What's the deal
picks of the month:
I don't have a wish list. If I want something, I'll buy it my damn self.
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This is a fantastic article that makes one stop and consider our current action-and responsibility-in Afghanistan. | link I got paid yesterday. Halleleujah. The carpet is ordered and all I have to do is set up a time when they can come and do it. Hopefully in a week or so. And, I saved about $100 or so from my initial estimate- I thought it would be about $500 and it came to a little under $400 with better padding. I also bought the rest of the trim molding and stained it last night; I bought 2 lighted 3-way switches for the stupid hallway light, so that will finally work again; and I bought 4 planks of 8" wood, 2 maple and 2 pine, for the stairs. Then I installed them and found the stairs were actually 8" deep/tall, not 7 ½" like the stupid lumberyards cut everything now. So I cut 2 planks, they don't fit, and I'm going to return the other two (hopefully.) I guess I'll heatgun/sand the old planks and then reinstall them- they were ugly, but still very sturdy. The backyard is finished- the wall is up and looks good. So, next spring I'll start on the revamping back there. I also installed a Voodoo 5 card in the NT box last night; it's running fine and works great. It also fixes the nagging gamma problem I've had with the Sony monitor, so I don't think I need to buy a new monitor right away. Thank god. I've been trying to install the Voodoo 3 in the Mac here at work but it isn't working right now- after a long search for all the proper install files and a flash of the card's BIOS, it crashed on a boot of Marathon and now isn't working anymore. | link I'm working from home today so that the carpet guys can come in (sometime) and measure/eyeball the floor in the basement. I actually need to run downstairs and clean up the floor before they get here, but overall it's in good shape. I also have this video card sitting here but I'm afraid to bust it out just for fear of blowing up this computer and not being able to work all day. I have to admit, I'm stressing out about work and money issues. Work is going OK but I'm afraid that after this project I'm going to get canned for some reason. Steve is a great boss but I'm feeling out on the ledge, and I can't shake the feeling. I think my work has been good up until now, and I don't think they're mad at me, but I'm just really down on the economy and afraid that I'm going to lose my job soon. I'm going to head into Home Depot or Lowe's this week and take some extra hours a few nights a week just to get the bank account padded and back up to fighting size, or pay off the credit card/second mortgage and free up some cash. I've been great with the credit card up until this past week, when we didn't get paid on time. I haven't put anything on it in about 2 months, and I'd like to keep it that way (although i bought the USB card for the Mac on it.) After this carpeting gets installed, I'm going on a budget of $100 a week or something like that so that I can really save some cash for the next few months. I have to find out what they pay hourly and do some math to see what I could make for 3 nights a week or so. 5:40 pm - Hmm. I found, after several abortive attempts at trying to start programming my own log program, a program called Greymatter, a free Perl script for starting a weblog. I do believe I'm going to try it tonight and see what results I get. I also got some good feedback from my boss about the interface, so I'm feeling better about that as well. All that having been said, I didn't get a whole hell of a lot done today- lots of configuration, copying, uploading, etc. I did quickly get the USB drive up and running to get some stuff off the drive for Matt, and found a few things I should have archived a while back.| link At work this morning and pretty tired from last night- Jen and I slept pretty poorly because the cats were so lonely. They spent most of the night walking on our heads, fighting on the floor, and knocking stuff over. Jen kept waking up and getting sick from the sleeping pill she took- she had no time to sleep it off. Then we were awakened by the guys working in the alley at 7:30 this morning. One good thing is that they are up to my backyard this morning, working on the wall in between Dick & Thelma's and my own. I figure they'll be done by the time I get home tonight. Today I'm listening to Cure For Pain. I miss Morphine. I wish Mark Sandman was still around. Here is your homework, for anybody who might be out there: Go home, go directly to your CD player and pull out that new Blink 182 CD you've been sneaking when everybody else isn't home; go dust off Cure for Pain, drop it in on shuffle, pour a tall glass of red wine, and chill out.| link Well, yesterday I went in for the MRI at Mercy. What an interesting experience. I like that hospital a lot- all the people I've dealt with there are really very nice. At about 12 noon yesterday, I was laying on a sled being inserted into a long plastic tube, and then being bombarded with magnetic waves, all to the sounds of "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago. Most of the time I was OK; I wasn't claustrophobic, but found I had to regulate my breathing. After awhile, I was actually drowsy, and when I got used to the sound of the machine it was easy to deal with. I got to see the readouts, though, when it was done, and that was very wild- seeing a crossection of my own torso was fascinating. Played a bit of Half-Life last night (Steve gave me the game) and found it wildly addictive. Must......resist.... Basement is coming along as well; I got a lot more of the trim installed/stained; I drilled pilot holes for the electronics board but wasn't able to mount it last night. I fixed a lot of the little nagging sections of trim that didn't piece together well, which made me happy. I just want to get paid so I can finish buying the supplies I need (front window, shelf, trim molding) to get the rest of the cosmetic stuff done.
link The city is finally beginning work on my alley today! Jen and I woke up at about 7:15 and by 7:30 there were a bunch of guys out on the north end of the alley with a jackhammer busting up the concrete. I am so happy this is underway. I have to rent a sledgehammer from Home Depot and break up the concrete shelf around the old garage footings so that I can *ahem* throw the busted-up stuff on their carry pile. The only drawback is that trash pickup is out fron this next week- we'll have to make sure the street stays clean. The first coat of stain is on the shelving and the finish molding downstairs. I still don't have money in my account from work, so I can't go and buy supplies, but I have enough to work with for the next few days- getting the basement cleaned, installing the electrical board and the closet pole, fitting the last kickplate board, sanding and staining, and finishing off the shelving. I can't wait to start on that tonight. I ran some steel wool over the stuff I sanded and smoothed it out- it's going to look great when it's done. I used polystain on all the woodwork; I hope it holds and does a good job. (it's a stain and polyurethane all in one.) Sometimes, we hold these truths to be self-evident department: Never buy or eat a grocery store-made sandwich. Yuck.
Whew. Back from CT and a trip back into time- the first time I've been back up to the old Dugan high-school era homestead in about 3 years- that was a trip through time. Some random thoughts about the journey:
Today I'm going to hit the Home Depot and order the carpeting I've been waiting for for 2 months. They're having a special, with installation, where the padding is free. I took measurements last night and got all the relevant info I need. I also need to get the stain today and begin on the woodwork; once I get my paycheck I'm also going to pick up the wood for the stairs and get those installed. Luckily the side shelves, which were cupped slightly after I installed them, sanded down smooth and look clean. So after the underside caps are stained, I'll install them and finish off the side walls. I also am going to measure the junction box at the store, cut down a piece of sanded plywood, and mount it on the wall in the closet. Then we can start the wiring... Salon is no longer listing its main news stories for free- they're putting them under the Premium service, so if you want to see good reporting by them, you have to shell out $30 or so. Now, I've been reading Salon for about the past four years. I love the magazine and have always supported it, talked it up, and browsed/read it daily. But in this economy, when I have to rationalize and justify a $15 bottle of wine, $20 worth of paint, or full gas tank in the Scout, I don't have $30 to offer. Too bad. I suppose I'll be looking at them a lot less now. I read today that the guitarist from Limp Bizkit is leaving the band. While I wipe away a tear from my eye, I sit and meditate on this thought: What makes Fred Durst so important that his views on the tragedy in NYC are quoted in the paper? How did he and the pretty-boy guy from the Goo Goo Dolls get so famous and talented that they were allowed into the recording studio to do a cover of 'Wish You Were Here' in memoriam? Now, don't get me wrong, it was a cool idea (and a great song) but, man, was that bad. Those two dudes can't sing.Perhaps the guitarist just go so damn sick of Fred's whiny voice that he couldn't stay in the band? That's my personal opinion.| link It has been a long couple of days. Too much to write about here today (friday). In a nutshell: Sophie came in to town. I cleaned my house. Kevin & Kelly had a dinner party for her. Jen was going to come with me. Dee (my ex) showed up. Jen and I misunderstood each other. I went alone. Dee was her normal annoying self. Sophie stayed at my house. We caught up the next morning. I put her on a train. I went to work late, and then went home and to sleep. Jen and I made up. I'm driving up to Conneticut tonight to stay with the Switzers, Mom's friends from way back; the four of us are going to the wedding of one of Renie's friends from high school back in our home town. That should be interesting. It has, however, been the first time I've seen my folks since, I think, June, so I'm really looking forward to that. I'm tired. Just heard about the Anthrax scare in New York at the Sam's Club. I wrote to Jen: Kind of makes you think, though- Osama has no way of getting his 'message' out without the Western news media, namely, CNN. What good will it do if [he] starts trying to kill off the news media? On the other hand, he has everybody's attention again. And, is Tommy Thomson, ostensibly Health & Human Services Secretary, a big lying sack of ----? I think so. I really wish the old 1970's bulldog incarnation of Mike Wallace had just crucified this dude on 60 Minutes a few weeks ago.| link Today I am in a funk of some kind, an unexplainable bad mood that I can't shake this morning. I'm trying to get a bunch of things done before I leave this weekend for NY, and Sophie's coming in to town, while a great surprise, comes at a bad time for me right now. There's too much happening and I can't keep up. I think the other part of this is that she stayed with Rob and Karean last night and we're going to Kevin & Kelly's place tonight- two houses that never seem to be dirty, smelly, or unkempt. It's hard to follow in the footsteps of Metropolitan Home and Martha Stewart and not feel like my place is a dump right now. I got the Tortoise back last night as well. After $100, she runs a hell of a lot better and tracks straight on the road again- let's see how long it lasts this time. At least the idle is fixed and constant again. After we picked it up, Jen and I went to Peter's last night for some dinner and had a good time- I love that place. Funny quote from a fucked company's CEO to his employees:
Update on the Cidera layoffs: The Marketing VP and most of the toadies got axed a few weeks ago. Apparently they have about 40 people left to run the whole thing...whatever that is. Like I said before, it's probably two people in the NOC, thirty-seven people trying to sell anything they can, and some unlucky fool running the place. Oh, and Brad, my old buddy from back in the day, got a job with the first company I ever hosted with. Small, small world. I found this site on Builder.com for using homesite; there are a bunch of tips and tricks that I'll have to look at a bit later. Gotta buy me one of these. Tomorrow, i think. 12:02PM - OK, here's the deal. Some people really get off on those cheerful, ironic, peppy Canadians calling themselves the Barenaked Ladies. Brandon- err, Jason Priestley, the Biff dude from 90120, liked 'em so much he directed a full-blown movie for them. The band had a few jingles that got picked up on the Alternative Radio, which basically means Columbia or Sony or whomever owns their mortal souls, jammed about half a mil into every A&R guy who then jammed $50 and a line of blow into every regional Program Director at every Alternative Radio Station (which basically equates to, in my opinion, some bald 40-year-old middle manager pulling a fax of Acceptable Songs off a fax and typing them into the DJputer) and thusly we were subjected to their peppy happy jingles every waking second of the day. Now, one of their happy jingles made its way into a Mitsubishi commercial (You know, the peppy song that starts by some nerd saying "Eyyyyyyyyyiiit's been...") and is on heavy HEAVY rotation throughout the 50 states on every major TV channel. Let me be clear: I don't like the song. I like even less that it plays at least twice each hour. I was able to get a bunch of stuff done in the basement last night; looking at it this morning didn't reveal any major changes, but a lot of my time was taken up by cutting and fitting the finish trim to fit as best I could. Both side shelves are cut, fit, and tacked in. The closet interior is framed out save the mullions for the doors. The kickplate all the way around the room is tacked in with the exception of the one piece on the northeast wall. I installed the other access panel for the water shutoff, and the second stairway light, as well as swapping out the bad wallplate switch. Mostly what remains is buying or milling a bit more wood, sanding, and some massive staining and polyurethaning. There's some finish painting that needs to be taken care of, another round or two with the caulk gun, and a bunch of touch-up in the stairway, but we're drawing closer. I also had the pleasure last night of hearing five short blasts from a ship's horn, clearly audible from the front basement window. That was great. I love living near the water. This is some sad news... I suppose I'm going to have to upgrade sometime to Win 2000- probably my next machine. I love my NT though. I guess I should really worry about getting myself a new Mac before that happens, though...
Update on the Scout: I called the owner, and told him I need some time to get the cash together; He's completely cool with it, and told me to give him a call when I can move on it. He was ready to bring the title home to me in a few weeks. So I just have to bust ass to get the cash together. The Tortoise had another (this will be #3) bad tire; Mike switched it and swapped rims (apparently the right front was not the only rim to be bent- the right rear was too) and cleaned the throttle body out, which should take care of the bad idle. I found some pictures of some clean Rallye Scouts from the 2001 IH nationals; at some point I'll post them up here, just to keep myself motivated. The one to the right there is the first, and the spitting image of the one I'm looking at, save the running boards and white spoke wheels.| link Hmm. What's happening today? it's a beautiful morning this morning. I woke up (that was hard to do today) and made some coffee, played with the cats, and straightened up the house. After a hot shower, I went downstairs to inventory what I need for the basement this week (which, given the camping trip, will be a short one) and just took stock. Hopefully the rest of the stuff I need will be inexpensive- the last big outlays I see will be the carpeting and the stairs. (maybe I can rip the stairs partially out tonight- hee hee!) I have to call the guy about the Scout today and Mikey about the Tortoise as well; he hopefully has fixed both the idle and the pull to the right, which will be wonderful. I have also noticed, that despite what could possibly be the best commercial for a convertible ever concieved, filmed, and presented, that nobody who owns a Volkswagen Cabrio ever puts the top down. What's up with that? I also found out last week that Cidera laid off another 40 or so people a few weeks ago. At this rate, they have five Senior Exalted Vice Presidents and a janitor left in their employment. What a mess.| link Well, let's see. I had a busy weekend; on Friday I went in to Mercy hospital for what is called an IVP, which means they put you in a hospital gown, pump you full of iodine and take pictures (X-rays) of your pelvis to see if your kidneys look OK. All the while you A. have a needle stuck in your arm, B. it's cold, and C. the iodine is making your eyeballs itch uncontrollably. After the IVP I went upstairs to have what is harmlessly called a cystoscopy, but which in reality means they swab your johnson with a freezing cloth of Betadine, and knock you out so that they can feed a stainless steel hose up your urethra and take pictures. Apparently I am OK; there is a small spot on one of the x-rays which could be a kidneystone or just a spot- they're going to tell me this week. Jen took me home and took care of me, which meant she baked me a delicious Shepherd's pie and a blueberry pie, but because my stupid range is so junky, it didn't cook all the way through. Jen was really crushed about that, and I felt horrible. Saturday we did some running around and dropped the Taurus off at Mikey's place, and picked up the pictures of the Scout his friend has- more on that later. Jen and I were distant from each other on Saturday because I had shut down on her Friday night, but we talked it through Saturday afternoon and came together for a really good Sunday- we spent pretty much the whole day relaxing, spending time together and napping. It was a crappy day yesterday, so we just sat on the couch in warm socks, played with the cats and enjoyed the fact that we didn't have to go outside.
The Scout I'm talking about is up in Wisconsin, and I learned about it through Mikey, who has a beautiful restored Bronco, and knows I'm into Scouts. It's a '78 Rallye V-8 with air, it's maroon, and it's beautiful. I'm going to scan the pictures and post them here to look at today. Now I have to figure out how to raise about $3K to buy it and transport it here.
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