thoughts. | posted in Misc, Stupid
Feb
12
2009
That’d be us right now. WonderWife is taking a day off since she’s approximately at Deaths’, well…not door, but along the block. The Boy is coming back, and doesn’t look terrible. And unfortunately, I think I may be there just in time for the weekend. Loving every minute of it.
On the up side, I got to make dinner last night, thus improving my cooking skills from “Barbecuing and boiling water” to “Barbecuing, boiling water, heating meatballs, and warming sauce”. The world is full of awesome.
3 comments | posted in Misc
Feb
9
2009
So I’d checked out a few of the stations I like, and they appear to be switching over to Silverlight. Not available for my operating system though. Which…well, is damned annoying and amusing all at once.
Comments Off on Streaming radio | posted in Linux, Misc, Stupid, Windows
Feb
8
2009
So apparently…people are having some trouble determining what is and isn’t windows.
That was me giggling madly. From across the ocean.
Also, this gem from Amazon: Netbooks and “related items”. (You have to scroll a bit.)
Comments Off on Amusing links | posted in Misc, Stupid
Feb
7
2009
So yesterday was not a good day. Day 2 of Stomach Hates me resulted in going home for a long nap. Of course, then I got up and WonderWife, in her kind loving manner uttered these words of solace:
“You look like shit. Go back to bed.”
I love that woman.
Other frightening news – One of the many Heroes, Weird Al, was in a bumper thumper yesterday. Apparently all is well, minor, but of course when I read about it it was a brief moment of “aw crap”.
Also, Battlestar Galactica thought. The civilian government currently consists of the president and Lee. That’s enough to make me have a fictional moment of panic.
Comments Off on Realizations and thoughts. | posted in Misc
Feb
6
2009
So today….no coffee to start my day.
Damn.
I go with green tea. I’m good. Made it a little too strong, and thus, I get a headache and some nausea.
Doubledamn.
Working, and working some more – Still haven’t won the lottery.
Tripledamn.
But the Avalanche won.
BOOYAH.
Comments Off on Yecch. | posted in Misc
Feb
1
2009
Broncos ain’t in it, so I’m just a little miffed by that. But I’ve got a friend who’s a Steelers fan, so we’re going to pull for them today. Also, Polamalu has wicked hair to go with the mad skills.
The man seriously needs to be on a Wheaties box or something.
Comments Off on Super bowl? | posted in Misc