Lint trap

Nothing to say.
Nada dos speako.
Nein der ich bien shrpekensay.

The internet is still boring. So am I.

Our car, since it hasn't done so in six months, has decided to develop a new problem. It now has a grinding noise when you first start it up whenever the wheel is turned. It's only been going on for about a week, but it's gotten progressively worse during that time. It used to be that it would stop grinding once the car had been running for a few minutes. Today it seemed to grind for a much longer time. Loverly.

We shopped at Sunflower Market today. Sunflower Market is the newest health food shopping center. They're like Wild Oats or Whole Foods. (I'm not sure if there's an equivalant overseas)
Anyway, their slogan is "Serious Food. Silly Prices." Steph suggested that meant that the cereal (for example) would be marked as "eleventy-two dollars!", which would be an awesome place to shop. But sadly, that was not the case.
However! Maybe the "silly prices" rubbed off on Harper, because she was being incredibly hyper-silly-strange while in the store and on the drive home.
"I'm weird!" ~ Harperism of the night. (It really does lose some of it's hilariousness when you can't hear it, but trust me, it was pretty funny.)

Um.

Guess that's all for now.

54,076 / 200,005 (27.0%)

What's wrong with this message?

The following will be transcribed completely unedited. Well, except that I'll remove the woman's last name. But everything else will be exactly as I heard it on my voice mail.

Hi, my name is Tanya [last name withheld] and, um, my son, John, he likes that show, The Batman, and um, so do 113 of his closest friends. They had a birthday party and um, 113 of his friends plus another seven, I would say, you know, if you include the five year olds, they um, they're all in, uh  fifth grade and they love The Batman. They buy lots of the um...the.. the..we bought lots of the party supplies... and um he just wanted to know if you guys would have the show back on in the near future. Because he can't always get to it on Saturday mornings since he um, has uh, Tae Kwon Do practice for three hours, and um, he also likes that show Birds of Prey, and he was wondering if you could give us a call back, um, he wanted to know, as well as I do, um, why you guys canceled Birds of Prey.
Um.
It was a great story and, um, it was one that had, um, never been told about the side of, uh, Batman and Catwoman's intimacy, and uh, they're daughter, Huntress. So if you could give me ...if you could please leave a message um, sometime between the times of, um, on my house phone, um, between the times, of I would say, 8 ...8 o'clock...AM, and 9 o'clock AM, um, that would be much obliged, and um, I look forward to receiving your call.
So, um, have a nice day. Bye.

Dream, briefly.

The problem with dream explanations is that they take much less time than the dream themselves. So this will most likely be a short entry...if I ever get around to typing up the dream, that is.

Here's what I remember:

I was driving to work - in an RV. I was driving down Flamingo, and it was raining. I was stressed because there was too much traffic (just like real life!) and I was unaccustomed to the size of the motor home.
The person in front of me had stopped, and I put on the brakes. The RV slowed, but came creeping forward, and I could tell that I wasn't going to not hit the car in front of me.
The RV did bump the vehicle, before coming to a complete stop, but it was just a small tap. The driver of the car  I had hit didn't even seem to notice.

The dream jumped and I was still stuck in traffic, but I was underneath a freeway overpass, and I was out of the RV. Lots of other people had also gotten out of their vehicles, so the whole street was at a stand-still. Suddenly, the guy in front of me - who looked awfully familiar, but I can't place who he looked like. The closest I can come up with is Marcus, from a local car commercial that is no longer on the air, and also that doesn't help readers who have no idea what Marcus looks like. Oh! I know - that jerky guy from ER. He looked like him.
ANYWAY, suddenly he starts to fight with ...well, everyone. He had begun his fight with some other motorist, and they were pushing each other. But when a few people held him back, not-Marcus began to take swings at everybody who came within punching distance. Needless to say, not-Marcus was given a wide berth.
However, he kept swinging. At nobody in particular, really. Just in hopes that he'd hit someone, I guess. It was as though he'd gotten stuck on "punch" mode or something. I recall saying, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!!!" as he went about trying to attack people. Which only resulted in him moving toward me. Eventually, he tripped  (on the curb, I think) and wound up falling onto the shoulder of the street and knocking his head on a rock. A mixture of relief and concern swept through us all, as we crept in to make sure he was alive. He twitched a couple of times, and that seemed to be good enough for the crowd. We got back in our vehicles and waited for the light to change.

That's all I remember.

Brains are weird.

I. Don't. Know.

Today is gonna be.

FLUCK!

I

You know, things would improve tremendously if everyone (or just more people, whatever) would remember that we're really just scared little monkeys, dressing up in suits. And ties. (Hi, Steph!)

I am a scared little monkey, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Online, anyway.

[sigh]

Here's why I'm nervous. The corporate beast - I'm going into the belly of it. The question is - am I going to be a delicious meal, or am I going to give the monster indigestion? (My stomach is already a mess.)
We'll see. I should just keep the "everyone is a scared little monkey" fact in mind, as that does seem to help. It's just difficult to remember all the time.

It's nearly time to go. More later. (Oops, I didn't even get to my dream from last night.)

Curious

<b>Will this work?</b>

<b>If it does, will I write more boqs for my blog?</b>

<b>What other questions can I ask that can be answered with the word
'yes'?</b>

Okay, done testing.

Harry Potter and the Half Baked Theories

Hee.

Okay, time for my general thoughts and reviews (and, yes, P@ypical way-off theories) about Harry Potter #6 - and beyond!

Spoilers follow. To read them, wave your wand and say "Spoilers revelio!"
[begin spoilers for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince]
Wow.

It's difficult to believe that this was the penultimate Harry Potter book!

So many things were left for #7 that I could easily see another two or three books before it is satisfactorily concluded. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's talk about this book, first, shall we?

So.

Thoughts and reviews: I liked this book, as I enjoy all of them. Although I must admit that Dumbledore struck me as being out of character in the beginning while at the Dursleys. Maybe that's simply because we generally see Dumbledore in his Hogwarts setting, not dealing with Muggles. Or maybe it was because I haven't visited the Harry Potter books in a while and it took some readjusting. I dunno. Anyway, that was a minor nitpick, so just forget I said anything.

I loved the first two chapters. Chapter 2, in particular, should probably be reread in order to glean some more hints and whatnot.  I've just read a fascinating theory regarding that particular chapter that I will get to in my theory section.

Some themes I noticed: Cheating. Or, well, that might be too strong a word. Not playing by the rules? Using other people's work to accomplish one's desires?
Whatever you want to call it, it was there. A lot.
Harry and the Half Blood Prince's notes, of course. Hermione was indignant about Harry using the notes left in the book, and I actually agreed with her. It was ironic of her, though, because of her jinxing of ...crap. I don't remember his name, and i don't have the book in front of me. But when she jinxed the guy who was trying out for Quidditch. Another incidence of out of characterness. And another example of cheating.
Speaking of quidditch, the chapter "Felix Felicis" was yet another case of Harry 'cheating'. Even though he didn't really give Ron the potion - so I guess that would be cheating at cheating. Heh. But when he did use the potion, to obtain Slughorn's memory...more cheating.
And Slughorn's sucking up to Hagrid in order to get Aragog's venom. Another case of cheating. Or lying, rather. Although none of it was outright lying...all of it did bother me. ..But wait. A few more instances first before I get on my high horse.

Love potions - the one meant for Harry (and comically eaten by Ron), AND the fact that Merope (heeeeee! Hi, Beth!) used one to nab Tom Riddle - both more instances of duplicity.

And then there's Tom Riddle Jr. (aka Voldemort) himself, framing Morfin and the house-elf for his first murders.

And lastly we have the Ministry of Magic, which, being a government bureaucracy, is of course going to be well versed in lying and presenting false information for it's own benefits.  By arresting  someone that is NOT a Death Eater (again, the name escapes me [ahh. Stan Shunpike. Right.]) so that it appears they are accomplishing something, and then, additionally, when Harry is asked to appear as part of the Coalition. (heh.) Interesting how when the Ministry lies to further their advances, it's a bad thing, but when Harry or Hermione does - no big deal.

So, yeah. The cheating motif bothered me. Which is odd, considering how much I despise rules, and consider doing your own thing a good way to live. I've wondered about this, and I think that it's because I've been spoon fed stories where if the protagonist(s) do something considered immoral, they are to be punished. That didn't happen in Harry Potter #6. It doesn't happen in real life, either. So kudos for that, Ms. Rowling! [yeah, I know she reads my blog [rolleyes]]
But I do fear that this immoral behavior - and the not having immediate (or any?) negative consequences - will give more fuel to the Anti-Harry Potter Religious Folk. We'll see, I guess. I haven't heard anything in the news, other than a brief bit about the Pope bashing Potter, and who listens to the Pope anyway?

Lest all this 'complaining' lead you to believe that I did not enjoy the book, please think otherwise. I simply found the overabundance of neglect for the 'rules' to be ...observable.

Okay, I still have to get to the theory section, and this is going on way too long, so briefly:

Parts that made me squirm: The mention of Inferi. (Zombies!!)
The fight between Draco and Harry in the bathroom, where Harry "killed" Draco. Dude. I seriously thought that Harry was going to be charged with manslaughter. Granted, it was self-defense, but for a few seconds I feared that Draco was going to be the "major character death" that I had heard was going to happen.
The trip to the caves. And specifically when Harry had to give Dumbledore the drink, despite his protests. Man, that was some creepy stuff. Filmmakers, leave that stuff out, please. Or, at least, I'll be covering my eyes during those scenes.
Of course, Dumbledore's death and funeral. [frown]

Stuff that made me laugh:
Luna's quidditch commentary.
"Phlegm"
"No need to call me 'sir', professor."

Example of my brain being...wrong: I thought that the note at the end was firstly written by Dumbledore, and that the Horcrux was indeed a real one, but that Dumbledore wrote the note, because he intended to put a fake one back in it's place. The problem being, when would Dumbledore have had time to write that note, and why would he sign it R.A.B.? My brain is weird sometimes.

[mischief...I mean spoilers managed]

[begin more spoilers for Harry Potter #6 and theories for #7]

Snape won't be evil. There's a billion reasons why, and they've been said by people smarter than I, so I won't address them here. But, yeah, Snape - not evil. A few possible reasons why Dumbledore trusted Snape? Well...I was thinking maybe he and Dumbledore exchanged an Unbreakable Vow years ago? Or something LIKE that spell, since I doubt that Rowling would want to repeat ideas.

And perhaps the spell - if it is a spell - had to be remained (remeant?) a secret, otherwise it would be broken. Which would explain why Dumbledore didn't tell anyone his reason for trusting Snape. (well, that and the plot, of course. [wink] But I'm betting magic is involved as to why Dumbledore never fully explained himself. It's the only explanation that makes sense.)

Yesterday I was all, "OH!! Maybe Dumbledore is Snape's father!!" but then Steph reminded me that, no, Snape's dad was a Muggle. And I was bummed.

R.A.B. - Yeah, it's probably Regulus Black.

Unless it isn't.

Other possibilities?
-Someone we've not yet met.

- Burkes. Of Borgin and Burkes. This one makes a lot of sense to me. Mr. Borgin is still alive, we've seen him. But we've not met Burkes. This person was Voldemort's employer, and we know that Borgin and Burkes carries Dark Items.
Um. Crap. I just found out that Burkes' first name is Caractacus. Which is not R. or A. Damn it.
Hmm. What about Borgin? Granted, he's still alive, but the note said, "I will most likely be dead"

-Amelia Bones. Maybe.

-Amy Benson. Doubtful, but bear me out. Amy Benson is a muggle who attended the same orphanage as Tom Riddle. She appears in Chapter 13 - which, in the past has always contained a cameo of the "villain" of the book. Granted, Half Blood Prince is unlike any other Harry Potter book, but perhaps that's important. In chapter 13, Tom Riddle says to Dumbledore, "I didn't do anything to Amy Benson or [some other kid]! Ask them, they'll tell you!"
We never find out what exactly he did to Amy, but she survived, obviously.
Now, wouldnt' it be interesting to discover that a muggle that young Voldemort picked on had all along known of his plans, and helped to disrupt them? Like I said, highly doubtful, but you never know.

-Ron's Auror Buddy. Hee. Just me being dumb.


The theory that I stumbled upon earlier today - that Snape in Chapter 2 is actually Dumbledore having had some polyjuice potion. This is pretty intriguing. It would explain his charred hand. And how Dumbledore knew that Draco was planning on murdering him. I don't know. I'll have to reread that chapter. But it is an intriguing theory.


Book 7 is going to be different, no doubt about it. I don't know that Harry won't be in Hogwarts, despite what he says at the end of book 6. I just can't see it happening. Although the idea of the hero being a high school drop out is quite amusing.

Also, wouldn't it be interesting if, since Dumbledore is dead, the protection over the Dursleys house was gone...and Voldemort went after them? Maybe the Dursleys will have to be rescued by Harry. That would be a twist.

And of course, there's the idea that Harry will end up not killing Voldemort at all. Neville will.
[end spoiler]

Whew. I feel better. Okay, so it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway - if you're avoiding HP6 spoilers, you should probably not read the comments. That being said - thoughts?

Damn you, Arkansas!

Freakin' Arkansas.

In other news, I was able to go without Pepsi for 2 days. [sigh]. I had a horrible headache today (possibly) induced by lack of caffeine. So I caved.

On the bright side, the thumpa thumpa whoosh feeling has not been around at all today. Yay!

51,221 / 200,005 (25.0%)

Home Sweet Future Home

Interesting.

I just went to findyourspot.com and took their survey. Based on the answers I gave about weather, religion, rent prices, culture, etc, they pick the best places (in the US) for me to live. They also provide links to look for jobs in those cities, look at home prices in those cities, pictures of the town, the population, and you can even book travel information. Very cool little site. Here be the top cities that it picked for me. (I'll be interested in seeing what cities the lifemate ends up getting...)
Each city has a little 'nickname' (I think the site came up with them but they might be the official nicknames of the cities?) and a brief description...

1) Astoria, Oregon (population 9,800; Avg Home Price:$140,000) Where the Eagles Fly
The picturesque views of this historic port have served as the backdrop for numerous movies including Kindergarten Cop and Free Willy…

2) St. Helens, Oregon (population 8,800; Avg Home Price: $141,000) The Riverside Town
This town on the Columbia River might have been bigger than Portland if the mail boat docks hadn't burned in the mid-1800s...

3) Salisbury, Maryland (population 25,250; Avg Home Price: $211,000) Maryland’s Secluded Retreat
This active Maryland town has over 60 prominent business, social and community organizations…

4) Essex, Connecticut (population 6,505; Avg Home Price: $320,000) America’s Best Small Town
This Connecticut town has its very own giant fiberglass groundhog, named Essex Ed...

5) Heber Springs-Greers Ferry Lake, Arkansas (Arkansas!?!) (population 6,430; Avg Home Price $115,000) A Natural Paradise
The annual World Championship Cardboard Boat Races are held in this Arkansas town…

6) Mountain Home/Bull Shoals, Arkansas (again with the Arkansas?) (population 13,400) Gateway to the Ozarks
Nestled in the Ozark Mountains, this beautiful spot has some of the best fishing and boating opportunities anywhere…

7) Lincoln City, Oregon (Population 7,500) The Beach is Just the Beginning
This "Gateway to the Oregon Coast" sponsors an annual sandcastle building contest…

8) Milwaukie, Oregon (Population 20,500) City of Dogwoods
This "City of Dogwoods" is home to an extravagant Bing Cherry festival each year, complete with pie-eating and cherry-pit-spitting contests…

9) Holiday Island, Arkansas (population 2,500) Where Every Day is a Holiday
This planned community on 53,000-acre Table Rock Lake is the fastest-growing spot in this part of the Arkansas Ozarks…

10) Bremerton, Washington (population 37,000) Port to the Puget Sound
This Washington town is home to the nation's largest and longest-running Armed Forces Day celebration…

11) Nantucket, Massachusetts (population 9,500) New England at its Finest
The great novel Moby-Dick is based on the true story of the Essex, a whaling ship from this Massachusetts town...

12) Hot Springs-Hot Springs Village, Arkansas (population 44,000) America’s Natural Spa
The world's largest documentary film festival is held in this Arkansas vacation spot each October…

13) Newport, Oregon (population 9,500) Treasure Chest of the Oregon Coast
This Oregon spot's annual Seafood & Wine Festival attracts visitors from around the world…

14) Eugene, Oregon (heee!) (population 138,000) The Emerald City
This Oregon city is home to the Hendricks Park Rhododendron Garden, famous all over the world for its beautiful blossoms...

15) Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts (population 2000) New England at its Best
This spot is the home of the "World-Famous Bridge of Flowers," a former trolley bridge with over 500 species of plants…

16) Middlebury, Vermont (population 8,200) Progressive College Town
This recreationally lucky spot is located in Vermont's Champlain Valley, between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain…

17) Westerly, Rhode Island (pop. 23,000) The Granite Coast
Neighbor Day is celebrated here each year on May 21…

18) Brattleboro, Vermont (pop. 12,000) The Hub of New England
England's King George II chartered this Vermont town in 1753…

19) Corvallis, Oregon (pop. 50,000) Heart of the Willamette Valley
This Oregon city hosts "da Vinci Days," a festival of unique events revolving around art, science and technology...

20) Grants Pass, Oregon (23,000) Where the Rogue River Runs
This outdoor recreation mecca was a favorite vacation retreat for Clark Gable…

21) Cherokee Village, Arkansas (4,650) Vacation Living at its Best
This planned community rolls over 18,000 acres of Ozark foothills in northern Arkansas…

22) Johnson, Vermont (3,700) The Heart of the Green Mountains
The Lamoille and Gihon rivers, crossed by antique covered bridges, meet in this Vermont mountain town…

23)  Eureka Springs, Arkansas (2,300) Playground of the Ozarks
This Arkansas town's entire downtown district is on the National Register of Historic Places…

24) Mount Vernon, Washington (26,000) A City in Bloom
Thanks to low crime, high income, and robust school funding, this spot was named the "best small city in America" in a demographics study…

Huh. Vegas didn't make the list? Who'da thunk it?

Harry Potter and the End of the Wor(l)d

Heh.

Okay, so it has been confirmed that JK Rowling has written the final sentence (maybe the entire final chapter??) of the 7th Harry Potter book. And she has revealed the final word to the online world.

The final word, supposedly, is
[begin spoiler for Harry Potter's final word - highlight to view]
scar.
[end spoiler]

Which is pretty intriguing to think about.

Now comes the fun part. Leave a comment, if you wish, wherein you write the final sentence. (or paragraph, or chapter, if you're feeling particularly creative) Naturally, the sentence must end with the final word. And also naturally, if you're avoiding spoilers, don't read the comments.

Have fun and I look forward to reading final Harry Potter sentences.

Well...huh.

Apparently James Marsters will be joining the cast of Smallville for several episodes in the upcoming season.

Guess who he's going to be playing.


Go on, guess.








Give up?


Brainaic!

Holy bleep, Bat...er..Superman!

I might just have to start rewatching Smallville. Of course, the brainaics at the WB are moving it to Thursdays at 8, where it will be against Survivor, so it's a tough call. We shall see.
I just felt like sharing the James Marsters/Smallville news. I'm sure it's mentioned on the WD as well, but like MTV News, you heard it here first. (um. Unless you heard it somewhere else first, but if you did just keep that to yourself. [tongue])

Thumpa thumpa whoosh!

Thumpa thumpa whoosh!

My heart is excited. Apparently. I don't know how else to describe it. It feels like two really hard beats, followed by an abrupt rush of blood surging through my chest area.

It doesn't hurt, it actually somewhat tickles. It's more of a nuisance than anything painful.

But, with the heart being, you know, one of those "vitally important" muscles and all, I guess I shouldn't take it as lightly as I am.

The thumpa thumpa whoosh! has been going on -noticeably, at least- for a few days. Today has been the most constant, though. It's happening now. thumpa thumpa whoosh! Whee!

Steph suggested I lay off the Pepsi for a week or so and see if that makes a difference. Bummer. But okay.
Why is it that the things that taste best kill you? [sigh]

Granted, healthy stuff doesn't have to taste bad. I do love my fruits and vegetables. But I wish I could have Pepsi more. Actually, what I really want is a combination of Pepsi and fruit. Mmmm. Pepsifruit.

My point? (thumpa thumpa whoosh!) I guess now that I'm all old and stuff I should start trying to fix what my youthful stupidity ruined. Stupid youthful self! Heh.

Heh. You know what I just had a flash of? (aside from blood pressure?) That scene in Season 5 of Buffy when Dawn discovers Riley's accelerated heart rate. Dude. Maybe the government is slipping me pills! That would be cool. Wait. That would make me Riley Finn. Hrm.

I want to talk about Harry Potter

but i can't.

 

Because nobody's finishged it yet, and because i have irina in m,y arms.

Fear is evidently not a factor for you.

Today right before I was getting ready to leave work - seriously, right before - I was logging off my computer and changing my shoes (yes, I pull a Mister Rogers every day at work, changing out of my sneakers into my work shoes, and then when the day ends, I change back into my sneakers - they're much more comfortable) when the phone rang.

In case you want to skip the story, here's the moral: Never answer your phone right before you're going to leave.
Or maybe it's shorter than that: Never answer your phone.

Not having had the benefit of knowing the above mentioned moral at the time, I answered my phone.

"Programming, this is Pat." I said.
"Are you who I talk to to complain about a commercial?" a whiny sounding male voice asked me.
"Um. Well, no. Not technically, but I may be able to help you. What's the problem?"
"I hate the fucking show Fear Factor. I never watch it, because I can't stand to watch people fucking eat bugs and have shit dumped on them. I have a very weak stomach, and I don't appreciate having to see people eat intestines."
[brief pause] I was thinking, "Okay. Then, you know, don't watch the show if it bothers you so much. Simple." he continued:
"Now I can avoid the show, but I can't avoid the commercials for it when it's on every fucking 20 minutes. And why do you have to show the grossest fucking parts on it? I've already puked twice due to this commercial, and nobody I've talked to wants to talk to me about it. I ...

Long story short, he wants us to stop promoting Fear Factor. Blah blah blah, lots of swearing, a few threats (he said that if it didn't stop, he would come down to the station and "punch someone out" - he then said that he was only saying that in anger and he apologized for issuing a threat), blah blah blah.

I told him that I would talk to our promotion department about perhaps producing a promo that focused more on the physical stunts (heh. "physical challenge"). Interestingly enough, a few weeks back, our promotion department came up with the idea of highlighting the 'grossest' parts of Fear Factor, in an effort to bring in a younger, more male demographic. The promo guys collected several weeks worth of episodes in order to get a 'gag reel' (if you'll pardon the pun) of sick stunts to put onto the spot. I didn't tell him this.

In hindsight I should have
a) told him that swearing was unacceptable
b) told him that threats were unacceptable
c) hung up on the psycho

On the bright side, I did get his name (Todd M. [last name withheld to protect his innocence]) and number (I won't put that online either. Yet. [evil wink]) (he only got my name and the fact that I work in the programming department. No way am I giving him my direct line) And I told Tina about it - she wanted to call Todd back right then, to assure him that we were not going to change our style of promoting the show, and that he should probably just look away when the commercial came on. It being nearly 20 minutes later when Tina and I talked, I told her to just wait until tomorrow when Todd called back (and I am confident that he will. He told me as such, and even if he hadn't, I just get the feeling that he's that type of individual).

So, yeah. New psycho in town. I shall keep everyone informed.

Word Count

As of 6:48pm, Pacific Time, on July 19th, 2005.
Today is the 200th day of the year! 200 days!! Dude! That means I've only got 165 to go to meet the goal set by Project '05.

Yeah.

So, even though nobody else agreed to take part in the madness of attempting to blog 200,005 words in one year, I decided to see how others were doing. I haven't checked everyone's blog (yet) but plan to. Consider it an on-going series! Here's what I've got so far:

Steph: 20,049
Jupe: 35,467
P@ (excluding this entry): 49,105

Woo! I'm totally winning! Course, I have a feeling that Jess, Annika, and Min will kick my arse. Those women are prolific!

Wasting Time

Heh. A mass email was sent out with a PDF attached about Time Management. It  was labeled as a "Time Management Quiz". When I opened it, I saw that it had multiple questions asked, and I thought, "Oooh! A BOQ!" And, naturally, I felt I had to share.


How Effective Are Your Time Management Skills?
I'm going to take a wild guess and say "not very".

At Work
1. Am I able to divide large projects into a series of smaller
projects which can be completed quickly?
Well...I can. I mean I am able to. Do I? Probably not as often as I should, no.

2. Do I have a written “to do” list where I can check off
completed projects?
No.

3. Do I sort mail and read e-mail messages while “holding”
on the telephone?
Yes! This one I do! Does this mean I'm an effective cog?

4. Do I schedule meetings and make phone calls shortly
before lunch or near the end of the workday so that they
don’t drag on indefinitely?
Um. Well, I don't schedule meetings period. And phone calls are just a "whenever" basis, so, um..."maybe?"

5. Have I learned to tackle the most challenging tasks at the time of day when I have the
most energy?
Actually, I guess I have. I wait to do the Friday PCIP task until the afternoon. Although that could be looked at as merely putting off the inevitable for as long as possible. Hmm.

6. Am I positioned so I can avoid eye contact with people walking by?
Oh good god yes. I'm all about the avoidance of eye contact.
*looks away*

7. Do I indicate clearly when visitors to my work area are welcome as well as when I am
busy and do not wish to be interrupted?
Well, yes and no. I mean, it's not my fault that some people are dense and just don't get that I'm antisocial. Most people know that already, though. So we'll give me half a point for this one. Yay!

8. Do I file efficiently and allow computer files to replace paper files?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Well, I file. Efficiently? Ummm. Hey! What's that over there?
And sadly, I keep both computer files and paper files.

9. Have I learned to delegate efficiently?
What is this "efficiently" of which they keep speaking? And what is this "delegate" of which they speak? And what is this "learned"?

At Home
10. Do I stock up on items such as postage stamps and greeting cards so I can minimize trips
to purchase them?
You know, that's a really good idea!!

(Good meaning lame.)


11. Am I able to let my answering machine screen calls to minimize interruptions?
Heee! Well, half the calls we get are blocked because we're online. 1/2 of the ones that do get through get answered by the machine (usually because we're not home at the time of the call).
The calls that get past those lines of defense break down the following way:
1/3 - telemarketing
1/3 - wrong number
1/3 - family or friends
In conclusion, I hate the telephone.

12. Am I able to say “No” to new projects when I realize I have reached my limit?
I say no all the time. Or a lot, anyway. I'm trying to say yes more. It's a better way to live.
And when it comes to new projects at home, I constantly add more to the "some day I need to do this" pile. Which only rarely has something removed.

13. Is my clothes closet organized so that I can quickly find appropriate outfits?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!


Actually, it pretty much is.

14. Have I learned to make medical and dental appointments for first thing in the morning or
immediately after the lunch break in order to minimize waiting time?
I'll say no.

15. Have I organized my bill-paying efficiently, either paying all of them at one time or using
direct payment options?
Um. I don't know. Have I, Steph?

So. Let's see how the scoring goes...

If you answered “yes” to 13 – 15 questions, you are managing your time exceptionally well; 10 –
12, you have good habits but could be more efficient, fewer than 10, you would benefit from
adopting some of these time management strategies. Stress and fatigue are rarely caused by
what you have accomplished, but by thinking about what you haven’t completed! The better you
manage your time, the less stress you will feel!

Huh. So what they're saying is if I make my time my own, I won't be so irritated. Interesting.

Hmm.

Where are the reality shows with monkeys? Ideas off the top of my head:
 Big Brother: Gorilla House, Survivor: Chimpanzee Isle, I Wanna Be a Bonobo, The Ape-rentice

Dude. There really ought to be more monkeys on tv. I think I'll have to expand on this idea some. Maybe pitch it to Fox. They seem like a progressive bunch. (ha!!)

I get by with a little help from my friends.

Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to strawberry fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hungabout.
Strawberry fields forever.
Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see. It’s getting hard to be someone but it all works out, it doesn’t matter much to me.
Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to strawberry fields. Nothing is real and nothing to get hungabout.
Strawberry fields forever.
No one I think is in my tree, I mean it must be high or low. That is you can’t you know tune in but it’s all right, that is I think it’s not too bad.
Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to strawberry fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hungabout.
 Strawberry fields forever.
Always, no sometimes, think it’s me, but you know I know when it’s a dream.
I think I know I mean a ’yes’ but it’s all wrong, that is I think I disagree.
Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to strawberry fields.
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.
Strawberry fields forever.
Strawberry fields forever.

I figured I'd have the Beatles add 188 words to my word count. Because Strawberry Fields has been going through my head for the past two hours, and I wanted to add some color to my blog.
I know reading the lyrics has changed my viewpoint (it almost always does), so hopefully it's had an impact on you as well.
You may now carry on your usual internet business. [grin]

110F

Tomorrow it's supposed to get up to 113F. I like how they have it in red. It's these type of months that make me question why people settled here in the first place.

And when the power goes for good...there's gonna be a lot of dead hot bodies in the Vegas valley.

One. Two. Three. Three insane messages!

Mwa ha ha ha! [/Count]

So, yeah. Karen Denise Small, who has "a word gift", and a "wire tap on her phone everyday" called me THREE times today. Three! Each one was a three minute message (because voice mail tops out at the 180 second mark) and each one was just more of the same rambling incoherency.

Yeah, I know. Pot, kettle, blah blah blah. But, honestly. My ramblings have got nothin' on this woman.

Maybe the trick to get her to stop calling is to actually take the messages to the police. I mean, according to her, her neighbors spray asbestos into her eyes, so there might be something to that. I just have no idea how I'd go about involving the authorities. (Heh. I said "authorities" in my head like Cartman. "Aw-thor-eye-tahs" )

Yes, we are airing South Park starting this fall. Yes, watching it for OBINs is going to be simultaneously fun and nightmare inducing. If you thought Jerry Springer had a lot of obscenity. And I can't even begin to imagine the phone calls we'll be getting once South Park starts airing.

All Summer In A Day

No, not the Ray Bradbury metaphorical tale about lost childhood and schoolyard bullying. Speaking of, when I was in school, one of the assignments that I remember was to write an additional (or perhaps alternative?) ending to that story. We had a similar assignment another time for the ending of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Or perhaps it was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. One of those.
My extra chapter involved a time warping cave and buried Indian treasure. Sadly, I don't remember it all.
But it's interesting that I was given that assignment at least twice during my sentence in public school. Well, maybe "interesting" is too strong a word. What to the ev.
What was my point, anyway? I don't know. I'm beyond UTP@ today. It's another Manic (or, better yet, "Fucking") Monday today, and I'm slowly but surely becoming one of those 9 to 5ers (correction, 8 to 5. Correction, 7:30 to 5:30 - taking into account commute time and all) who hates Mondays and utters the phrase "Thank God it's Friday" and means it. You know, one of those middle class nobodies that is just fodder for the machine? Yup. That's me. Exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up! My parents must be so proud.
Yeah. I'm a little bit bitter today. Or this now. Or life. Something. Lack of sleep and being born into a culture as fucked up as ours will do that to ya.
It's a party, though. It's a party.
So I'm going to just type and type and type and type and type until I have to leave my desk for something work related (which, "technically" (ha ha ha) will be in just a few minutes, if I decide to attend the discrepancy report meeting) and then whenever I get back to my desk, I'm going to fucking type some more. Because I want to achieve the goal. And because I haven't blogged in a while and because I have some thing to say. I have a commentary without much to say. Heh. I mean Hey.
But don't we all? Dont' we all?
All right. I 'll go attend the stupid meeting. Palas isn't loading up anyway. Hey, maybe computers hate Mondays too. Just another thing that we have in common with nonthinking, nonfeeling machines, right? Yeah.



It's nearly lunch time already. WHere the hell did the day go?
Oh. Right. "Work".



I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job.I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job.I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my jb. I am not my job. I ma not may job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not your job. You are not your job. I am not your job.I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not doing my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am ont my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job. I am not my job.  I am not my job. I am not my fucking job.


Today being S..heh. I was going to type "September 11th". Um, no.
So, yeah. Today being July 11th, or 7-11, if you will, the conveinance store with the same name will be giving away complimentary slurpees all day long. Or while supplies last. Woo hoo! Free stuff! Awesome.
I just cleared out my ...whatchamacallit? My voice mail. Lots of old messages in there. Still kept one from resident freak job, Karen Denise Small, though. Good times.
I'm still tired. I'm still not happy, but I'm trying to put on a happy face. Facade. I should be eating lunch, and I'm not. What the hell? It'sl ike I'm not even hungry, which is unusual.
I know that it is currently Sweeps in tv land - although, really, July Sweeps is the least important of all of them. It's like the Ringo of Sweeps - but does radio have Sweeps? I imagine that they do. I'm srue they do. I know I've read (or made up) that fact somewhere before. So, anyway, if it's Sweeps in radio land, that would make sense as to why on the drive int oday, all of the stations were giving away super cool prizes. KOMP (heh. KOMP.) was ...er IS giving away multiday Park Hopper Tickets to Disneyland and California Adventures. So that's the one that's on the top of my wish list right now.
The Point is giving away a pool, which would be a nice addition to our backyard. But when you win, you're just entered into the drawing, not an immediate win.
The 80s (and more) station was giving away tickets to Pat Benatar. Um. No. Thanks, though.
God, I can't believe it's already quarter to one. Today has zipped by. Almost like I've been asleep all day. Lovely.
I think I will now go eat my lunch.

Oh! Email from the lifemate! Hold one.
Heh. Hold on, that is.

Email from the wife is great. I highly recommend it to anyone that is having a shit day.


Lunch time.


I'm better. Still tired, but better. Heh. I nearly typed "Still tired, but bitter." Heh.
It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of July! Jebus. Time is certainly on fast forward.

Whoa. Dude. It's 2:16! There is something wrong with the day. It is flying with a capital F. (How did that get past airport security?) Heh. And by "Heh", of course, I mean "Lame".



Drowning.


A while back I was going to type up reviews of all the books and movies I'd seen recently. I never did get around to doing that, and now I've seen a lot and it would be nigh impossible for me to remember them all. But it would build the word count, so I'll give it a shot, eh?
Cube Zero was better than expected. The [begin spoiler for Cube Zero - highlight to view] opening scene of the guy melting was gratitious, but on the other hand, hey, melting guy!
Also - why did they record the cuber's dreams? [shrug] Why does any company do anything? Why does ANYONE do anything? Life is odd.
Anyway. I liked that this one went a different route and showed us the keepers of the cube.
I had a theory after seeing the movie anyone who happened to escape the cube, and answered "Yes" to the "Do you believe in God?" question were then sent to work for the cube. But that wouldn't explain why the guy they burned (whose name I forget - this is why wating a hundred years to do reviews is a bad idea) was put back in.
Maybe...damn it. I got interrupted and lost my train of thought. Meh. It doesn't matter anyway. It was a decent enough movie, but in the end, the questions of the cube remain just that - questions. Of the cube. A fictional universe. Intriguing, but still fictional. So, yeah. If you saw the original Cube and liked it, check out Cube Zero.
But don't take my word for it. (dun dun dunh!)
[end spoiler]

What else did we see? There was The Incredibles, which I don't really have much to say about. I enjoyed it, but felt slightly underwhelmed. Pixar needs to slow down. Too much of a good thing is still too much.

I alone (love you. I alone tempt you.) watched The Ring, which should have been called The Boring. (heh) No, seriously, that was not a great movie, yo. I watched it alone because the girls don't need to be terrified (despite Saren's insistence that she loves scary movies) and the Steph had no desire to see it at all. So I watched it by myself and found myself bored through most of it. For those of you who have not seen it and want to get spoiled... [begin spoiler for The Ring - highlight to view]
Basically, it's about a killer chain letter. On tape.[end spoiler]

We ..oops. We also watched National Treasure, and that movie was so fluff, that I can't remember enough to review it. I smiled a lot during the movie, I remember that. I may have laughed at some of the quips, but dude. Total mind blank.

Speaking of mind. Mindscan was vintage Sawyer. (Um. Robert J., not the Spike-wanna-be from Lost) It's amazing to me that none of his books have been turned into movies. I should ask Will about that. Although I don't know how many sci-fi scripts (or sci-fi adaptations) Will reads on a regular basis. But dude. Mindscan or Flashforward or Calculating God, or even Illegal Alien (his least effective book in my opinion) would all make great movies. I'd even like (in theory) to see the Hominid Parallax Trilogy turned into films. Of course, I know if they did, that those movies would suck. But in theory I'd be excited.
My point is, wake up, Hollywood! There be some good material written by that there Canadian feller.
I won't go into reviewing Mindscan, because nobody who is reading this has read that, and who wants to read my thoughts on a book nobody has read? Also, even though I liked it, I finished the book several weeks back, and we all know that my memory is ...I forget what.

A few rewatched movies. The Goonies. (awesome) To Kill a Mockingbird (still really good, but I remember it being better.) Ella Enchanted (hee.)



Something I'm not extremely proud of, but can't ..yeah. Never mind. [/cruelest thing ever]


I need a Pepsi. When is 7-11 giving out free Pepsi? Oh. Right. The 43st of Never. Ha! Get it? The For de thirst?
Man, I'm so amusing sometimes!

Also watched (and these were for work only): Inherit the Wind - which was the 1988 version with Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards, not the 1960 version. This was actually not that bad of a movie. It was based on the Scopes Monkey Trial, and it made me want to learn more about that. (I'm sure that I 'learned' about the Scopes Monkey Trial while in school, but all I can tell you about it now is that it was about monkeys wanting to use mouthwash.)
Beat Street - a movie about break dancing!! Wooo! Or, um, whatever the 80s equivalent was. Radical, maybe? Anyway, yes. A break dancing movie. Word.
It made me want to learn more about the history of graffiti. And reminded me about when I first saw 'grape' dancers. [wistful]

Today I watched Palookaville, which has to be one of the most fun titles ever. Say it! Paloooooka. Hee! You can't help but smile when you say "Palookaville". And the movie is pretty much the same. It's one of those little gems of a movie. Nothing superb or remarkable, but one that makes you glad that you are a human. Ya know? I needed to see something like that, I think. Especially today.

I finished Welcome to the Machine yesterday. I don't know what to say. I have mixed emotions in regard to Derrick Jensen's viewpoints.
I agree with a LOT of what he says. Maybe even most of what he says. However, it gets to be too much. And being unhappy about the state of the world is only doable for so long, ya know? And isn't it preferable to focus on the good in one's life? A point that Jensen himself makes often is that you become what you seek. (Not sure if he's used those exact words, but I like the sound of it, and it's pretty much the jist of what he's saying.) If that's true (and I believe that it is), wouldn't it make sense to be a positive change? To build, to create, to unite and love? I think Derrick would say yes - his books seem to strive for that. But. I don't know. Herein lies the problem.
I? Can't speak well.
Derrick Jensen? Can.
All that being said, I think that WttM is his weakest book so far - at least to begin with. And it may not even really be his weakest book, it's just that I was expecting something different, maybe. Or perhaps it's that I had read a good portion of it already. (When I was on the Derrick Jensen email loop, Derrick often times would print portions of his books, so sometimes while reading Welcome to the Machine I was like, "Hey. This looks familiar." because it was.)
Bah. I think that if you've read his other works, reading WttM will be like an addendum. If you haven't read them, and this is your first introduction to Derrick Jensen, you might be thrown off. But he really does make a persuasive argument against this culture's obsession with control and surveillance. (They go hand in hand.)
The ending tries to be upbeat, and succeeds, to a degree.
But really, the fact that civilization is fucked, and is going to take a lot of us with it when it crashes - difficult to remain optimistic. And that could be called Derrick Jensen in a nutshell.


Well. 3:30 now. That's ...better? I don't know. It's weird how time has slowed quite a bit now. The morning flew by, now it's creeping. Huh.


I still don't think I'm anywhere near having enough words typed up. I keep having to leave my desk and go do stuff. "having to" Bah. BAH!!!

I'm a few chapters into Better Off now, and I'm liking it quite a bit. Steph read it already, and I don't want to put words in her mouth, but I can tell that it helped rekindle her "living off the grid" fire. Based on the few dozen pages I've read so far, I think I'll be following suit. That, coupled with Welcome to the Machine, coupled with just life in general, coupled with the ever ..semi present criticism about how "if you hate Takerness so much, why don't you abandon it"...anyway, the point is that we are working on it. We'll be hippies yet. Just you wait and see. Oh, right. Being online you won't. But, you know, that's okay.

Oh yeah. Heh. I had nearly forgotten about the Londo...you know what, I'm not even going to talk about it. That's probably for the best.

Speaking of not talking. I got a letter from Jupe about two months ago. And haven't started writing her back yet.
I got a letter from Simon the day after my birthday - which was almost a month ago - and I haven't even TOLD him I got it yet. And, of course, I haven't started writing him back yet, either.
I got a PM from Victor so long ago that it's expired.
It is truly a wonder that people bother talking to me at all.

God, I am so not doing the work I should be. "should" ARRGH!

I mean, I am. Slowly. But there's always more to do. And more. And more. To what freaking end, people? What's the point? What is the point?

Except at work - which doesn't really count - I haven't been online since the 4th. Huh.

Speaking of the 4th, we had a pretty nice one. We walked down to a firecracker selling stand down at the corner of the road and bought some overpriced explosives. It was the church that was selling them, and apparently the money they raised - from the fireworks that are "good for your soul" - would be sending God to camp. Heee. Send God to camp.
While we were there, the teens were playing some Christian Rap on their boomboxes. "Focus on Jesus! Focus on Jesus! Focus on Jesus! Focus on the Lord!"
Heh.
It made me wonder why there isn't an equivalent for other religions. (Or maybe there is, and our Christian Mainstream Nation simply doesn't pay it any heed) Where is the Islam Rock? What about the Buddhist Rap? Who is singing the Atheist Blues?

Anyway.

It's nearly 4pm now. I really need to talk to some people about some things. I know I'm not reaching my word goal - really, does anyone out there expect me to? Seriously? I mean the year is half over and I'm at 22% and I go a week without blogging at all? I just don't have it in me, I guess. But I won't give up. Not yet. Doing some quick calculations, it appears that I need to blog 900 words a day every day for the rest of the year. Well, no doubt this has exceeded that number a bit, huh? Nine hundred. That's an awful lot. But I can do it. Obviously.

In other news, he said, partly because he wanted to continue blogging, partly because he had intended to blog about this anyway and had just now remembered, this week is Monkey Week. All week long the girls (and me, when I'm with them) will be doing different monkey-based activities. We went to the library earlier last week and checked out a bunch of monkey related books, along with a CD by The Monkees. I don't know what all will be going on during Monkey Week, but, dude. Monkeys!

What the hell should we have for dinner?

Cuz we're starving. And don't say "sandwiches". That's MY line.

Give me five!

Awww. Five years. Amazing.

She's had a great day so far, and it's not even done yet! (We still are going out to dinner to the place where a kid can be a kid.)

Stuff acquired: A big ass keyboard that is red with purple keys. Also has a microphone attached. Aside from pushing the "demo" button, though, it hasn't been used.

A new scooter.

A new birthday outfit. (Orange!)

Shrek 2 on DVD (cute kitty!!)

Some My Little Ponies.

A "Build your own tiara" book.

50 bucks to spend at Build a Bear Workshop. (Done! Sallie is purple, soft, plays a magical chime when you squeeze her foot, and has a cute little outfit.)

A Shrek M&Ms dispenser.

Some Polly Pockets.

Breakfast at The Original Pancake House.

Fun!

Quote of the day: "I like being five better than being four and a half!"

44,220 / 200,005 (22.0%)

Answered!

It was "Lab" with the "Railroad Spike" in the "Sunnydale Airport" by reason of "accident".

 

[grin]

Among other things.

Hell.

A potato.

Shit.

A pillow.

HELL!!

Harry Potter.

An oven.

Usual.

Michigan.

A pig.

A pig in a blanket.

A pig in a blanket with a fever.

A pig in a blanket with a fever set on fire.

Christ.

Murder.

The ocean.

The sun.

A pirahnna.

Melted chocolate.

Heat.

Anything.