Random Access

I’ll update in the morning.

Peace.

Mittwoch.

Work. Wahoo. Actually, it wasn’t too bad today. Letters processing for the first half of the day; flats for the second. Mail was very sporadic in flats – I was able to brush up on HTML tables for the last two (2) hours of my shift. This is a twofold “good thing” because the table layout that I came up with will most likely be the basis for the frame/table layout of the next version of my site.

Today, I rediscovered the joys of listening to National Public Radio (NPR) at work. It was pleasant, on the whole. I did get a little wound up when one of the news/talk programs did a segment that talked about U.S. oil reserves and how popular (though inefficient with respect to gas mileage) certain types of vehicles are. There was a note of how one-seventh (1/7) of global oil production is consumed by…. you guessed it, Americans. Specifically: North Americans. More specifically: The U.S. I will be the first to admit that we are a consumer (read: “ME! ME! ME!” or “I must have…”) culture. My IKEA and Best Buy obsessions are prime indicators of this phenomenon/trend.

So what was it that got under my collar?

A reporter, talking to people at an auto show, asked what drew them to certain vehicles. One man said, and I’m paraphrasing this as best I remember it: “I’m here with my son, looking at the new SUVs…. I’m a big guy and I’m looking for something that I can fit in comfortably; if I can’t get the headroom or shoulder space I want, I don’t even bother. I’m also looking for something that I can get my kids into.”

At this point, the reporter asked the gentleman if he was concerned that the class of vehicles that he was choosing had poor overall gas mileage. The man’s response, and this is what floored me: “I don’t care about gas mileage. Gas is cheap.”

While this person may be affluent enough not to have to worry about the minor pittance that he pays for gas, let’s look at it in the long term:

• As he mentioned, he has children. Plural. More than one. This means that he has expenses to cover for each child. I don’t have kids, but I have friends who do and I have parents. I have heard their accounts of who expensive one child can be. More than one? Do the math.
• While it’s true that gas is currently relatively inexpensive, it is hardly realistic to think that it will be so forever. Or even for the next few months. Does anyone remember when gas prices pushed, and in some cases broke, the $2.00 USD mark last year? What is there to keep it from happening again this year?
• SUVs typically have large gas tanks, approaching 15 – 20 gallons (56 – 75 lit res), if not larger. I am willing to bet that having to fill something this size two or three times a week will start to wear thin.

Bill Maher, of Politically Incorrect, often comments about his hybrid (gas/electric) vehicle and how much mileage he gets from a tank of gas; for some reason 60 – 65 mpg (25 – 27 km/l) seems to stick in my mind. The Chevrolet (formerly Geo) Metro has long been noted – and praised – for getting high mileage, 35 mpg (14 km/l) city / 45 – 50 mpg (19 – 21 km/l) highway.

I know that some people like large vehicles. Some people even need large vehicles. To tell the truth, I have even thought that it might be nice to have a truck or SUV. *shrug* But, it seems to me that somewhere along the line, we (consumers and manufacturers) should be able to find a happy medium. Why? Because I find it hard to believe that, in the same world where we are able send people into orbit to give a telescope the hardware equivalent of Lasik surgery, we can’t come up with ways to improve the efficiency of truck/SUV gas mileage.

And, that’s my 2¢ worth for tonight.

Peace.

Dienstag (Tuesday).
Nothing out of the ordinary today.

Stray Toaster of the Day: It’s been noted that the most memory-related sense is the sense of smell. I won’t argue that point, but that’s not where I was going with this. Instead, I am going to talk about the sense of hearing… and more specifically music and how it the memories that it can evoke. If you came here for the “Smell and Memory” lecture, that has been moved to Lecture Room #4 (down the hall, turn left, second door on the right). Now, carrying on…

• I was listening to the radio a couple of days ago when “Lightning Crashes” came on. They even played the first verse!¹ This is one of two songs that reminds me of my friend Dave, in North Carolina; the other is “Blister in the Sun,” by the Violent Femmes. Dave’s a drummer/percussionist. From time to time, we would sit around and play these songs – Dave on drums or whatever tabletop was available, me on guitar or bass. One of us would start and the other would join in.
• Whenever I hear Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative,” I think of my freshman year at Purdue. Just starting college, 16 years old, FAR from home… it became my theme song. That’s both a little scary and funny, in retrospect.
• I have mentioned how Chopin’s “Fantasie Impromptu (Opus 66)” reminds me of hearing my mother playing it on our piano at home.
• “Dude Looks Like a Lady” also reminds me of my freshman year at Purdue. A guy in our residence hall dressed up in drag for Hallowe’en. His mistake: He walked past our radio station… and, through the haze of years past, I think that he may have actually come into the station. From that point forward, whenever we played that song, it was dedicated to him. Fortunately (for us), he took it in good humor.
• When I hear “The Battle of Who Could Care Less,” the CD version, I remember listening to Peter’s (ex-roommate/co-worker) copy at work. The line “…why don’t we pitch it to the Franklin fucking Mint…” came up. To that point, I had only heard the radio version. This was more than a little unexpected. I stopped keying, my jaw dropped and I sat there, staring at Peter. His response: “I thought you’d get a kick out of that.”
• Anything by Bill Withers, Ray Charles or The Coasters reminds me of riding in the car with my dad, listening to the oldies station.
• EMF’s “Unbelievable” and Animotion’s “Obsession” bring back memories of a band that friends of mine were in. It would have been nice if they could have remained cohesive enough to get more of a following than just family and friends.
• “Jam On It,” by Newcleus… One year at summer camp, we were doing workshops in electronic music. Yes, I went to a computer camp… but that was also where I learned how to do trapeze work. Go figure. For our end-of-workshop project, we… um…. wrote a song whose bass line was suspiciously (translation: COMPLETELY) similar to “Jam on It.”

I think that I’ll leave it with those, otherwise this could turn into Rob’s Music-a-Go-Go… and that could be scary. Very scary, indeed. If anyone would like to comment and add some of their own music/memory combinations, please do.

Peace.

¹ Click here to see my why I am so shocked/amazed/pleased by this.

Montag (Monday):

• Went to the local Shack d’Radio and Meyer of Fred to get a few things that I needed for my utility belt laptop battery. I use a gel cell and cigarette lighter adapter for long-use power (5 to 6 hours); the internal battery only gives about 2 hours of use. In its previous incarnation, it was a bit cumbersome and unwieldy (a tangle of wires and clips and the adapter’s transformer)… so, I bought a camera bag, cigarette lighter outlet, and some wires. And, after a little MacGuyver-like tinkering, I can now carry all of them around in one bag.
• Work. I spent most of the day in flats processing.
  Flats GOOOD! ::: gesture :::

• Went to the gym.
• Came home… and finally fixed the broken image links on my site. This will serve as a decent stopgap measure until the major overhaul is done.

And that’s about it for “How I Spent My Monday.”

Peace.

Sontag (Sunday).

• Had a hard time falling asleep this morning, so…
• I wound up sleeping until 1:30.
• Observed the hygiene rituals.
• Dad called; we talk for a bit. He asked me to look into airfares for Rana around Christmas.
• Went to the comic shop and Borders.
• Dinner at Jess’ parents’.
• Theo called.
• Home… where I have been exceedingly lazy.

And that about sums up the day.

Now, all I need is to figure out what’s buggering up the network (AGAIN) and then all will be right with the world once more.

Peace.

Samstag (Saturday):

• Slept in, kind of. Again, it was fitful, but I slept until 11-something. Jess got home sometime after 9am… and then had a difficult time falling asleep; I think that she finally wound up in Morpheus’ realm around noon.
• Lazed around the apartment for a few hours.
• Went to the inlaws’ to install a few things on their computer. And, as an added bonus, Sandi made – from scratch, of course – chocolate chip cookies! She and Jim easily qualify as the second coolest parents in the world.
• Came home, picked up Jess and went out for dinner.
• Jess went to work; I came home.
• Larry and I went bowling; our friend, Mary, showed up a little later and bowled. and also came and hung out with us, for a while.
• Larry, Mary and I (Oh, my!) went to the nearby Village Inn for a bite to eat… and saw the following:
  • A skullet that would have made both Terry Bradshaw and Dungeon Master (from the old Dungeons & Dragons cartoon) proud.
  • A woman (genetically) whom Mary said had on “transvestite makeup.” I didn’t even think to ask her exactly what that entails. I’ll put it on tomorrow’s ‘To Do List.’
  • One of the waiters dancing to Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. This was… umm… “interesting,” to say the least. We definitely were not expecting dinner breakfast and a show. Mary said that it, alone, made hanging out with us worth it.
• Came home.

I forgot to mention something in last night’s post: I talked to Rana. Actual voice communication. She finally got a phone number… after four months. Sidebar:It’s somewhat amazing how we take getting a phone/phone number for granted; we almost act as if it’s our right to have one rather than a privilege. She is doing well and is enjoying herself. I asked her to send vodka! She said that she will be home for three weeks in December.

It’s late and, once more, I am tapped (Drain Life: 1 black and 1 colorless mana).

Peace.

It appears that I am getting caught up in this “personality quiz” taking/posting wave that seems to have swept LiveJournal. Oh well, might as well relax and enjoy the ride…

I took the Inner Dragon online quiz and found out I am a Gold Dragon on the inside. My Inner Dragon is the most honorable of all. Golds are the third rarest of all the dragons (after Platinum and Chromatic dragons) and have a station in society that reflects their rarity. I am what one might call a Draconic Knight. Golds live by a strict code of chivalry and commitment. Remember Draco? Yep, Gold Dragon. My appearance is fearsome and all-mighty but I’d never stoop so low as to bring any harm to a human. I’m one of only two dragon types that are aligned “Lawful Good” and demonstrate great magical proficiency. My piety, beauty, wisdom, and inner strength are absolutely without parallel.

Of course, being a Gold Dragon isn’t all high ethics and codes. I like to fly around scaring things, advise humans in their affairs, and shapeshift. Strike that, I LOVE to shapeshift. And I’m great at it. In fact, who’s to say I’m not really a Gold Dragon after all? My favorable attributes are honor, truth, kindness, gold, wisdom, bravery, and trustworthiness. If anyone threatens or tries to kill me, I could strike back with my breath weapon – Fire. But then, no one’s tried anything that stupid in the last couple thousand years. After all, I’m about 54 feet long.

Peace.

Freitag (Friday).

• Stopped at my credit union¹ on the way to work. I pulled into the ATM line behind a man in a truck. No worries. He wasn’t using the ATM, he was rooting around in his truck. And the line behind me grew. Turns out that he was making a deposit. Okay, that’s fine. Let me correct that: He was making three deposits. And he apparently didn’t have anything prepared when he drove up. So, I (and the people behind me) got to sit and wait and sit and wait and (you get the idea) …while he prepped and input all three deposits. *SIGH* He finished and drove off. I used the ATM, drove off… and caught up to him at the next traffic light.
• Went to work. Worked a full day and almost six (6) hours of that was in flats processing. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong wit’ that!”
• Came home.
• Went to dinner with Jess and Angie. Angie and I both took our sketchbooks to the restaurant; after Jess left for work, we took them out and sat at the table half-eating/half-drawing. A couple of boys from the table across from us came over and watched us for a bit. One of them said,”You guys draw really good.” It was a very nice compliment; it was also good for me because I am getting less self-conscious about drawing in public (other than Borders).
• Came home and haven’t done much since. I did discover that the problems that we’ve had with the network seems to be attributable to a burned-out power supply in our hub. Joy. Hopefully, Ye Shack of Radios carries a suitable replacement; I would have checked their site, but it is down for “scheduled maintenance.” And as for the Linksys site, makers of my hub: Their site seems to have entered the Bermuda Triangle. Can you say,”More than slightly irritating,” boys and girls? I can.

And on a lighter note: Sissy is sitting here, watching me enter this and looking up, as if to say,”You are free to pet me at any time while you’re sitting there.” Cats are funny.

I’m tapped (The Abyss: 1 black and 3 colorless mana), so that’s all for tonight.

Peace.

¹ Utah is rife with credit unions. There are a few large banks here (Bank One, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo), but none of them is my bank, Bank of America. I think that there was something passed in the state legislature many moons ago that makes it easier (or exclusive) for CUs to flourish here, but I can’t swear to that. All I know is that Nevada seems to have the closest BoA ATMs to here; thank Heaven for the Internet. But, it was funny to see all of the BoA ads and billboards here during the Olympics… with nothing else to show for it. No buildings. No banks. No ATMs. Go figure.

Donnerstag (Thursday).

• Got up after an unexplainably fitful sleep.
• Went to work.
• Bought groceries.
• Came home.

Yup, you got it… it was a rather uneventful day. Well, there was one ‘event:’ It snowed for a little while this evening.

Quotes of the Day:I’m not a huge fan of Seinfeld; it was a good show, but I never got caught up in the hoopla behind it. *shrug* I was listening to it at work tonight (radio with TV tuner) and had to laugh at a couple of things. Part of tonight’s episode was about a mysterious man that Elaine was dating. No one knew what he did for a living, so they started tossing out a couple ideas, one of which was:

Jerry: You could be dating Green Lantern!
Elaine: Which one is he?
Jerry: Green suit… power ring…
Elaine: I don’t like jewelry on men.

In the second act, they finally discover what the guy’s secret was. Well, one of them anyway. He was poor. This, of course, led to another line of ribbing:

Jerry: He’s the Got-no-green Lantern.
George: Maybe his girlfriend is Lois Loan.

What can I say…? It doesn’t take much to appeal to the comic book geek in me. And, before I forget: They also found out two other secrets, in the third act: The man wasn’t poor and he was married.

In other news… (or “What else can I post to shock …?”)
I left something out of Sunday night’s post-Olympics post. I did it for two reasons:

1. Given the post that I made, this wouldn’t have “fit in.” Sure, I could have still posted it, but I chose not to. Go figure.
2. I wanted to have the pictures that went along with it.

So, without further delay, here it is: Land, friend and coworker who has been previously mentioned here, is a member of the LDS Church, but he is atypical of a lot of its members and isn’t always so mainstream. Case in point: He recently bought a new truck and has decided to let everyone, at least any-/everyone behind him, know that his truck is a boy truck: He has fitted it with these (1, 2, 3).
Yup. You got it: Testicles. So far, the reaction has been mixed, but they definitely get reactions. Just a little something to shake up the quite norm around here. And I can’t let him take all of the blame (or credit, depending on your p.o.v.) for this: Even though he came up with the idea, I gave him the ideas on what to use. After all, What good are friends if they can’t be helpful and/or supportive?

And that’s all the news from Lake Saline, where the Olympic flame is out, the streets have no name, and the vehicles have hit puberty. Goodnight, everybody. Thanks for tuning in.

Peace.

Mittwoch (Wednesday).

• Went to get coffee this morning. There was a man in line ahead of me, who discovered that his credit/debit card wasn’t getting authorization. He went to his car to get his checkbook…. it wasn’t there. So, I offered to – and did – pay for his coffee. He was astonished. Are altruistic acts so alien to us today? To me, it was just being kind, but I think that you could have knocked him over with the proverbial feather when I told Jamie (clerk at the local Beans & Brews) to just ring his items up with mine. Oh, well.
• Went to work. Wasn’t too bad.
• Started to go to the gym, but opted out and went to see John Q with Jess. Interesting movie; I liked it.
• Came home.

What’s this?!? John Madden may be on Monday Night Football next season?! And they may let Dennis Miller go? Either way, it should be interesting.

This made me laugh.

This also made me laugh: I heard a radio spot for performances of The Vagina Monologues. It went something like this:

Customer: I’d like to buy tickets for that play about…. (blah blah blah)…
Ticket Attendant: What’s the name of the play?
Customer: Well…. it sounds like “China”
Ticket Attendant: Oh…. you mean: The Vagina Monologues.
Customer: (You can almost hear her blanche on air.) Yes….
(blah blah blah…)
Ticket Attendant: So…. what was the name of the play again?
Customer: ….
Ticket Attendant: Come on… say it…
Customer: The Vagina Monolgues.
(blah blah blah…)

I found it funny because that sounded so much like how I would expect many of the locals, here behind the Zion Curtain, to react. Can you say ‘sexually repressed culture,’ boys and girls? I dunno. I just found it funny… especially since I could picture a number of peoples’ faces in the part of the customer. Click here for more information about the play.

And, to paraphrase Garrison Keillor: That’s all the news from Lake Saline… where all the children are happy, all the men are rugged, and the women are afraid to say the word “vagina.” Goodnight, everybody. Thanks for tuning in.

Peace.

Run of the mill Tuesday:

• Woke up.
• Wrote this morning’s entry.
• Hurried to get ready for…
• Work.
• Came home.

Yesterday, I installed a few programs on the laptop yesterday that seem to have given it the electronic equivalent of selective amnesia. Fortunately, I haven’t put anything on irreplaceable the new HD, so after giving it the System Restore CD equivalent of the Vulcan Mind Meld, it’s bad to normal. For now.

Peace.

Note: This would have been posted as a comment to the appropriate LJ entry, but both the entry and the offending reply have been deleted, so here it is…

Subject: Re: Black Guy about White Girl about White boy calling bullshit… (that’s a mouthful)

First: Work it, Grrrl!

Second: It never fails to amaze me that people fail to remember that the purpose of a journal is for posting opinions and thoughts about life and the world around us. It irritates me when people get on their moral high horses and look down their noses at someone because they happened to ‘say’ what’s on their mind… and they were either hurt or offended by it. It happened to me and I had to explain to the offended parties that I meant what I said and, based on my First Amendment rights, was not going to retract what I had said (although I did apologize for any hurt feelings).

The simple truth is: If you don’t like what (fill-in-name-here) has to say in their journal, DON’T READ IT. It’s just that simple. If that concept is too difficult, to grasp, don’t come onto LiveJournal…. no, better yet: Don’t even bother to log on to the Internet – if you think that the things here are opinionated, what exists outside of LJ would mortify you.

::: gets down from soapbox :::

Sorry about that, but that kind of comment bothers me. I’m sorry that it was deleted, it would have been nice to be able to show that shining example of closed-mindedness to everyone.

I hope that the rest of your day is better.

Rob (shadorunr)

Peace.

Not a bad day for a Monday.

I got trained on our ‘new’ flats (oversized envelopes, magazines, newspapers, etc.) system. And then, spent the last four hours of my shift processing live flats. This was cool because there wasn’t too much mail and I was able to get a LOT of drawing practice in.

Worked out for the first time in…. two weeks. And it felt like it. But, it was good to get back in there.

And to top things off: They are bringing back The Wayne Brady Show, starting next Monday. Life is good.

Peace.

It is over.
The 2002 Olympic Winter Games are now part of history.

I, along with nearly everyone else who has watched the games, have been duly impressed with the overall presentation. Even after all of the scandal and speculation, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) put on an amazing event. No, that might not be enough to encompass the Games. Possibly, “spectacle” would be better suited to describe it.

I missed the Opening Ceremonies, mostly by choice. I watched most of the Closing Ceremonies, on TV, as they were occurring. Very well done. And the closing fireworks display: Amazing. It was one of the, if not THE, most impressive display(s) that I have ever seen. We watched them, live, from Adrian’s; he lives about a mile, as the crow flies, from Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium.¹ We felt the ground shake from that distance. Again, “amazing” is the only word that I can think of.

In the end, it can be said that the world came to Utah, and moreover to Salt Lake City, and everyone survived the experience. It has definitely been an interesting experience. I’ve gone from being rather apathetic about the games being here to being mildly interested to excited about them. Not too bad for a two week span, especially considering that I wasn’t even here for one of those weeks.

My father called me at the end of the live broadcast of the Closing Ceremonies to say that he had enjoyed the coverage of the games and ceremonies. Baltimore and Washington, D.C. are working in a joint venture to be candidate cities to host the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. Based on what I have seen and experienced during the past two weeks, if they are awarded the Games, I would definitely like to be there.

But for now, as the games have ended and the hour grows late, goodnight from Salt Lake City.

Peace.

¹ I wonder if The University of Utah will retain the name “Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium” now that the Games are over. In my opinion, it would be a wise move. I think that it would add what I can only think of as “international prestige” to the stadium, and by association – the school. Of my friends that I asked, no one can really identify neither of the people for whom the stadium was named. What do you think that those names mean to people living outside of Utah (or Salt Lake City)? I don’t know if any other American cities which have hosted Olympic games have kept “Olympic” in the names of the arenas, but I would be interested to find out if they have.

Saturday. A nice, quiet day.

• Slept in, which is a nice thing.
• Didn’t do much during the early part of the day.
• Jess and I went to Red Lobster for dinner… and then she went to work, I came home.
• Worked on getting the laptop back into working order: I installed the new HD and now it has much more headroom…. not to mention: IT LIVES AGAIN!!!
  ::: cue maniacal laughter :::

• Bowled with Larry; I won 3 of 5. Barely. We both seemed to be off of our normal games.
• Came home.

Everyone seems to be posting personality tests; far be it from me to not conform publicly.

Which Chess Piece Are You?

“Your mind is a scary place to be.”
To quote Scar, from The Lion King,”You have NO idea…”

I also find this amusing because being “Black King” is something of a demotion. I’ve always thought of myself more along the lines of “Black Lord High Emperor” or, even more simply: “Da Heat.” Oh well. The king is the highest ranking piece on the board, so I guess I can’t (or shouldn’t) complain too much.

Quote of the Day: In something that, in my mind, brings a fitting close to Black History Month, Dee told me about Vonetta Flowers on this past Wednesday. She has achieved a couple of history-making firsts:

• She, and teammate Jill Bakken, were awarded the first medals ever awarded in the Olympic Women’s Bobsleigh event; and
• Vonetta is the first black athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games.

I have something of a running joke with my friends about the lack of black athletes in water sports of any state: liquid, solid (ice or snow), or gaseous (water vapor, i.e.: skydiving). Let’s face it: there aren’t many. After Dee told me about Flowers and Bakken won the Women’s Bobsleigh, I told him that black athletes were branching out. His response: “*sigh* Well, we still have clog dancing.” I told him that I think that is safe. For now.

Peace.