Oct 29, 2004

Friends. Renie got into town last night after Jen and I put up the Bat-Signal last week. We asked her to come down and help de-paper the hallway so that we can clean it up and get it painted, which will push us even closer to our goal of getting the upstairs finished before Christmas. In a strange bit of serendipity, we also got a call from our friend Martha, asking if we'd like to stop over on Thursday for some fresh Maine lobster brought down by her parents.

A bit of personal history: When I was still in college, I did some contracting work for a friend, and I was introduced to her neighbor across the street, who also needed work done on her house. For the next three years, I worked steadily from house to house in the neighborhood, doing everything from simple interior painting to a complete bathroom renovation. During that time, I got to know Martha and her family, who happen to be some of the best people I've had the pleasure to meet.

We arrived to find the house full of people, conversation, and the smell of good food. Introducing Renie around to some of the people I knew, we caught up with Martha's folks until it was time to sit. And what a feast it was: bowls of fresh lobster with butter, salad, roast beef for the non-seafood types, and plenty of wine to go around. Jen got in from the paper show a little later and we fed her the first real lobster she's had, which got a hearty thumbs-up. Afterward, we closed out the evening with apertifs, dessert, and helped clean up after ourselves. All in all, it was a great way to start the weekend (early.)

Listen to Morrissey. Morrissey speaks. and his current album isn't too bad either. | link

Oct 28, 2004

Outside. While putting the third coat of white paint over our urine-yellow dining room ceiling, I got a call on my cellphone from Nate.

"Bill. Why aren't you outside? Go outside and look up."

So I wandered outside and got to see the moon at about 4/5 of the eclipse. I hooked the camera up on the intervalometer to do some time-lapse shots, but it quickly snuck out of the frame after about 15 minutes.

This morning, there was a knock on the door, so I answered it in my P.J.'s. A man standing on the doorstep asked if "I wanted to get rid of the old International in the driveway." I told him no, and that was that. I suppose it's a good thing, then, that I ordered a canvas cover for the old girl, which should be in early next week. | link

Oct 27, 2004

Album Of The Day: Portishead, Roseland NYC Live. Good creepy, funky scary stuff, just in time for Halloween. Unfortunately, they look to be defunct, and there's no word on new releases from the band.

In other music news, Greg over at Airbag calls this one right on the nose; The U2 iPod looks like the A-Team van. Yuck.

Time Keeps on Slipping. or: I Hate Steve Miller. The Internet is broke today. I mean, it's slow. Slow like molasses, slower than a dead snail. Things seem to be moving slowly all over the place today—for example, at the MVA emissions testing facility, which is conveniently located somewhere just west of Idaho. The employees seemed to be happy to let me sit in line for a half-hour while people behind me jockeyed their cars through the lanes and got done ahead of me (I was boxed in), while the disinterested 'technician' on my lane stood in front of his computer—a keyboard no more complicated than a Speak 'N' Spell—and stared out at the woods behind my car. (An aside: the Maryland emissions testing program, while a good and noble and green idea, does nothing but concentrate massive quantities of carbon monoxide over the testing station while we citizens wait hours for our turn in line. Imagine the helpful, friendly folks at your department of motor vehicles operating mechanical equipment and driving your car.) So I spent 45 minutes chewing on my steering wheel waiting for Employee Moron #17 to hook a gizmo to my gas cap, charge me $35, and drive my car through the garage at light speed.

Oh, I passed. | link

Oct 26, 2004

Oh, Lord. I want this BAD. It's way too much money, and it's so perfect for my everyday life, but I can't justify it (I'd rather have a year-old refurbished TiBook instead.) More info over at Gizmodo.

Tireder Than I Used To Be. Our linen closet is moving closer towards completion, and small things around the house are getting done. The cabinet still needs shelves, the access door needs to be cut down and hung, and the kickplates need to be painted. That's all fine, and I can accomplish that. Last night, though, I had a bit of a meltdown at 11pm trying to patch part of the dining room wall. During the upstairs renovation I had to pull the kickplate in order to run cable, and as with any plaster and lathe house (especially one as poorly plastered as ours) some of the wall comes out as well. While trying to pull out some of the ring shank nails left over from the crappy paneling job, I yanked six inches of plaster off the wall. By that point, my knees and legs were sore, my patience was gone, and I was running on determination. After sending the hammer on a little trip and banging the paint cans closed, I sat on the couch and shut my brain off in front of The Family Guy. It was the first time since we moved into the house where I felt defeated by it, like it had actually called me out in the playground at lunchtime and kicked the snot out of me in front of the whole third grade.

Of course, being the stubborn Mick that I am, I'm ready to go back at it this evening, but last night was the first time the sheer size of the house got to me. We have about ten open projects right now, all in various states of completion (or not, as the case may be) which await things beyond our control: warm weather, completion of another project, the Bag of Money, etc. and the disarray is getting to both of us a lot more than I thought it was. | link

Oct 25, 2004

Sore. This morning, friends, I am feeling like I went ten rounds with Hulk Hogan. As blogged elsewhere, Todd held the first annual Bamboopalooza on Saturday, and by the time I got there (about twenty minutes late), ¾ of the stand was laying on the grass, ready to be cut up. We spent a good portion of the day cutting everything down to manageable sizes, and then lit into the stray shoots which were escaping into virgin territory. Heather made us a tasty lunch and gave us beer, which made the work go faster. By the end of the day, we had collected about thirty yard bags of bamboo, cut back some of the encroaching oak trees, and killed a twelve-pack.

Sunday Jen was feeling better so we got our grocery shopping finished early and picked up supplies for the day's activities. I continued working on the linen closet, getting everything primed, painted, and cleaned, while Jen made food for the coming week. We also enjoyed a drop-in from the Cauzzis, who were getting their snack on over at the Han Ah Reum. All this food talk made working hard—by six o'clock the combined aroma of Shiner stew and bolognese sauce for lasagna had me gnawing on the drywall. After slurping down a bowl of stew, I continued working until I realized it was eleven o'clock and had to stop before the neighbors started throwing dishes at our windows. (P.S. Shiner is making a killer Hefeweizen this year—we highly recommend it. Also, if Shiner made a T-Shirt with the old-time logo on it, I'd buy that puppy in a second. Alas, all their merchandise is standard beer fare.)

Unanswerable Question Of The Day. Why does Windows Media Player suck so damned bad?

Ha ha SOX!

This morning, while sipping coffee through slitted eyes, I noticed a pair of bluejays anxiously pecking at the bird feeder, which made the two of us smile. | link

Oct 22, 2004

Back To Reality. I looked at the Thing last night, and while I could visualize Jen and I cruising down the highway next spring with the top off, a song playing on the radio, and a bag of beach gear in the back seat, I couldn't get past the beginnings of rust around the interior of the tub. Overall, it was in really nice shape- the doors (mostly) closed, the outer fenders were in decent shape (and replacements can be had for less than $100) and the interior was intact. One thing that was leaning me towards the VW was the ease of repair on both the engine and the body—I'd be more comfortable taking a cutting torch to the Thing than the Scout, with replacement parts being so cheap. However, common sense prevailed, and again, I thought about the truck in the driveway, all the miles and stories we've shared so far, and how she deserves to be rebuilt. So I'm putting $200 into a car cover for the winter and ending the insane search for instant gratification—I'm fully aware that's what I'm seeking here—in favor of saving the money for a new Fiberglas tub and about ten years of restoration work.

Friday Link Fun: Found last night: the Baltimore County Legacy Website, featuring some excellent pictures of Catonsville, and Jen's old apartment house, back in The Day. | While doing an image search for a '69 Mustang (Todd's mechanic is selling one) I ran across Cars In Barns, a site dedicated to pictures of "that junk heap behind the barn," which sometimes turns out to be a Shelby Mustang or a SuperBird. Pull up a chair, get out a few hankies, and browse. | link

Oct 21, 2004

Some Consultant. I went to a clients' house last night to install an AirPort card in both an eMac and a slot-loading iMac, thinking the whole thing would be cut and dry. I was supposed to be there Tuesday, but the negative battery terminal in the Jeep decided it was time to rot itself into oblivion that evening in the parking lot of the Panera, stranding me in front of my dinner and the Classified section of the Sun. More on that later.

As it turns out, the iMac is AirPort-ready but needs an additional $29 adapter to use the wireless card. Strike one. The eMac has a handy door on the front where you remove a bezel with two screws and slide the card in. Easy, right? Well, no, not really. For some reason the card just wouldn't fit in all the way, and no amount of pushing and prodding would help. Normally breaking down the case to guide it in would be easy, but Apple built it with allen-head bolts to keep schoolkids from taking it apart, and I didn't have my set with me. Strike two.

Song Of The Day: Don't Get Your Hopes Up, Dntel. Fitting, perhaps, because I'm looking at a VW Thing for sale tonight in Pasadena, which I found in the aforementioned paper. For some reason, I'm in look-at-used-cars-mode right now. I think it's partially because the Scout is on life-support mode and I'd like to have a running convertible before springtime next year, and partially because I'm a stupid dumbass who feels the need to spend money he doesn't have. One bright spot: whereas a new fiberglas door on the Scout would cost somewhere around $850, a new steel door for a Thing lists for $40. (Hell, a new VW engine lists for $1300.)

Heh, heh. Sorry, Yankees fans. | link

Oct 20, 2004

Thoughts.

1. Anytime they try to sell a DVD by saying, "Now the adventure will live forever," you know the movie tanked (*ahem* Van Helsing *cough*) and the DVD is nothing but filler. Also, isn't Hugh Jackman looking more and more like Travolta every day?
2. I'm no expert, but anytime you cover over your disgusting bathtub or shower with another bathtub, you should be aware that your whole bathroom is eventually going to rot out the bottom of your house (*cough* Bath Fitter *ahem*.)
3. The ongoing Stewart vs. Crossfire battle is funny, sad stuff (I can't call it "news", because a comedian challenged a "news show" to actually serve the public and present honest debate. I can't call it "truth", because truth is at the center of the argument. And I can't call it "comedy", unless it's in the blackest sense, because it's a depressing commentary on our current political system.) Stewart's points were dead-on, and the haircuts backed away from each of them like he was holding Kryptonite.

Oct 19, 2004

So this afternoon I left the house for work late, waiting for two very nice men to come drill holes in the doors and walls and put little electrical gizmos throughout the house. Because of the recent spate of breakins around us, Jen and I took the plunge to have an alarm system installed. After having put it off after the first incident, we decided that twice was too much. We didn't go crazy with all the bells and whistles, because the shark-filled moat, hunter-killer robots and tear gas dispensers were all expensive. (Prospective thieves, beware: we did have the electrified dartguns installed, and they're aimed at belt-buckle height.) The keypad is nice, the units are small and unobtrusive, and the siren is loud enough to peel paint from the walls. At some point I'm going to have to replace our basement windows, which date to the house's construction, with thicker, modern versions, or glass-block. I'm going to have to beef up the physical security around our first-floor windows, and reinforce the doors, and do lots of other things I don't want to have to do. I told Jen a long time ago that living in a house where you need bars on the windows is not living, and I refuse to do that. I guess I'm just pissed that we need to have this in our house at all—not that it's any better anywhere else—but if people would just keep away from our stuff, and take care of their own stuff, none of this would be necessary.

Oct 18, 2004

Unhappiness Is... Pledge week on NPR. Ugghhh.

The medicine cabinet is finished on both sides and just about ready for a coat of paint. I followed the pattern throughout the rest of the house and milled down a smaller-scale version of the framing on the bathroom side. The next step is to build a beadboard-faced door and install that on the bathroom side with a latch. Then the whole thing gets a sanding, priming, and then we're ready to paint.

Seen on a bumper sticker on the way to work this morning:

We are making enemies faster than we can kill them.

Amen, brother.

Close...But No Scout. I took a drive to Sterling this Saturday to look at a Scout for sale, in the hopes that the tub would be good enough for donor status. On further inspection, the A and B pillars were perfect, the hood and front fenders were almost stock, and the top was sprinkled with surface rust. The rear quarters, however, didn't hold a magnet, and a very rudimetary bondo sanding job was visible under the paint. The tailcaps were completely shot, although he had a pair of clean replacements to go along with the truck. She started up and ran well, and I considered the deal for a long time before deciding to pass. With all the work needed to clean up the rear of the tub, I'd rather buy a fiberglas tub and never have to worry about rust again. So, the search continues.

So I focused my sorrows on something else: Three more storm windows were installed, the east side windows got their final coat of paint, and ½ of the medicine cabinet is fabricated and ready for installation. I'm hoping to finish the inside and put the door on this week—then we can paint and the linen closet will be complete. | link

Oct 15, 2004 - Payday

Great Big Old Omen Dept. After having spent three days in the cradle of old International Harvester iron and not seeing a single example (looking at the bulletin boards, roughly 9/10 of the decent rolling stock are in the California area code), I spotted a clean white Scout II in front of a modest camper trailer, parked at the bank down the road this afternoon. I've deliberately held off writing about something this week, but tomorrow morning a decision will be made that could make a big difference...details to come.

Not So Small Dept. David Rees, the guy who brought us the side-splittingly funny Get Your War On, will be at Atomic Books next Friday for a signing. I believe I just may have to stop by and git me one. (I looked at a copy when we were at City Lights last weekend, but decided on a design book instead.)

Also, the Mobtown Shank helpfully reminded us that the current president of Sinclair Broadcasting was arrested in 1996 and charged with a misdemeanor sex offense. (Sinclair is the Hunt-Valley based broadcaster who refused to air an episode of Nightline which listed the names of American soldiers killed in Iraq. Now they want to run an alleged anti-Kerry "documentary" in the weeks before the election.)

That's A Mighty Big Hole Dept. Last night I decided I'd wreak havoc on Jen's already sore throat by freeing millions of dust particles and sending them floating around the house. This morning there's a 16" by 24" hole in between the linen closet and the wall in the bathroom. Soon to come: framing, shelving, and construction of a door so that the medicine cabinet will be accessible from both sides, and we'll be able to use the linen closet for, well, linens. Highlight of the operation: realizing that sometime in the late 60's, the Doctor had put up that wonderful white paneling that's covered with streaks of gold paint—you'd recognize it if I showed it to you—and later put drywall up over that. | link

Oct 14, 2004

Belgian Dark Chocolate. Type junkies, peep this site: Mark Simonson and his font studio MS Studio. Lots of good information on typography, examples, and fonts for buying.

Chocolate. This morning I got an email from a student at SCAD about using some of the photos I posted of the signs in Perry, OK for a class project, which means I've got to go into the archives and find the negatives so that I can re-scan them at a higher resolution. (what this really means is that sometime tonight I have to dig through six or seven Tupperware containers, my "file cabinet", and several boxes of unlabeled stuff, then go through about eighty sleeves of unmarked negatives to find them.) It'll be worth the effort—hopefully he'll be able to use what I have, and I'm curious to see the results.

Vanilla. Jen and I watched the debate last night, curious to see the outcome. In my opinion, Kerry clearly came out on top. Every time he hit Bush with a good point (Healthcare, the deficit, religion, the draft, Homeland security), Bush went back to "education." At one point, when asked about creating new jobs, Bush went off about community college and No Child Left Behind, dodging the question entirely. While I wanted Kerry to simply ask him how going to college and incurring even more personal debt is going to help people get jobs today, it clearly showed how out of his depth the President is, and how he has absolutely no plan for the U.S. economy besides going to war. It also was good to hear Kerry appeal to women voters directly and state his opinion on Roe V. Wade clearly. I also felt that Bush did a hamhanded job of attempting to tag Kerry as a Liberal, and I hope that some of the swing voters saw through that. While the claims thrown around by both men were misleading, I got a much better read off Kerry than Bush.

Rocky Road. After taking the cover off the Base Station, I have an hour of connectivity before it goes feet-up. The capacitors are hot to the touch and the WaveLAN card is cooking hot. I'd have to hack some kind of heatsink or fan onto the thing to get it to stay cool—something I might do later on but don't have the time for right now. | link

Oct 13, 2004

Success. After buying capacitors locally that were much too big, I ordered some different ones online and got them in yesterday. A little practice with the soldering iron, some delicate work, and...nothing. The Base Station would not wake up. I brought it to work this morning, followed some better directions, and got it to reset, then uploaded new software. It's now working like a charm next to my desk. Update: The Base Station dropped out after 45 minutes—same problem as before—the case was hot to the touch and the network died. I have more research and testing to do.

Trip Report. Friday morning we woke early to get packed and ready for our California trip. I had an appointment with an alarm company to estimate the house after a second break-in at our neighbor's house; for considerably less than I thought, we're having the place wired next Tuesday, with the option of adding smoke alarms later. We hopped an American flight to Dallas and made it out to San Francisco by dinnertime, pulling up to the curb out front of the hotel just in time to meet Rob and Karean, who were getting back from a long day in the city. Opting for room service instead of fighting for a reservation outside, we hit the rack early in preparation for drinking with the professionals over the weekend.

Saturday we met up with the other two Baltimore couples and got breakfast across the street, then roamed out in the direction of Chinatown. On our own, Jen and I stumbled across a neighborhood parade complete with dragons, band, and politicians, and not long after that, a funeral procession led by a brass band, New Orleans-style. Walking the length of the area brought us to the famous City Lights bookstore, where we picked up two good design books, and then walked back to meet up with Rob and Karean. Stopping in to the Paul Frank store, we got our monkey on, and then at a Ghirardelli store we got our chocolate on. Then it was back to the hotel to get gussied up for the party.

After a hilly ride out to the Log Cabin, we found a tuxedoed Matt greeting guests and an open bar, making this the first time I've sipped wine during the ceremony, which was not a bad way to start. Vows were exchanged, songs were sung, and two of my oldest friends from college were married. Then, there was drinking, dancing, eating, drinking, drinking, and suddenly we were waiting for cabs to the after-party. And waiting, and waiting... My intelligent wife suggested waiting close to the road to be the first foursome picked up, and her intellect paid off—but by then it was too late to party further, and we decided to retire to our hotel bar for a quiet nightcap of cucumber martinis.

Sunday began with breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and continued with a trip to the Exploratorium, a huge science center devoted to hands-on learning for kids and adults. What started out as a fantastic time slowly became overload as the sheer number of exhibits overwhelmed our pickled brains. I left with a headache, and we all decided some hair of the dog was in order, so we got some drinks at the swanky bar across from the hotel and recuperated. Then it was off to the after-wedding barbecue, where Matt and Soph get the award for Thing I'd Never Do The Day After My Wedding: cooking a pile of food for their out-of-town friends. We hung out at their house in the Castro, caught up with everybody, and had a mellow evening before catching a cab back to the hotel to grab some sleep—our shuttle to the airport pulled up at 5:15am.

Leaving San Francisco was hard—not only are a bunch of good people out there, but the city left us feeling energized, cosmopolitan, creative, and recharged. There are a number of differences between S-F and D.C. (I'm not going to mention Baltimore, because it just doesn't compare) with the greatest one being the respect for history. San Francisco is dripping with old signage, restored houses, and design, while much of the East coast is homogenized. It was hard to leave that funky mixture to come back to McBaltimore.

Hey, I should elaborate a little, lest you think I'm another hater: One of my first loves is the goofy, off-the-wall history of Baltimore, its blue-collar roots, and the hometown vibe it still has. Most people don't notice these things, or would rather drink a Coors Light at the bar in an Applebee's rather than brave the smoke at Mrs. Bonnie's Elvis Shrine, but I love Baltimore for its quirky treasures. There's just such an international, electric feel to San Francisco that it's hard to come home. | link

Oct 12, 2004

Ouch. We are back from San Francisco, firing on about three cylinders, and somewhere between happy and depressed that we made it back. The weather was beautiful, the city was bright, and the wedding was wonderful. more on that later. Now: coffee.

Later. OK, here are some pictures of the trip. | link

Oct 7, 2004

Hire Me. This guy needs a job. (via metafilter)

HOLY CRAP. I ended out the day yesterday listening to my spotty Pogues collection (I haven't replaced my defunct cassette collection with CD's yet) and it took me Back To The Day. My college roommate Chris had the entire catalog, and the first side of Rum, Sodomy and the Lash takes me back to the fall of 1990—National Bohemian, cigarette smoke, lousy food, and wandering back from the Tavern singing Sick Bed of Cuchulainn. One of the things that first attracted me to Jen was how she looked in a well-worn Peace and Love tour shirt. To my shocked surprise, I read this morning that lovable, drunken Shane and the rest of the gang are reuniting for a tour this christmas! Additionally, their back catalog is being reissued including previously unreleased tracks!

So let us pray that Mr. MacGowan lives long enough to make it to the New World, and that he's sober enough to remember the lyrics when they come through the D.C.-Baltimore area. | link

Oct 6, 2004

The Jury's Out. I'm not sure who "won" the VP debate last night. It's pretty obvious who actually runs the country, and that Dr. Evil Cheney is an extremely intelligent man. I thought Edwards came off a little too cloying and anxious, while the VP was more reserved, informed, and deadly with his attacks—he got in a few very quiet, very deadly jabs, where Edwards swung more wildly and with less skill. I have to say, I'd be afraid to go up against the VP in a debate, especially since his dark minions sent him in with at least two pages of very damaging accusations and falsehoods against Edwards which he used with great skill. He's a mean SOB. One thing's for sure— it's going to put the next Presidential debate in stark contrast, especially if Kerry gets Shrub on the ropes like he did last week. (There was one minor blunder the VP made, which is hilarious...)

Repairs. For the low, low price of $20, I picked up the parts I need to do surgery on my Airport Base Station last night. (Disclosure: I had to spend $10 for a new soldering iron.) This week is way too busy, but next week I'm going to crack the case and see if I can't revive the dead. BTW, my experiences setting up a client's Airport Express were nothing but excellent. Without configuring buttons, setting jumpers, or invoking the Seven Holy Names Of Satan, I was able to get their wireless network set up, sharing a USB printer, and locked down to intruders in about five minutes. No kidding. | link

Oct 5, 2004

I See You. Our house, since we moved into it, has been a dark stain on an otherwise bright street. We have a streetlight out front which lights the sidewalk, and two lights on a timer beside the door, but other than that, our property was darker than an alley in Calcutta. Yesterday evening I got a spotlight installed on the east wall, which means that you can actually find your way to the front door from your car wihout tripping over the curb. Hopefully this will also make the house look like somebody lives here, as opposed to strangers using the driveway for parking and wandering down to Bar for a drink. | link

Oct 4, 2004

Yummy. After a long day of getting things done around the house, nothing could have been better last night than grilling a thick steak, steaming some corn and fresh beans, and cracking a bottle of red wine to share with our friend Sara, who we haven't seen in a long time.

I spent most of a rainy Saturday consulting for some friends, who just bought a shiny TIBook and an Airport Express; unfortunately, the Apple-suggested alternative to 1st-gen Airport cards proved to be less than successful (the now-discontinued cards have recently spiked in price on the second-hand market) prompting another visit.

Sunday we took advantage of the sunshine and worked outside on the house. I got half of the atrium windows painted and prepped for storm windows; I also made a hole in the atrium wall in preparation for installing a security light over the driveway. This house is made like a tank: there's ¾ sheathing on the inside of the walls and ¾ on the outside, which means the bolt that shipped with the light is too short, and the light isn't installed. Meanwhile, our neighbors' house was broken into Friday afternoon in broad daylight—a neighbor called the police and the burglar barely escaped—but an alarm system has bumped its way up to first place on the priority list, followed closely by glassblock windows in the basement. | link

Oct 1, 2004

Debate. Last night I found myself simultaneously watching the Navy/Air Force football game and the presidential debate on closed-captioning while a latin dance beat played over everything. While I couldn't hear the candidates, I caught the gist of their conversation. This morning, I'm listening to the radio clips of the debate, and it's pretty obvious that Kerry crushed the President. I've been cringing at some of the "points" Bush tried to make and applauding Kerry as he systematically took them apart. It was sort of like watching a college professor debate a grade-schooler.

Meanwhile, we had a farewell celebration for one of Jen's coworkers; she and her husband are leaving Baltimore for North Carolina and sunnier climates. A crab feast with Corona, followed by pool and Dos Equis across the street made for some creaky Lockardugans this morning. | link

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