Random Access

Saturday – 17 November 2007
As Bobby Darin sang, “What a difference a day makes…”

Last night’s drive to Cedar City was relatively uneventful, although long. I left SLC a little later than I had planned, thanks to some office monkeydom. Nature of the beast, I guess. Leaving late meant that I got caught in the Great I-15/I-215 Southbound Exodus crunch. It’s great when it takes you 20 minutes to go four miles. Once I got past 106th South, traffic wasn’t bad… until I got to Orem. At UVSC, I-15 turned into a parking lot again. A monkey-filled parking lot. And, that had barely cleared up when there was another clot around Center Street in Provo. Not so amazingly, when I got out of Utah County, traffic was (for the most part) fine. Although, there seemed to be more southbound traffic than I am used to seeing. *shrug*

When I got here, aside from seeing SaraRules, I was also reunited with my work ID badge, which had decided to stay here on holiday. SaraRules, Roommate Kim and I ate take-out from Wendy’s and watched Batman Begins, which made for a good way to end the day/week.

So far, today has been quiet and lazy. In true Saturday fashion, the morning started with breakfast and coffee and cartoons – a new episode of Legion; a rerun of The Batman. Now, SaraRules is knocking out some homework and I’m playing around on the Interweb. And deciding if I want to play around with Parallels. Tonight, I’m either going to a basketball game – which will get me back on track for my “Year of Sports” goal – or going to a Gershwin… opera-type-thingamabob.

Stray Toasters

• I have a taste for something sweet, but I haven’t pegged “what” yet.
• posted a link to this: Elise Hendrick’s piece Fuck Euphemisms. Go read it.
• LEGO Master Working on 100,000-piec, 21 foot long Battleship Yamato model
• I was showing a coworker the video for Weapon of Choice (which he had never seen) yesterday. That led me to look up Christopher Walken’s IMDb page. I noted that he had also appeared in Madonna’s Bad Girl video, which I had never seen.
• iStat menus
• 
• Automata for Sale – papercraft, DIY and wooden
• Typing of the Dead shall be played today (or tonight)!
• Best book covers of 2007
• Does anyone remember the game Marble Madness? Of course you do. You know that you spent quarter after quarter trying to get the damned marble to the bottom of the track/maze without getting eaten or crushed by the Steelie or just running it off the edge. But, I digress… check this out.

Time to find some trouble to get into…

Namaste.

Friday – 16 November 2007
I don’t think that I’ve been this happy to see a Friday (or work week) come to a close in a long time.  It’s been one’a those days.  (And the “joy” of the day started last night, long before the sun came up… but that’s another story.)  Suffice if to say that the weekend is now here and that’s a good thing.  Amen.

I’m sure that I had other things to say here, but none of them are coming to mind at the moment.  So, rather than try to come up with something… I’ll just save whatever it may have been for later.

And that’s good enough for me.
(Great… now I want a cookie.)

Thursday: Coda
The rest of the day – and so far, the evening – has been quiet.

I neglected to mention a late birthday present from Chris and Mary: Star Fleet Battles: Captain’s Edition Basic Set. I had mentioned that I used to play it in college and, being set in the Star Trek universe, it piqued Chris’ gamer’s curiosity. I don’t know how or where Chris dug it up, but it put a rather large smile on my face. Mary, apparently unaware of what it was, asked,”So… what did he get you?” My response: “Wood… in a box.”

Four-Color Coverage
Of this week’s haul, only four titles really seemed to stand out:

• All-Star Superman #9 – It’s a shame that this title has gone to bimonthly release. Of course, if it means that we continue to get the great stories that Morrison has been pulling out of his hat, then the wait is worth it. The story picks up as Superman returns to Earth from Htrae (Bizarro World) to find that he’s been… replaced… by two Kryptonian astronauts who escaped the planet’s cataclysm.
• Madame Mirage #1 – This series from Paul Dini is a noir take on the superhero genre. When laws were passed to ban vigilantism, the heroes submitted (and some were jailed), while the villains went underground to consolidate their power and – using the law to their advantage – formed corporations and syndicates, through which they could “offer their services.” Someone is unwilling to turn a blind eye and let the “former” villains run amok. That someone is the elusive Madame Mirage.
• The New Avengers #36 – I’m still having a hard time with the art in this book. And I will be quite glad when they “shit or get off the pot” with the Skrull invasion storyline… which won’t happen until the “Secret Invasion” crossover is over. But… this story intrigued me because two-thirds of it is told by Luke Cage to his wife, Jessica Jones, while they’re lying in bed. The Venom “invasion” of New York. The aftermath. The meeting with the officially-sanctioned Avengers team. And, to his credit, Bendis makes the retelling sound like two people lying in bed talking.
• Thor #1-3 (collected) – The Odinson has returned. And he’s choosing to set up shop in… Oklahoma?! Yep, you got it. Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain! And Asgard? It’s back, too… hovering a few yards above the ground. In Oklahoma. Now all that remains is to locate the lost gods. And, Tony Stark (futurist, Director of SHIELD and Iron Man) drops in for a visit. Let’s stop and look at this situation: When you’re THE guy who said, “Hey… see that dead God of Thunder over there? Go get me some DNA so I can clone him,” and the dead Thunder God comes back, how happy do you think he’ll be to see you? Hint: “Not very.” And Thor proceeds to beat on the armor-plated Avenger like nobody’s business. (To be honest, I bought the issue because I had seen a preview of that fight a few weeks ago.) J. Michael Straczynski – yes, the Babylon 5 guy – is writing this one. I’d dare say that the book is in capable hands.

Stray Toasters

• I’m slowing coming to a realization: Defiant may be replacing Intrepid. It was never really an issue with Valiant (the laptop formerly known as “Defiant”), because it was an old system and there was no way that it could replace one of my desktops. Not so with the new hotness. Time will tell.
• Moonbeam.
• The first Leopard update (10.5.1) is available now.
• Transfer Songs from Your iPod to Any Mac with Sentui
• Chocolate milk.
• The Wizard List: DC’s Grisliest Moments – I actually own the issues in which 13 of those moments occur.
• shockpuppet, wife of , amuses me.
• , click here and here.
• Steampunk Virtuoso Datamance, aka Rich Nagy, Shows Us His ‘Tesla Cane’
• Fight Thieving Restaurant Servers with Checksum Tips
• , check this out: Apocalyptic Manhattan 50-building Terrain for Warhammer 40K

Namaste.

Thursday – 15 November 2007
Three down, one in the chamber and one to go.

Today has been pretty good. There were a couple of small fires (tiny things, really) to put out when I got in. Other than that, it’s been pretty quiet here in the south forty. Today’s workout was a bit painful – I apparently tweaked my shoulder in the past day or two:

• Bench Press: 225 lbs / 2 sets, 8 reps; 205 lbs / 1 set, 12 reps
• Standing Curls (dumbbell, hammer grip): 25 lbs / 3 sets, 10 reps
• Decline Press: 155 lbs / 1 set, 12 reps; 165 lbs / 2 sets, reps
• Cable Fly (Nautilus): 95 lbs / 3 sets, 10 reps
• Reclined Curls (dumbbell): 20 lbs / 1 sets, 10 reps; 25 lbs / 2 sets, 10 reps; 20 lbs / 1 sets, 10 reps
• Bench Dips: 3 sets / 15 reps

Eric and I tried to do a rep at 300 lbs today – neither of us made it – and we noted something about Tuesday’s workout: We left two (2) ten-pound weights off the bar, so we only did 280 lbs. I also neglected to list the Decline Press in Tuesday’s workout. We did three sets of 12 reps at 135 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• I found out that a coworker was worried – for weeks – that I would be horribly offended by something he said. I remember the situation, total case of “no blood, no foul.”
• Of course, that didn’t stop me from toying with him this morning.
• Drew Barrymore as Edie Beale
• I brought in Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word for Eric. I’ve had two other people ask if they can read it when he’s done.
• To err on the side of caution, I told the mangers about it… so that if someone saw the book and came to one of them, freaking out about it, they would already know the score.
• This happened at the V.I. where we usually go for late-night breakfast.
• By way of : The Real Voice of Darth Vader
• A coworker asked if I had a version of The Girl from Ipanema in my mp3 collection. I told him that I had three. He browsed my mp3s and found them. He told me, a little later, that he wasn’t aware that Sammy Davis, Jr. had been anything other than a comedian. *jawdrop* He had never heard of The Rat Pack, either. *FLOOR*
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, one of my all-time favorite movies.
• I want to drive this.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 14 November 2007
It seems as though Scion will be an interesting game. I opted not to try a character based on Hand of Nefer-Tem’s concept. Instead, I chose to go with a voodoo pantheon. This should be… interesting, to say the least.

So far, the day has been good.  Let’s see if the trend continues.

Stray Toasters

• My complex has already strung up – and lit – Christmas lights.  *sigh*
• While clicking through some of the artists on Gawker Artists, I saw a piece by Julius Santiago. That, in turn, caused me to click through to his site, where I found – among other things – this:

  
  (click for larger image)

• …and, by way of his Flickr page, this sign from the Central Florida Zoological Park:

  

• Urban Art Warfare: Gallery
• By way of Gizmodo: Engraved iPods: Worst Gift Idea for Someone You’re Merely Banging
• The Future Soon (machinima video)
• Can Michelle Obama Be First Lady No Matter What?

You know… hitting “Publish” when you’re done writing a post makes it upload MUCH faster than just leaving the verdammt thing sitting on the “Write Post” screen.  *sigh*  I need to up the frozen mocha intake; there’s obviously too much blood in my caffeinestream.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 13 November 2007
So far, it’s been a decent day. It started with me being lazy and sleeping in a bit, but other than that… I can’t complain. Not that I’m really complaining about sleeping in. Short commute to the north office to drop off a few things and check on a couple of projects and then down to the south office, where it’s been pretty quiet. Selah.

Today’s workout was good, even though we got “a bit” of a late start. I was able to pull off two reps of 300 pounds. (It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t tire out your triceps right out of the gate.) The rest of the workout went well and served to remind me that I need to put a little more attention into curls – my biceps feel a bit weak/underdeveloped.

• Bench Press: 300 lbs / 2 reps
• Bench Press: 225 lbs / 3 sets, 8 reps
• Standing Curls (dumbbell, hammer grip): 25 lbs / 3 sets, 10 reps
• Cable Fly (Nautilus): 125 lbs / 1 set, 10 reps; 95 lbs / 2 sets, 10 reps
• Reclined Curls (dumbbell): 15 lbs / 1 set, 10 reps; 20 lbs / 2 sets, 10 reps
• Dips: 2 sets / 20 reps

Tonight is game night. We’re putting the D&D game on hiatus and switching to a new game: Scion. It looks interesting. I’m toying with a couple of ideas for characters, including a build to see if I can do a variation on Hand of Nefer-Tem. Just because I’m a geek like that. Of course, my inner anarchist thinks that it would be amusing to make a Cthulhu-based character, too. Go figure.

Stray Toasters

• I have no idea what I want to do for dinner. I want sushi… or spaghetti… or a sandwich combo from Jitterbug. Decisions, decisions…
• This weekend, Typing of the Dead shall be played!
• By way of Coworkers MikeP and DaveW: Microsoft iPod
• By way of Eric: Homestar Runner 2007 Costumes
• By way of Tyranist: Marvel launches digital archive
• Angular momentum.
• When I move, you move… (Just like that?)
  When I move, you move… (Just like that?)
  When I move, you move… (Just like that?)
  Hell, yeah… Hey, DJ, bring that back!
• Stormwinds – Flash-based Steampunk Defense Game

/lunch

And with that… Namaste.

Monday: Coda
The post-work day has been relaxing. I stopped by to say “Hi” to Kate, Perry and the kids on the way home.

Stray Toasters

• Ou.
• called me out on something: I keep congratulating/mocking on Bengals’ win/losses… but never give a shout out/raspberry to her, even though she lives in Cincy. Rest assured, it won’t happen again. Bank.
• LEGO steampunk creations:
  • Behold, the SteamWalker!
  • Steam-powered Flamethrower
  • Steam Tractor
• Lung-on-a-Chip Replicates the Tiny Explosions Inside Diseased Lungs
• Onion rings.
• Framed: A Heretic’s Guide to Suiting Up
• If you need me
  I’ll be downstairs
  With the shop vac
  You can call but I probably won’t hear you
  Because it’s loud with the shop vac on
• She kicked Batman’s ass (and Superman’s on at least two or three occasions), so this should be a walk in the park…

  

• By way of Eric: Renault F1 “plays” God Save the Queen (yes, a car playing a song… kind of. Just watch it.)
• Internet Porn: Worse than Crack?
• Defiant now contains all of the mp3s that I’ve ripped at work.
  Ripped from my CD collection. (That’s right… up yours, RIAA!)
• Speaking of “Up yours, RIAA” – and breaking my “No Christmas songs before Thanksgiving” rule – AND invoking Jonathan Coulton (again): Podsafe Christmas Song
• Atari 2600 enters Strong National Museum of Play’s Hall of Fame

Hm. Maybe I’ll take a little trip to Paragon City…

Namaste.

Monday – 12 November 2007
Another week begins.

The commute wasn’t bad. Not even when I got to Utah County. I was shocked. Wait… I take that back. Just remembered one monkey who apparently didn’t grok the concept of “fast lane” as we were heading into Scipio. Downhill. While we both drove alongside a semi. *sigh* Some peoples’ children…

Yesterday was a lax and lazy day. Highlights included watching football (more on this below) and watching The Boondock Saints, which I had somehow never gotten around to watching before. I liked it. Quite a bit, in fact. This week was my week to cook dinner. I took a page from my mother’s book and made a pineapple bowl mixed fruit appetizer, followed with baked chicken breasts, rice (cooked in cream of mushroom soup) and asparagus. All-around, quick and easy.

Football Update
The Ravens lost to the Bengals yesterday. Again. Congrats, .

I can deal with losses; they’re part of competition. What I don’t get – and here comes the Monday morning quarterbacking – is: Why in the Nine Hells Brian Billick doesn’t do something… ANYTHING… when he sees that the on-field squad isn’t working effectively and/or efficiently!? Steve McNair was the Ravens’ starting QB for the past two games. This followed a multi-game absence due to a groin and back injury, I think. Last week, he didn’t do anything. Yesterday, he didn’t do anything either. In fact, it was so bad that the Ravens were about five minutes away from getting blanked, before Billick rubbed a couple of brian cells together and came up with something that approximated “a clue.”

That clue: Put Kyle Boller in the game.

As ever, it was a case of “too little, too late. BUT… Kyle was effective. Far more so than Steve:

• McNair: 17/26 for 128 yards
• Boller: 6/8 for 89 yards

One-third the number of attempts, with a 10% better completion rate. And with his first five (5) completions, Boller had already gained more than half of the total yards that McNair had… in three-and-a-half quarters. Yes, they both had one interception – and McNair did rush for six yards – but come on. He had over three-fourths of the game to do something.

Yes, I’ve been vocal about Kyle as a QB in the past, but I’ve also noted that he has made definite strides in becoming a good, solid and effective quarterback over the past four years. Look at game footage over the past two years and you can see the difference. He’s gone from taking two (or three) quarters to settle into the game to getting right down to brass tacks.

And, didn’t we draft a new Heismann Trophy-winning QB this year, too? We did? I thought so.

But, anyway, congrats to and Cincinnati’s co-MVPs: Brian Billick and Steve McNair.

/rant

Stray Toasters

• I have fresh pineapple for a post-lunch snack.
• There are still four Butterscotch Krimpets lurking in my snack drawer.
• By way of Eric: Things People Say vs. What They Mean to Say
• I have just been informed that an item I need for this year’s Christmas card has been acquired.
• 
• Vinegar as Wonder Substance
• Asparagus.
• 39 never-reprinted Kirby monster comics

/lunch

Namaste.

Saturday – 10 November 2007
After work yesterday, I hit the road for Cedar City. It was overcast for part of the drive, so I didn’t get to look at the starscape. By the time I got to Cedar, SaraRules had already left for the musical; I hung out with her roommates until she got in.

Today, started with sleeping in. Much-needed sleeping in. Then came breakfast and cartoons. After breakfast – and the hygiene rituals – SaraRules I went to meet Claire, an artist from whom Sara had commissioned a picture for my birthday: It’s a train. And, it’s very cool. Claire brought two prints for me to choose from; I took the first one – I liked the color separations on it a little better. I’m going to have to reorganize some of the pictures in the dining room so that I can add it to the collection.

The rest of the day has been fairly lazy and relaxed. Tonight, I saw the musical (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) with Vince.  I saw Rachel and Steve at intermission.  After the play, SaraRules, Rachel, Steve and I went to Applebee’s for dinner and drinks – not a bad way to wind up the day.

Human of the Day
Today’s Human is Claire. She was fun to talk with and I’m quite taken with the piece that she did.

Four-Color Coverage
It’s been about three weeks since I’ve done one of these. In that time, I have decided to revamp the comic reviews a bit: Rather than review everything that I’ve read from a given haul, I’m going to stick to covering the stand-outs – the issues that I consider particularly noteworthy. That being said, let’s dive in:

• Action Comics #858 – This is the book that made me late for gaming a couple of weeks ago. Why? It’s a Legion tie-in story. Not just “any” version of the Legion, either. The Legion that I grew up reading. Apparently, there’s trouble in the 31st Century that requires the help of the Man of Steel. But, things in the 31st Century aren’t quite the same as the last time Superman was there…
• Astonishing X-Men #23 – Short and sweet summary here: Wow. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but after the bombshell from Issue #22, I wasn’t expecting much.  I was wrong.  I seriously underestimated Joss Whedon. Excellent issue and I can’t wait for Issue #24, the final chapter in the Whedon-Cassady run of the book.
• Elephanmen #006 – I somehow missed picking up this issue when it was first released. In it, we get a little more background on the relationship between Elephantman Obidiah Horn and his fiancee, Sahara.
• Fantastic Four #551 – The Black Panther, Namor and… Doctor Doom… come back in time to prevent Reed Richards – and the rest of the Fantastic Four – from making one of his greatest mistakes. But, will Reed listen to what they have to say?
• Justice Society of America #10 – The “strange visitor” who appeared at the end of Issue #9 was none other than the Superman of Earth-22… the Kingdom Come Earth. He’s here to make sure that what happened on his Earth doesn’t happen on New Earth.
• The New Avengers: Illuminati (5 of 5) – I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this series when it started…. and I wasn’t sure that I would collect the entire run. Yeah, I know… only five issues. But, given some of the bumps along the way, I wasn’t sure that I’d make it. But, I did. And it wasn’t as much of a train wreck as I had thought. In fact, the ending made up for a lot. And, it (the ending) tied in well to a continuing storyline in The New Avengers. On the minus side, it’s leading into what I assume will be a Marvel-wide crossover called “Secret Invasion,” for which I may wait for a trade paperback.
• Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #35 – Atom Girl, Shadow Lass and Timber Wolf – with long-range assistance from Brainiac 5 – take on former Legionnaire E.R.G.-1 (Wildfire) as he attempts to assassinate the President of the planet Lallor.
• Superman #670 – The final chapter of “The Third Kryptonian” storyline. Superman, Power Girl, Supergirl, Chris Kent, Krypto and… “the third Kryptonian” against Amalak, a being intent on making sure that there are no Kryptonians.
• Uncanny X-Men #492 – Chapter two of the “Messiah Complex” crossover currently running through the X-titles. Since I’m not collecting the other books, I came into the game late, so to speak. But, what this issue did have was a fairly solid story, and it was interesting to see Scott and Professor X finally get to the heart of the matter of the wedge between them… if only briefly.

Stray Toasters
Nope.  Not tonight.  Maybe tomorrow.

Namaste.

Friday – 09 November 2007
Going to bed at 3:30 isn’t terribly unusual for me.
Getting up at 6:40… and staying awake, that’s a little more rare.

But, that’s how the day started. When I got up and started moving, I had the “Get your sexy on….” line from Sexy Back running through my head on what seemed like an endless loop. It was almost as annoying as when I had the Pina Colada Song stuck in my head. Almost. Fortunately, it didn’t last very long. Up, ready, out.

Work has been good. Answered a few questions. Put out a few small fires. All-in-all, not a bad way to wind up the week.

Today’s workout was decent, as well. I tried doing a rep or two at 300 pounds today, despite the fact that I had done sets of dips just before attempting my bench press. My triceps were shot; I couldn’t get my upper arms much past parallel to the ground. Oh, well… another day. The rest of the workout was good, though:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20 reps
• Dip: 3 sets / 20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets – 1 set: 225 lbs / 5 reps and 155 lbs / 8 reps; 2 sets / 12 reps, 155 lbs.
• Dumbbell Pull-overs: 3 sets / 15 reps, 45 lbs.
• Row: 3 sets / 12 reps, 120 lbs.

Tyranist brought in Infernal Contraption. While looking at it, I was reminded of the online CCG, Chron-X… which I hadn’t thought of in many, many moons. I apparently still have the old version of the game on ‘Nine.

Stray Toasters

• I have a slice of Turtle Cheesecake.
• In an after-story item from yesterday’s Human of the Day section: I now have the name of the “unknown Apple Store worker!” It is Lisa. I am drafting a thank you/commendation letter to the store for the associates’ help in what turned out to be a precarious matter; it would not do to simply refer to her as “unknown Apple Store worker” in the letter.
• One of the Coworker Marks told me about Steamtown.
• Mark also asked if I knew the origin of “The Real McCoy.” I didn’t. He, making a tie-in to Steamtown, pointed me in the direction of Elijah McCoy.
• Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials
• For the first time in a while, I had the opportunity to chat with lj user=”janietrain”. Along the way, we had the following exchange:
  

  [11:25] : So, I demand info.
  [11:25] : heh
  [11:25] : Who is SaraRules?
  [11:25] : Is this a new chick of interest?
  [11:25] : “Lord Praetor, on my ship, you don’t demand. You ask.”
  [11:26] : hahaha
  [11:26] : Ahh, dorky and evasive.

  I could remember where I got the “Lord Praetor” line – an issue of Uncanny X-Men – but I couldn’t recall the specific issue, nor the exact quote. A short search later, I found it: Uncanny X-Men #167:

  Cyclops and Corsair, having recently reunited for the first time in nearly 20 years, are having a talk… which is soon interrupted.
  Raza: Corsair! *arrives on the observation deck on a hoversled with Hepzibah and a member of the Imperial Guard*
  Corsair: So much for tender moments. What’s up, Raza?
  Raza: We have a guest, Christopher.
  Cyclops: That’s Gladiator, head of Lilandra’s Imperial Guard! What’s he doing here?
  Corsair: *to Cyclops* Good question, considering he swore never to walk these decks until he’d seen the Starjammers dead or enslaved. He isn’t a man to lightly break an oath.
  *calling down to Gladiator* You’re a long way from home. Is this a social call, or business?
  Gladiator: Pirate, I demand to see the Majestrix — Empress Lilandra — at once!
  Corsair: On my ship, Lord Praetor, you do not “demand” of me… you ask.
  Raza: Thou hast been ill-mannered, cousin.
  Gladiator: Have a care, renegade.
  Hepzibah: We like you, too, Imperial. Care to argue point?
  Gladiator: Another time, Lady Hepzibah, with pleasure. Corsair, I crave an audience with my empress.

• Is Apple Cashing in on iPod’s Missing Feature?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Toilet sign in Korea warns to be on the lookout for sickos

Gone, baby… gone.

Namaste.

Thursday – 08 November 2007
Another NBN Thursday draws to a close. Work was good. Today was “Sushi Wednesday.” (Yes, I know it was Thursday. Deal with it.) I picked up this week’s four-color goodness. And, I have brand-spankin-new sexy black hotness.

Human of the Day
There are actually three HotDs today: Joanne, from the laundry where I get my clothes done and Jerry and an unnamed manager at the Apple Store.

I decided to kill two avians with a single piece of silicate tonight and get my laundry done while I was exchanging my MacBook. (Sidenote: One of the Coworker Daves, misheard Code Monkey and me talking about the laptop and thought that we had referred to it as my BlacBook. That amused me.) So, off I went in search of adventure to swap my BlacBook MacBook and to get some clean drawers…

• Joanne: I got to the laundry a little later than planned, but was still hopeful that I could get same-day service. Couldn’t hurt to ask, after all. So, I walked in… got up to the counter… and posed the question. Joanne looked at the clock, thought about it and said yes. When I went back later to pick up the clothes, she said that she basically did it because I’ve been a fairly regular customer and that she knew that if I said I needed them tonight, that I’d be back for them. (Truth be told, Joanne has consistently been the easiest-to-deal with person at that laundry in all of the time that I have been going there; I think I actually sigh in relief whenever I see that she’s working.)
• Jerry and the unnamed Apple Store manager: While waiting on the laundry, I took the old and busted MacBook to the Apple Store to trade it in for new hotness. An associate named Jerry came up to help me. Bang. Zoom. I summarized last night’s call to the store and told him with whom I had spoken. He said that he could take care of it; he took the receipt and the MacBook and headed to the Genius Bar. A couple of minutes later, he came back – he needed my password to get into the system. And then, he was off again. He returned with the old MacBook and a fresh-in-the-box new one.There was a slight problem in matching the receipt to the MacBook – there had been some arcane workings in getting proper credit applied when the purchase was made. Enter: Unnamed manager. She came over, sussed out the deal and got the proper ducks in a row. A few minutes later, Jerry returned and told me how much it would cost to complete the exchange.

  Cost? Huh…wha?!?

  When I called last night, that was one of the things that I specifically asked. The associate said that his manager had authorized a waiving of any restocking fee. Jerry disappeared again. While he and Managerette were trying to hammer out the particulars, I wandered about the store. I also made a discovery: Battlefield 2142 has been ported to the Mac. I wandered back to the front of the store, just as they were trying to figure out where another discount had been taken in purchasing the old MacBook. I tried, unsuccessfully to call (who picked up the MacBook for me) to help sort things out. But, Managerette came up with a solution and… no more than three minutes after that, I was walking out the door with the new system.

Stray Toasters

• I picked up a copy of Peaceful Warrior this evening. It was a good adaptation of the book.
• Ou.
• Apparently, the Chasing Amy “What’s a Nubian?” clip has been removed from YouTube. But, I found a link to a similar clip of it (minus about 30 seconds) on MySpace.
• Tesla Coils Playing the Mario Bros. Theme Are Unsurprisingly Awesome
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Teen Gets Strippergram at School
• Gawker Artists
• Zombeatles’ Hard Day’s Night of the Living Dead
• By way of Maddox: Fashion tips for women from a guy who knows dick about fashion and 9 things I learned about the world from anonymous stock photo models

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda
I am tired. Not completely worn out and run down exactly, but I can tell that I should sleep well tonight.

On the way home, I stopped in to see Kate, Perry and the new baby. Cute. And tiny (but not toony). Both he and Kate are doing well, with no complications. Kate and Perry are now referring to me as the kids’ “bluncle.” That amuses me. I can live with that.

Human of the Day
Yep, this is another new item. Sometimes, you come across a person who is the polar opposite of a “monkey.” Since I so frequently mention (rant/rage/bitch about) monkeys, why shouldn’t I give equal time to people who actually are good and decent? Don’t they deserve a shout out, too? Of course they do. And thus, we have the “Human of the Day.”

Today’s (and the first) Human of the Day: .

I got the new sexy black hotness that is Defiant on 26 October. Leopard, the latest version of OS X, also came out that day. It wasn’t pre-loaded, but came packaged with the laptop. Win-win.

On 31 October, MacRumors.com began posting items about upgrades to the MacBook.

YeahbuhWHAT?!

• Faster processor
• New mainboard chipset
• Faster front-side bus
• Upgraded video card
• Added memory capacity

Yeah. All of that… at the same price point. *grblsnrkx*

For the past few days, has been asking me whether I had considered contacting Apple and asking a few pointed questions. Today was no exception. And, while I had planned on calling sometime this evening, I figured, “What the Hell…” and decided to call while still chatting with .

I called and after a little dealing with an IVR, got through to an associate in the store. I explained that I had just bought my MacBook and that I had even waited until Leopard was released so that I could have the new OS for the new machine… and that the new, updated hardware was released six days later. “So… what are my options to return or exchange my notebook for the newer hardware.” The associate said that he wasn’t sure, but that he would talk with a manager and find out.

He was gone for a few minutes. I listened to hold music – it was reggae. He came back to the phone and explained that there was a fourteen day grace/return period and that situations like mine were covered under that. All that I had to do was bring the notebook, box and all of the included accoutrements to the store… and I could exchange it for one of the new MacBooks.

Just. Like. That.

So, by this time tomorrow, I will have even newer, sexier black hotness.

So, once again, a shout out and a big thanks to for his persistence.

Stray Toasters

• Kate can sing the theme from The Snorks; I’m not sure whether to be impressed… or scared.
• Tossed-Out Electronics Are Reincarnated as Stop-Mo Animal Bots
• 
• The Ultimate Guide to Freezing Food

.eof

Wednesday – 07 November 2007
*WHEW* That’s really the best way to describe the past 36 or so hours, they’ve been something of a whirlwind.

Monday night, after football, I stopped to borrow a cooler from , more on the “why” below. I got to see and play with the cats for a bit. Lightning and Presto were moderate attention whores, go figure; Sissy was a little more low-key.

Tuesday was a quiet day in Cubeville. I didn’t have anything new in my task list, so I plowed through some more reading. Yay, reading! Actually, I really can’t complain: I am learning a lot (as dry as some of it may be…) and improving my skill set.

After work, the fun began…

I headed to Scandia, to pick up the cake that I had ordered for SaraRules’ birthday. A raspberry marzipan cake. A cake that needed to be kept cool/cold, hence the need for the cooler. I had ice. I had gel packs. As far as I knew, I was ready to rcok. Unfortunately, the cake box was significantly larger than the cooler. *grblsnrkx* This meant that some creative adaptation was in order. I wound up adding a half-gallon of ice cream to help with the cooling process. Grabbed a bag o’ clothes and headed out. Next, a stop to pick up to pick up some decorations and fill up the tank… then it was time to burn the breeze. Until I went to get onto I-15 South. Drive-time gridlock. yay (lower case intentional). I got through that and made it to Provo… only to hit two more pockets of resistance. >.< But, once I got down to Springville, things moved at a steady pace. Next stop: Cedar City.

One thing about the drive between SLC/AF and Cedar City, you have time to kill. A LOT of time. Last night and this morning, I listened to the (abridged) audiobook version of John Hodgman’s The Areas of My Expertise (iTunes Music Store link). It’s a fun read. Um, “listen.” Whatever. And, it features Jonathan Coulton, as well. Win-win! (All that and you learn about the 51st U.S. state!)

I made it to Cedar without any problems. And the cake survived the trip intact. Sara wasn’t in, which I was counting on – she was in a rehearsal for an upcoming production at the school. Perfect. I had conspired with her roommates to keep this trip a secret and so far, it was working out well.

That’s when I remembered that I had neglected to pick up birthday cards before I hit the road. Greeeat.

We put up the decorations and I made a mad dash to the store for cards. I got back to the apartment and signed the cards with plenty of time to spare – the rehearsal started late. Fortunately. So, I hung out with the roommates. Sara got in, saw the decorations and was met/accosted by her roommates; I was reading a couple of articles in GQ, in her bedroom (i.e.: “hiding”). The look on her face when she got to her door was well worth the trip. (And, of course, none of us thought to take any pictures.) We all went back into the kitchen. We sang “Happy Birthday.” We ate cake (which was quite good, I must say). And everyone went to bed.

This morning, back on the road and on to work. There have been a few questions/problems to deal with, but it’s been pretty quiet, overall. (Translation: “More reading!”) Today’s workout was short, but painful (in a more-or-less good way):

• Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20 reps
• Dip: 3 sets / 20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets / 15 reps, 155 lbs.
• Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets / 15 reps (sets 1 and 3 at 120 lbs., set 2 at 100 lbs.)
• Incline Press: 3 sets / 15 reps, 95 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• I had somehow managed to forget that I had Butterscotch Krimpets in my desk drawer.
• Dastardly pounce!
• William Gibson: The Rolling Stone interview
• Tyranist recently acquired Infernal Contraption. It seems like a “Rube Goldberg meets Munchkin” kind of game, from the information.
• That reminded me of – and I decided to show Tyranist – Sim City: The Card Game. I went to the Mayfair site, but didn’t find a link to it. I tried Google. Bingo. First result. And it was on… the… Mayfair site. *blink blink* Apparently, they didn’t remove it, they just buried it. Bizarre.
• Top Marathoner Collapses and Dies in Olympic Trials
• Wow. From BBC News: Girl separation surgery a success
• Georgia under state of emergency (The country, not the state)
• SaraRules and : Prince fan sites face legal threats
• Rune Olsen’s Twisting Sculptures
• Spooler. Processor. Monitor.
• Jason is buying an iMac… ostensibly, for his wife. (One of us… One of us…)
• City of Heroes “Thank You” goodies.

Like I said: *WHEW*

Namaste.

Tuesday – 06 November 2007
Happy Birthday, SaraRules:

Wait… I already called. Okay, disregard that last one then. Seriously, though, I hope that you have a wonderful birthday!

So far, the day has been good. And there is frozen mocha goodness to thin the blood in my caffeinestream.

There’s no game tonight, so I’ll have to find other ways to entertain myself; I’m fairly sure that I can come up with something.

Stray Toasters

• I have rediscovered the joy that is Indexed.
• SupercaliMACiliciousexpialidocious.
• 
• By way of and Gizmodo – Misnomers: Sony TWA/T Camera Case Is Unfortunately Named
• …and, Gadget Art: Pierre Matter’s Steampunk Sculptures Belong in Batman’s Art Gallery
• Comet surprise makes it visible to the naked eye
• By way of Jason: Flight of the Conchords – The Humans are Dead
• …which remined me of Jonathan Coulton’s Chiron Beta Prime and The Future Soon
• 
• The above picture reminded me of something: There’s an LDS Primary song called, Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam… which, for the past few weeks, has been getting reparsed in my head as Cthulhu Wants Me for an Appetizer

/lunch

Namaste.