Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005
blog blog blog...
that's something i haven't really done of late. well, the good news is that i have notes on the random stuff i'm want to blog about, so that means there will be at least some more blog entries to come. so, let's start slogging thru the blogging.
yesterday (sunday if you are reading this after monday), M & i decided that we wanted to go out to lunch. generally, if we go out to lunch, we'll cook dinner. in theory, the converse holds true, but i usually don't have much by way of lunch food, so we'll go out to eat. prolly for the best as lunch prices are usually lower than dinner, so i suppose in some twisted logic, the cost of dinner is usually absorbed by going to lunch and buying stuff for dinner.
anyways, we figured we'd see how long the lines were at the Cheesecake Factory. they opened one in burlington a few months ago, and the last time we tried, we weren't going to wait for 90+ minutes. this time, the wait was only 15-30 minutes (love how precise that was), so it was within that 30min max window we decided on. M was parking her car, i got our buzzer thing and we looked thru the menu. i spose that is a good thing, because they have a rather extensive menu, so if you are seated down quickly, you have to actually take more time to look thru the menu. maybe that's why it's as big as it is.
anyways, we had enuff time to look thru it and decide what we wanted to have before we sat down.
we were seated, and our server (i suppose waitress and waiter are policially incorrect these days.) introduced herself (began with an 'm' i think) and asked if we wanted drinks. we both asked for water w/lemon and she toddles off. M&i finalize our meal options, and decided on the Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes and The Navajo. we clearly stated that we were going to share them (keep this point in mind folks). she toddles off to place the order. we sit. we look around. we see the table next to us get their lunch. we see other tables with bread. we wonder where our bread is. M asks for a straw. our waitress toddles off. returns a few mins later with straws for us.
still no bread.
we start to get frustrated at the lack of bread as we are both getting hungry. FINALLY our waitress (oh, excuse me, our SERVER) returns carrying 2 baskets of bread, one for us, one for a table that was seated 10 minutes after us. our mood is starting to turn sour, but the bread is there and it helps to placate us for a few minutes.
less than 5 minutes later, lunch arrives. our waitress plops the 2 plates down, and with a bread in my mouth i just look up at her. we look at each other with some disbelief as she toddles off.
after a moment, i clear my bread plate and start scooping the tamale on to the bread plate. i take a bite/scoop. it's luke warm. it tasted ok. only i had expected it to be a little warmer. we finish and move onto the sandwich, which by this point has cooled down a bit. it turns out the grilled chicken is rather bland, not much avocado. we are very disappointed.
no water refills. in fact, our waitress just seems to up and disappear. we finish what we want and start to discuss where things went wrong. our waitress shows up and we ask for our check. pay in cash and off we go.
so, let's think back. now where did our waitress go wrong? well, we ordered an appetizer and a meal. and we clearly indicated that we were going to SHARE them. so, wouldn't you like to be asked if you wanted a second plate to share on? or at the very minimum, when serving, ask if we may need a second plate?
now the other question i would have liked to have been asked is whether we wanted the appetizer first (with a 2nd plate) or the appetizer and sandwich at the same time. i was figuring (as was M) that we'd get our bread, our appetizer and then our sandwich. instead, everything pretty much arrived at once. the sandwich was at least warm when it arrived, but because we had the (cold) appetizer first, it was cold by the time we started eating it.
needless to say, neither of us was particularly pleased with the meal. it's the first time i haven't had a good experience at cheesecake factory, but this was pretty bad.
a eulogy
a little over a decade ago (august 1994, but who's counting?), i bought my first computer. it was a compaq, with a whopping 4mb RAM, 33mhz and i believe a 250mb harddrive. that was a pretty big deal, not top of the line, but not really to far from it at the time. all this for the price of ~$1400.
i arrived on campus to pick up my PC (bought it thru the school) and there was some sort of mix up so i didn't get it right away. i did get my 14" monitor, but what good was a monitor w/o a PC? so finally, i get it and realize pretty quickly that was i had wasn't what i had ordered. what was sold to me wasn't a 33mhz, but 66mhz. i actually ended up better off (one of the few times that's happened to me) and it even had a larger hard drive (a whopping 340mb - i still have it, and go figure - it still works!). windows 3.1, dos 6.22. it also had a not so fast 2400 baud modem, but at least it worked and i was able to play with email, gopher, etc.
i played Doom on it with the whopping 4Mb RAM (had to tweak the autoexec, multi-boot stuff, etc, worked better when i got an additional 4Mb RAM). i even had to get the motherboard replaced because the video card (on the motherboard) started having issues. Compaq sent someone to my dorm room and i got my first good look at the interior of the PC (i hadn't cracked the case, something i do regularly these days)
many papers, many emails, several upgrades (more memory, and a 1.2Gb drive) and eventually, Windows 95 (including Win95 beta).
it served me well, for quite a while and even after i moved onto newer PCs, i still found a way to use it from time to time. farewell old friend.
Friday, September 23, 2005
my bathroom has been soiled
i realize that when contractors are in your home, they will have to use the bathroom. this morning i wondered if they would use my bathroom. well, they did. i left the empty toilet paper roll and the lid closed. when i got home, my apartment stinks of whatever they used when replacing my windows (with fancy fold in, insulated, alside model 8001), and i check the bathroom.
the seat is up.
a roll of toilet paper is sitting on my sink.
my bathroom has been soiled.
it's not that big of a deal when i'm at work, i realize that those bathrooms are public. i expect it. but i can't help but think that someone used MY private bathroom. it worries me because they had to go looking for toilet paper. i don't keep it in a particularly hidden spot, but they had to go looking.
at least the bulk of the work in here is done. altho they didn't finish my bathroom window....they just took a dump in there.
bastards...wake me up in the mornings, make all kinds of noise, run their filthy mouths (there are kids in the neighborhood!), and now, take dumps in my bathroom.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
i like bots like this. they amuse me.
found this on the best week ever blog and i confused it.
Me:
who are you?
God:
I am the Allmighty, God himself.
Me:
prove it.
God:
It is self-evident.
Me:
that we hold these truths?
God:
" It is self-evident." we hold these truths ? I get it.
Me:
that's good. i don't
God:
Thanks. Next question? Why not?
Me:
why ask why?
God:
My purpose is to collect all new information. Was it not polite to ask?
Me:
you may ask.
it was at this point, it locked up and i had to reload. it's actually one of the more amusing 'chats' i've had in a while. usually, these sorts of things are pretty lousy, but this was fun to play with. i certainly don't have a change of heart or belief, but it was amusing. God was created by Myself (according to this God), and it recognizes that it doesn't know all of the answers.
rats, i should have asked it about the whole priests/kiddie scandal and Dumbass Dub. it is programmed to be polite, so it will prolly sidestep the questions. hmmm...
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
100,000k
random picture of the moment: 6:31pm, 93N, just before spot pond. right where 93 crossed over 28.
Read More......Monday, September 19, 2005
a quick follow-up to my glow-in-the-dark house dreams
holy shit this stuff is pricey.
i guess i can get glow in the dark stuff. i just didn't think it would cost so much. thanks TK for finding the link.
grow a fucking backbone
this morning, NPR had a professor from NYU give a commentary on FEMA and he had a few interesting points. i didn't agree with all of his conclusions, but the problems FEMA was facing prior to the Bitch only helped to undermine its response.
he said that we can't blame homeland security for this, which i disagree with. homeland security which has control over FEMA undermined itself to some degree, so there is a degree of responsibility that lies there.
the problem was that this wasn't the first time FEMA fucked up. hurricane andrew was the last major blunder, and as the professor pointed out, it took several years for FEMA to fix itself and actually make itself efficient.
he figures that the problem with FEMA is that it is a political dumping ground for people given government appointments. i can't argue with that. so that brings us to my simple minded conclusion.
the problem is two-fold - first, because FEMA has become a dumping ground for appointments, the president (in this case, the professor stated FEMA's troubles really started in 2002 when the qualified people were replaced, so we can thank Dumbass Dub for this ultimately, so shit really does roll downhill...) wanting to pay back his 'political capital' (i love how Dumbass Dub pointedly stated after the last election he has a ton of this. yeah. right. and i won a $250 million lottery on friday night.), appoints people to meaningless jobs. (you'll have to ask Dumbass Dub how he defines 'meaningless'.) you see, he doesn't care if the person isn't qualified (as illustrated by the Arabian Horse judge who thankfully stepped down recently). he just makes an appointment and passes it off to the second half of the problem.
well, i suppose there are more steps and i'm over-simplifying it, but i don't care. i'm on a wonderfully underinformed tear right now.
the 2nd half of the problem is congress. they take these appointees and then go thru a confirmation process. so now a different set of monkeys are responsibile for deciding whether the appointee is worthy of the job or now. so they hold a confirmation hearing. (much like the John "i'm gonna screw the supreme court because i take it in the ass from Dumbass Dub" Roberts. the only good thing was when Dumbass Dub announced the appointment (to replace O'Connor), Johnny Boy's son started dancing around being a distraction. way to go kid!)
the idea of a confirmation hearing is to deterine whether or not the person being appointed/nominated is going to be able to do the job. something tells me that the repubican congress held a mass hearing for the Dumbass Dub appointees that has invitations something like this:
Nominees and Appointees, you are invited to a PARTY!
When: the first friday of every month, 1pm until ???
Where: Watergate Hotel, Grand Ballroom
Who: republicans and appointees/nominees only
What to expect: a gourmet lunch, booze, broads, booze, booze and more booze
Cost: nothing! thank the taxpayers if you like.
Afternoon adgenda:
1pm: lunch
2pm: beer
3pm: hard liqour
4pm: boobs
5pm: hard liqour, questions for nominees/appointees, more boobs
6pm: more booze, even more boobs
7pm: vote
8pm: PARTY!
then in a handwritten note for presidental appointees and nominees:
Hey, just a heads up - the more boobs you sign, the better the job you'll get.
PS - remember, only boobs on the broads.
so, where does that leave us? well, the up or down vote on nominees is then based on how many are standing, and how many are on the floor with their face in a pool of puke. questions generally range in the scale of:
q: do you think you'll *hic* do a good job?
a: *hic*yeth*hic* i will do a good job*hic*
so, where does that leave us? a congress that rubberstamps unqualified people into government positions. i realize that this happens regardless, but there really does need to be a qualification process.
like, if you are going to be the head of FEMA, that you've had some sort of experience handling situations that required you to coordinate several diverse groups. successfully.
oh well. we're screwed. you see, because congress is so afraid of Dumbass Dub, they just assume that the person is qualified so they just say 'yea' w/o actually following thru.
gotta love it.
Friday, September 16, 2005
a phoenix?
doubtful. i guess Dumbass Dub (aka The Monkey Fuhrer) made a comment about how New Orleans will rise again (did he mention anything about the rest of the gulf region? something tells me he may not have). i'm sure New Orleans will rise again. but it will be Disney New Orleans, where only the rich can afford to live there.
the thing that interested me was he apparently made a comment about how the federal government would re-enact the Homestead Act. am i missing something here? that sorta sounds to me like the government is just going to take everyone's property away, and then sell it back to them so long as they build a home on it. so if that is the case, that kinda means that the feds have found a way to help 'pay' for the damage done to the gulf region.
i certainly hope i'm wrong as i'm prolly missing a ton of details, but the brief mention of it worries me.
oh, by the way, we are going to take your property away from you. you no longer own anything. but we'll raze your house, clear the trees and sell it back to you if you want to rebuild on it. that certainly sounds like something The Monkey Fuhrer would promote...
full of it
a lot of people can agree with this statement:
i'm full of it.
that's fine by me. do you know why?
you're full of it. your mom is full of it. your dad is full of it. your husband is full of it. your wife is full of it. your partner is full of it. your sister is full of it. your brother is full of it.
everyone is full of it. (goddamn! freshly cut grapefruit soaking in its own juice is good)
anyways, i felt like starting by saying that. on the way home from the gym, i was listening to NPR and they were doing a story on the poor and huddled masses in the gulf region (seemed to be more specifically pointed at New Orleans) and one of the stats that they mentioned was that 77% of white people do not believe that what is happening in New Orleans (in terms of a humanitarian response) is not based on race.
face the facts you stupid white people, it really is a racial issue. if rescuers are on a boat, and on one side of the street is a white family of 4 and directly opposite, a black family of 4 (mom, dad, son and daughter), who do you honestly believe will be rescued first? both families are equally devastated, same size house, wearing similar tattered clothing. the only difference is that the white family has a tattered and beat up car in their closed garage. the black family has a brand new lexus in their closed garage. it's not going to matter that the black family is loving, involved in the community, and the parents of the white kids beat the crap out of them at night.
as a country, we a really are racially divided. why is a black man carrying a case of water looting and a white man carrying a case of water described as obtaining supplies? face the facts. we are a nation of the haves and have nots. get a clue. wake up and smell the coffee.
i usually have fox25 morning news on in the mornings, and often as i'm getting ready for work, the news ends (9am) and some judge show (used to be texas justice, now it's something new) comes on afterwards, and the other morning a white woman rear-ended a black man, and she was trying to sue him for lost wages, losing her job, fighting with her husband over the accident. truth was it was her fault, and the guy was actually generous in that he didn't call the police (which he should have). as it happened, he also happened to own a mercedes, and the woman made some comment about how he was lucky to have such a car. (i missed the exact comment) but when it came time for judgement, she not only lost the claim (it was her fault, and her personal issues have no merit on the case), but the judge YELLED at her for making such a comment about how he was lucky to own a merc. good for him. and yes, she was a southern girl.
i thought that was a pretty good illustration of how for all we say we are a civilized society, we really aren't. we judge everyone. one look and we make assumptions. for all that i try desparately hard not to, even i have to stop myself from making judgements about people. but at least i'm willing to admit that i do it.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
a warm glow
tonight, rather than watching tv, i decided to head out to barnes and noble to avoid having to see Dumbass Dub (aka The Monkey Fuhrer, maybe i'll start using that instead, but credit goes to Mike Fisher for coming up with it.) talk about how great he is, how new orleans is the center of the bushyverse etc.
and as i was driving out, i started to wonder how hard it would be to mix glow-in-the-dark pigment to exterior house paint. it's obviously not hard, but the trick is adding it to the house color w/o changing it dramatically. currently, my house is a light green, so that would be easy, as most glow-in-the-dark pigment seems to be a yellow-greenish color, so greens would be pretty easy. off-whites would probably work as well, so long as you were careful. but think about it, giving directions would be easy. turn right at the light, take your third right and look for the glowing house.
it certainly would stand out. and you could use other pigments that glow under black lights, so you string up black lights and get a nifty eerie glow. that would prolly be a little easier as you would be able to get different colors into the paint so your siding would be 1 color, and shutters another.
or both.
time for bed.
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