Random Access

Saturday
Normally, on days off I like to sleep in. Today, being a day off, that was the plan. I was awake at 9:40. So, I got up and watched a few cartoons. I must have also fallen asleep for a while, because there seems to be a :30 gap in my memory. I showered, watched more TV, did some cleaning (mostly laundry) and just… hung around the apartment for a while.

Went to Cottonwood Park, met and some of her friends and played a variant form of Ultimate (frisbee with rules). When that petered out, I took a cue from Mary Poppins and flew my kite. There were at least six (6) other people flying kites there, as well. There’s something not only fun, but relaxing about kite-flying. This was followed by milkshakes at Iceberg.

Back home for a shower, a fresh change of clothes…and some rest before heading off to bowling. Decent turnout tonight, there were seven of us bowling and Jon and yet-another-Jon came and hung out with us. We did the traditional post-bowling breakfast. We were surprised by Bill and George while we were paying our checks. Bill, not too surprisingly, was under the influence of Bacchus’ bounty. It was amusing, in a Bill sort of way.

And now, I am finally winding down. Not sure if I’m going to sleep in tomorrow or not. I have an urge to go downtown to the library and hang out for a while. I’d like the chance to hang out and explore it more. And draw. Especially since I didn’t do anything today. And, there’s the Oscar party at Steve and John’s tomorrow night. If last year’s party and their Christmas get-together were any indication, this will definitely be fun.

Namaste.

Friday
And not a day too soon!

Actually, the overall day wasn’t bad. It was just a few hours in the middle that were a little… something. They weren’t really “bad,” but they weren’t entirely pleasant, either. I led an expedition to check out a place that might be providing some new inventory. We had to catalog/inventory the items there for further review. It wasn’t fun.

The perfect way to cap off the work week was to indulge in a little Aussie-styled hospitality… so it was Outback for dinner. After an order of cheese fries, prime rib and a Foster’s (Australian for “beer”) to wash it down, the earlier parts of the day didn’t seem so bad. And, the NCAA tourney was on.

Song of the Day
Closing out “Coast to Coast” week: Anchorage by Michelle Shocked

Stray Toasters

• While at Outback, one of the managers recognized me from a prior visit. I, on the other hand, was lost as to her identity. She remembered that I worked for the USPS (apparently I haven’t seen her since I quit working for Uncle Sam). After a few minutes, the details of having met her before emerged through the misty veils of memory. Yay for not being (completely) senile!!!
• Also at the restaurant, there was an NBA game playing on one TV while the NCAA tournament played on the other. This led me to recall a comment that someone made about how different the games (pro and college) are. I think that the argument was along the lines of: The college game is a more “pure” form of the sport – the athletes are there for the love of the game; pro basketball is more flash and dazzle and more entertainment than a sport. Anyone care to voice an opinion on that?
• Not only was it a nice day, but there was a rather decent-looking sunset at the end of it.
• “This potato has long ears…”
• Apparently, someone (who shall remain nameless but one of whose names has initials in common with Green Lantern) took last night’s comments about wanting to see The Core as me wanting to subject others to the movie. Nope. The only ones who are in danger of that are the willing victims. Besides, I said “inner masochist,” which is not to be confused with “inner sadist.” At least, not in this case.
• Cyndi Lauper. I heard “True Colors” at some point today. It reminded me that, as her record stated, She’s So Unusual, but I like her stuff. Chalk it up as a guilty pleasure. Right alongside Copacabana.
• Charlotte’s Web 2: Wilbur’s Great Adventure… direct to video. Go figure. But the real question is: Was this really necessary?

Quote of the Day

[11:10] [hetsaq]: iraq is pwned
[11:10] [Mycah]: bombs over baghdad.
[11:11] [hetsaq]: iraq is now a parking lot for camels
[11:12] [Mycah]: I’m so glad I don’t live there. The biggest stress of my day is that my cheese is moldy.

Tonight’s post has been brought to you by the letters “I” and “W” and the number 4.

Namaste.

Thursday
Pretty decent day. As The Beatles said: “Nothing to get hung about…”

Song of the Day

• Sweet Home Chicago by the Blues Brothers
• Route 66 by Depeche Mode
• To Live and Die in L.A. by Wang Chung

Stray Toasters

• It was a nice day. Not quite as warm as I would have liked, and there a little more grey in the sky than I would have preferred, but it was a nice day.
• Does anyone else see trailers for The Core and think “Armageddon: Inverted”? Just wondering. And, as bad as I’m sure it’s going to be, my inner masochist wants to see it.
• Nothing like Chinese take out (or delivery in this case) from Sampan. Beef Lo Mein.
• The thigh bone’s connected to the knee bone.
• I finally got my Rokenbok Monorail Start Set and brought it home today. @_@

Quote of the Day

• : [10:19] i want to squeeze his little pencil neck so hard until his head fucking pops off, and then shove it up his ass so far it comes out his neck again.
• Leela: If you killed your grandfather, how do you still exist?
  Fry: I dunno, maybe God loves me.
  Bender: *laughter*

• Martin: Niles, you know what they say: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
  Niles: But not everyone makes it to that second category.

Namaste.

Wednesday
And so, it begins… Not only was it the first day back at work, but it seems that we are now at war. I find those two items disparate and oddly… compatible.

It was a good day at work. We are almost done processing the shipment that came in last week and should be gearing up for another one in the next week or so.

After work was the traditional every-other-Wednesday “coffee,” although tonight was an informal farewell get together for Sara, who is leaving next week to join the Peace Corps. We went to Desert Edge Brew Pub. There were 7 of us, and it was fun. One of the waitstaff turned to CNN and news of Desert Storm 2.0 (for Windows) a little after 8:00. The TV wasn’t turned up very loud… or at least we couldn’t hear it from our table, so we were making up our own commentary. Think “MST3K meets CNN” in roughly the same vein as “Laurel and Hardy meets (fill in any appropriate co-star)” and you get the idea.

Song of the Day
St. Louis Blues as done by Nat “King” Cole

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to for showing me this URL. Lego® Tarot. Who knew…?!?
• Another friend of mine sent me this URL. Wow.
• I got to chat with Mom and Adam today.
• A week or two ago, someone (I think that it was Adrian) told me about Hooters (yes, THAT Hooters) having bought airplanes. I thought that it was a joke. Until today. I was sitting in Adrian’s office and what should I see on final approach but a plane… with the Hooters logo on it. ::: jawdrop ::: The odd thing is that Hooters Air (that’s what it’s called) doesn’t fly into Salt Lake City. At least, they don’t according to their site. *shrug* Oh, well.

Namaste.

Tuesday
Adam left this afternoon; he made it back to Oklahoma City okay. It was nice having him here for the long weekend. And I am not wanting to go to work in the morning. Oh, well. We do what we must. I stopped in to say “hi” to for a few on the way back from the airport. And on to CompUSA and Borders – I was able to restrain my purchases to two newspapers.

Stayed in for the remainder of the afternoon and didn’t do too much (translation: “I didn’t do a damned thing.”) Around 7:45, I headed downtown to Jon’s to try and figure out why his computer was borked. He’d bought a system from someone who didn’t tell him anything about the components; when he tried to do some relatively minor upgrades, the system took a shit. Since he had most of his work backed up, we baselined the system and started from square one:

1. Fdisk.
2. Partition. (Note: As a general rule of thumb, when I set up peoples’ systems, I make at least two (2) partitions on their drives – one for Windows and at least one for everything else. That way, if Windows decides to make like a lemming and jump off the nearest cliff, it doesn’t take everything else with it.)
3. Install OS.
4. Find drivers.
5. Pray.
6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5, as necessary.

Actually, Steps 4 and 5 were the parts that took the longest since I had to check the numbers of the ICs on the motherboard to determine what it was that I was looking for. It didn’t help that the ‘board had no identifying markings as far as who made it or what model it was. Whoop-de-fuck. But, I found the drivers. They were installed. Light shone down from Heaven while the angelic chorus sang. And, it was good. Amen.

Song of the Day

• Georgia on My Mind by either Ray Charles or the Doc Severinson
• Sweet Georgia Brown by Freeman Davis a.k.a. “Brother Bones” You might know this song as the Harlem Globetrotters’ theme song. And, unknown to many, there are even lyrics to the song.

Stray Toasters

• Not that there isn’t enough road work going on around here, but a lot of the streets could use restriping. When it rains, you can barely see the lines in the road.
• And, on a similar note: I don’t know what happens to drivers around here when it rains… It’s like they collectively decide to lose their minds. There were at least three occasions when I saw people acting like they had never seen, let alone driven in, rain.
• For : “Barks and yips.”
• As I was heading out this evening, I saw a few planes on their final approach to the airport. Their lights and bodies broke through the clouds in a manner similar to that of the invading spaceships in Independence Day.

Quote of the Day

[18:43] Pasty Dork: I am US Ambassador of the Obvious…
[18:43] ShadoRunr: I knew that. 🙂
[18:43] Pasty Dork: I decree that france sux
[18:44] Pasty Dork: lol
[18:44] Pasty Dork: I decree that we are going to war
[18:44] Pasty Dork: I decree that war sux
[18:44] Pasty Dork: I am very political
[18:44] ShadoRunr: Wow.

And with that, I’m calling it a night.

Namaste.

Monday
Another sleep-in day. Took Adam up to the office to see what we do (and to ship a package to a friend of his). Off to Guru’s for lunch and then on to some shopping:

• The Sprint PCS Store (Adam’s phone was on the fritz, so he got a new one) And there’s more to this that I’ll will elaborate upon in the Stray Toasters section.
• Best Buy: He wanted to get a copy of the SciFi version of Dune.
• Macs (a craft store): I wanted to see if they had a wooden hand. They did. I bought it. This should make it a little easier to draw hands. I hope.

Spent the rest of the evening relaxing. And eating pizza… which was washed down with a nice Hefeweizen.

Song of the Day
New York State of Mind by Billy Joel

Stray Toasters

• Leading off tonight’s Toasters, is something that I’m not sure if I should put in the “Truly Tasteless” or “Reasons Why People Make Me Sick” category. Possibly, it should go in both. Anyway… a friend showed me this URL. I hadn’t said anything about circling the drain lately; I was starting to think that there was hope. Maybe I was wrong.
• We pulled into the parking lot of the Sprint PCS Store just as a car was pulling out of a spot right in front of the store. That person backed out and drove off… and a lady just zipped into the space ahead of us. Needless to say, this did not make for a happy moment. The lady exited her car and walked a few doors down to the Utah Idaho Supply store. Adam and Jess went into the Sprint Store; I went into Utah Idaho Supply. I found the section where she was… and there went I. She looked up and saw me standing there after a moment. She recognized me. She walked away. Quickly. I left and went to the Sprint Store. A few minutes later, I noticed that her car was still outside. So, I waited for Adam to finish selecting and setting up his phone near the window. The lady came back to her car, put her bag in the back seat, and got into the car. All without seeing me. But, she did see me as she was pulling out of the parking spot and driving off. She looked a little… worried. At that, I smiled.
• A few nights ago, there was an episode of Voyager called “Blink of an Eye.” It wasn’t a bad ep, but it didn’t dawn on me that it was a retread of an old TOS episode called “Wink of an Eye” until I saw the TOS DVDs at Best Buy this afternoon. “Everything old is new again…”
• Emily… I have no idea what you’re talking about. *whistles innocently*
• And another Star Trek-related item: If Capt. Janeway was so Hell-bent on restoring Seven of Nine’s humanity, why didn’t they call her “Annika?” For four seasons, they refer to her as “Seven of Nine” or “Seven.” When they discover the five Borg children and then bring them on board, they refer to them by their pre-assimilation humanoid names. Seven? No go. Just wondering.

I think that’s about it for tonight. Tune in tomorrow for more.

Namaste.

I’m not usually given to posting (let alone taking) quizzes, but I couldn’t pass this one up.

Dummkopf! Vei shpiek ju not GERMAN? Ju mast komplei
and tschensch jur kurrent Lenkwetsch reit nau!

What language are you supposed to speak?
brought to you by Quizilla

This is cool because I speak some German… but it’s even more funny because my German-speaking skills are VERY rusty.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Enjoy.

Sunday
Once again, another day of sleeping in.

There wasn’t much on TV, but I watched about :30 of the joint press conference with Pres. Bush, Tony Blair and the Prime Ministers of Spain and Portugal. I have to admit that their arguments actually sounded coherent and valid. I still am not a proponent of a U.S.-led unilateral (or quadrilateral, with the UK, Spain and Portugal) action, however. The U.N. hasn’t followed up on the resolutions that it set in place, but it is still their bailiwick. If the U.N. needs to up the ante to make good on its measures, then so be it.

After that went off, I channel-surfed for a while and wound up watching a the Rush A Show of Hands FreeView again. Ah, Rush…

We went to Fazoli’s for lunch. Walking in the door, we were treated to the epitome of mullet-wearing goodness: A man with a mullet that reached to the small of his back, a NASCAR tee-shirt, a wallet on a chain and white snakeskin cowboy boots. Can you say “motherlode,” boys and girls?!

From there, we headed over to Land and Catherine’s to visit with them for a while. Naomi (former co-worker) and her daughter were there. We spent about an hour catching up on the latest news and swapping stories. It was a nice way to spend some time.

We went to The Gateway to meet people for our traditional Sunday night movie. We had planned to gather at the European Connection for pre-movie crepes and coffee. The hours painted on their door said that they should have been open until 7… a typed/printed sign over that said that they closed at 6:00. GRRR. So, we went to the Starbucks in the Barnes & Noble. After chat and coffee and assorted pastries, we headed to the theatre.

We saw The Hunted, featuring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro. From the trailer, it looked like it had the potential to be a decent movie. It wasn’t. In fact, my description of it was: It was “PETA Makes a Movie” meets “Mortal Kombat” meets “The Fugitive”. And, let me go on the record with the following notes:

• I have nothing against PETA.
• I think that while it wasn’t a “great” movie, I had a blast at Mortal Kombat. Good, mindless videogame-inspired fun. Its sequel wasn’t good, but again, I knew what to expect going into it.
• I liked The Fugitive. Period.

Put these three items together and you might get something that’s fairly decent. This was not it, however. It was horribly disjointed. There were plot and continuity holes in it large enough to drive a fleet of tractor-trailers in. And the editing was just… bad. This movie definitely goes on the Cool World – Long Kiss Goodnight Scale. Near the bottom. Somewhere around Batman & Robin and FearDotCom. Spare yourself from losing 1:40 of your life that could be better spent doing something… ANYTHING… else. And, what makes this really sad is that it was directed by William Friedkin (director of The Exorcist and Rules of Engagement… both of which I liked).

And, that’s about it.

Namaste.

Saturday
Beware the Ides of March…

I slept in this morning and it felt great. Lazed around for a few hours watching television and chatting online. At one point I turned to VH1 Classic and was treated to a number of 80s songs, including (but not limited to):

• Countdown by Rush – featuring footage of the Space Shuttle Columbia
• Weird Al’s I Lost on Jeopardy, featuring a Greg Kihn cameo
• Pressure by Billy Joel
• What a Fool Believes by the Doobie Brothers

After everyone was up and about, we headed out to lunch and then to do a bit of shopping. From there, on to Scott’s for a bit of Halo gaming. Adam and I tied in our one-on-one match, but Scott completely owned us in three-way play. It was not pretty. Fun, yes. Pretty… *shakes head*

Next up… bowling. There were ten of us tonight: , , , , Adam, Jess, Mary, Larry, Zaq, and myself. Aside from the fact that the ball return system was a little… no, a lot… borked, it was fun. On to breakfast and then home. Some of the breakfast conversation was… off the beaten track, to say the least. But most of it was interesting and/or rather amusing.

All told, it was a good day. Very good. Even with the overcast skies and the rain.

And now, time to get ready for bed.

Friday
Not a bad day at work. Things could have moved a little more quickly, but they weren’t too bad. And… I’m off until Wednesday. Can’t beat that.

Song of the Day
Saturday Night’s All right for Fighting by Elton John… or cover by The Who

Stray Toasters

• Adam made it in safely.
• Four days of restful bliss. I won’t know what to do with myself when I go back to work Wednesday… Oh, well. I’ll cross that proverbial bridge when I get to it.
• I watched the last half-hour of Real Time with Bill Maher. Interesting show. Sort of like Politically Incorrect with audience participation near the end.
• More Weakest Link. It was on… and not much else was. *shrug*
• ‘s entry from last night imitated my style… right down to the section headings and bullets. I found it amusing. A little odd, but amusing.
• Adam’s playing Halo. It doesn’t look like he’s trying to DO anything in particular (he’s already beaten the game), but he’s killing a lot of aliens.

Think that I’ll be hitting the rack soon. More tomorrow.

Namaste.

Thursday
UGH. I was right. Today kicked me squarely in the glutes. A couple of times.

I have determined that there are laws that I like and those that I do not. One of the “nots” involves a certain Mr. Murphy and his “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” law. Okay, not everything went wrong, but enough of them did that it made the workday less than pleasant. One more day left and then four days off while Adam is here. Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel… and it’s not attached to a train.

Song of the Day

• Come Down in Time by Elton John or the Sting cover from the “Two Rooms” CD.
• Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic by Sting (and the Police) or the cover done by Shawn Colvin (Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic)
• Shotgun Down the Avalanche by Shawn Colvin or the Maura O’Connell cover.

Stray Toasters

• The new commercial for beef is funny: A couple is awaiting dinner in a restaurant. Cut to a waiter exiting the kitchen, beef entrees in hand. Cue the music (Aaron Copland’s “Rodeo”) The waiter goes to another table… and the music dies out. Cut to the orchestra, in the restaurant, holding their instruments at rest. Cut to another waiter exiting the kitchen. He stops at the couple’s table… and the music starts again, triumphantly.
  

  Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.

• I got to fly my kite for a little bit today. That helped to take a little bit of the edge off of the work day.
• I was watching a late night airing of the syndicated version of The Weakest Link. I think that it would be amusing to see someone vote themselves off the game as the “weakest link.” Assuming that they weren’t voted off by other players, I think that they would really throw a curve at their competitors and the host; it would raise more than a few eyebrows.
• Halo. Nothing says “I’m a glutton for punishment” like getting yourself killed many times and then going back for more.
• I saw a Bank of America commercial during Law & Order last night; apparently, the local NBC affiliate didn’t preempt the national feed. Why I find this interesting: I bank with BoA… and there isn’t one in Utah.
• Creepy Susie and 13 other tragic tales for troubled children
• Billy the Dead Boy And, if someone feels the overwhelming urge to buy a maggot doll for me, I can guarantee it a good home.

And that, as they say, is that.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Break’s over. Tomorrow, we’re getting a new shipment in. To be honest, I’m looking forward to it. While the lull has been nice, it will be good to pick up the pace again. But, check back with me after Friday, because that statement could come back to bite me in the ass. We shall see.

Song of the Day
Burn Down the Mission by Elton John (or the Phil Collins cover)

Stray Toasters

• We’ll start with the top news of the day (at least locally): The heretofore missing Elizabeth Smart has been found. Alive. Here in Salt Lake City. After eight (8) months of seemingly fruitless searching, she was found at a traffic stop. I’m glad to find that she has been safely returned home… but, I am not looking forward to the media storm that is sure to follow. And, I won’t even go into what is sure to be the coming wave of made-for-TV movies.
• I went on another work field trip today. We (Adrian and I) went to the same place as before, but I still learned a couple of new things.
• Is there a politically correct term for the activity known as a “Chinese fire drill?” And, if so: What is it?
• Text messaging can be funny.
• Cats + catnip = funny. I’m not sure if they are as funny as monkeys, but they are still pretty damned amusing.
• For : Propah!

Site of the Night
I believe that this is an encore presentation for this URL, but I just got a new email from this site’s mailing list: Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About

I’m not sure, but I think that I might have a bit of ice cream before retiring for the evening. It’s the really tough decisions like this that make life difficult.

Namaste.

Tuesday
Another day in the neighborhood, but the weather was nice and (as the song goes) the living is easy…

Song of the Day

• The Bitch Is Back and you can take your pick from the Elton John version or the Tina Turner cover
• Proud Mary by either Tina Turner or Creedence Clearwater Revival

Stray Toasters

• I got to chat with my mother and youngest sister today. This “Internet” thing might just catch on, after all…
• From a conversation tonight on IRC:
  

  [21:02] (RedDawn) i’m going to st.george,ut this weekend ..gonna be a 7 hour drive
  [21:02] (Naimad) was st. george mormon?
  [21:03] (RedDawn) who knows
  [21:03] I don’t think that he was.
  [21:03] (Naimad) I don’t think so either.
  [21:03] If it’s the same St. George of whom I am thinking.
  [21:03] (Naimad) Hard to know, lots of saints, and lots of george’s out there
  [21:04] but there were no dragons in utah
  [21:04] (RedDawn) i wanna go to bryce canyon…i think southern utah is much nicer than northern ut
  [21:04] (Naimad) Oh, there were. they hid in the mountains. Only st. george could see them
  [21:05] Dragons.
  [21:05] Dinosaurs.
  [21:05] Same brand, different flavor.
  [21:06] (Naimad) Dragons are greedier though
  [21:07] rob: not so – i’ve NEVER heard of “pete’s dinosaur!”
  [21:07] It was the anime version.
  [21:08] psht!
  [21:11] It’s true!

• I was watching Disney’s Gargoyles earlier this evening. Looking at the cast, you would have thought that it was a veritable Star Trek reunion. There are also some interesting quotes attributed to the show.
• Tank! is a good song. Find it. Download it.
• It seems as though there will be a new Rush DVD coming out this fall.

Quote of the Day
This comes from the aforementioned Gargoyles cartoon:

David Xanatos: Pay a man enough… and he’ll walk barefooted through Hell.

This shocked me since it came from a Disney cartoon. It just sounds too… cynical and jaded for Disney. But I like it. Jaded and all.

And that’s about it for tonight.

Namaste.

Monday
And so, another week begins. Today wasn’t bad, though; nothing to complain about. We’re down to the last couple of slow days before we get really busy again.

Song of the Day
Crocodile Rock by Elton John (although The Beach Boys cover isn’t bad)

Stray Toasters

• Talked to one of my sisters today. She’s doing well.
• It was an incredible day, weatherwise; I don’t know if we broke the 60° F mark, but if we didn’t we came very close to it.
• Good video game, bad idea.
• I saw a pillar of smoke this morning, on the way to work. This was its origin.
• I was listening to the radio on the way home from work when Crocodile Rock came on. I was reminded of the time that Elton John performed it on The Muppet Show… in a swamp… with Muppet alligators.
• Cowboy Bebop and a couple of hours of HALO is not a bad way to end the day.

Off to wander the realms beyond the Waking World.

Namaste.