Don't ask me why...

Today's lessons...

2007-07-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, plumbing repair is expensive.

Yes, if you leave the bedroom door open - even for a moment - the cat will get out.

...and if the crawlspace also happens to be open, the cat will jump directly in and scurry around underneath the house where he can't be reached.

And yes, given enough time, the cat will come back.

Stupid cat.

Oh yeah...

2007-01-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

...happy '07 everybody!

CNN quote of the day

2007-01-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/01/01/self.editingonline.ap/index.html

Rachel Hutson removed some photos from her college sorority days after she took a job as a civilian working for the military. She's also made her Facebook and MySpace profiles private, so that only friends she approves can see it.

"I just don't want certain people to find me," says Hutson, who's 23 and lives in Newport News, Virginia.

That's a good start, right there - getting your full name, a/s/l, and job description included in a story on an international news site.

Let there be...

2006-12-02T23:33:00.000-08:00

...lights!!

It's our first year in a "real" house, so the first year with "real" Christmas lights on our own house! And our own 7-foot real artificial Christmas tree! Yay!

Side note: as outdoor lights, dinky little single-strand lights suck. (Not to mention the flared bulbs that shatter oh-so-easily on the concrete driveway.) Icicle lights rule.

Now, to find out what Aki thinks when he actually sees them... mwa ha ha haaa...

Hey baby, hey baby, hey...

2006-11-29T00:35:00.000-08:00

I'm an aunt!!

My brother and his wife had a baby boy just before Thanksgiving. I get to see this little critter in person in a couple of weeks. :)

Highs & lows

2006-10-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

Low: Stayed up late Thursday waiting for product launch. Got delayed.
High: Flew to LA for research sessions (part of my job I don't get to do often enough)
Low: Stayed up again Friday waiting for product launch.
High: Product went live!!
Low: Had to stay up into wee hours of Saturday morning making sure nothing was broken
Low: Still had to work on my other major project
High: Got to send out the mass email proclaiming product launch & thanking team
High: Execs (including CEO) acknowledged the email and chipped in saying how great it was :D
Low: Scrapped first 2 attempts at other project doc and started again from scratch
High: Got to dress up for Diwali and see family & friends
High: Laughing at Hindi-English couples' charades
Low: Couldn't meet deadline on other project despite staying up late
Low: Had to explain to manager and manager's manager why I wasn't done
High: Discovered I fit into a dress that, according to the numeric size, should be too small :D :D
Low: Remembered that I still can't have sugar for another week
Low: Got up too damn early on Monday
High: Got to demo product for VP's to much applause
Low: Still not done with that other #$%@ing project...

*sigh*

I need more sleep between these, y'know?

Oh, no!

2006-08-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Trump fires sidekick Carolyn

If being a hot blonde yes-woman isn't enough, how's a girl ever going to make it in this biz?

...I mean, other than getting a job from Daddy...

Chew toy

2006-08-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

Guard dog destroys rare teddy bears

They left a dog in a room with a bunch of stuffed animals and it went crazy. Imagine that.

In related news, shoe and newspaper museums around the country are re-evaluating their guard dog strategies.

...now we just have to wait for the The Colbert Report segment on this dog's heroism in destroying those replicas of America's biggest threat....

AOL news quote of the day

2006-06-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

The biggest hurdle in identifying Noah's Ark comes down to "gopher wood."

Big boat found in Iran

Seriously? "Gopher wood" is the biggest issue? How about the age of the artifact, or its capacity for carrying, I dunno, 2 or more of each type of animal?

Honestly, it shouldn't be that hard to identify using a simple checklist:
- Is it 300 by 50 cubits?
- Is the outside covered in pitch?
- Is the inside covered in a few thousand different species' worth of dung?

Well, there you have it.

Today's forecast

2006-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Pat Robertson predicts the weather

"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Robertson said May 8. On Wednesday, he added, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."

No, Pat, that wasn't God talking. You just dozed off during that Al Gore documentary on global warming. Too bad it wasn't a screening of The Da Vinci Code, or we could have enjoyed an entertaining episode where you tell us how God told you ... !!5P01L3rz 4L3rT!!! ... terrorists are his way of punishing albinos.

O'Reilly quote of the day

2006-04-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

"Judge Conner is an idiot, with all due respect, ..."

Yeah, I don't know why I let Aki watch this stuff... But it does make the Darrell Hammond impression that much funnier - "Tell me where I'm wrong."

groan

2006-04-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

Sooo... what, exactly, does the Dilbert-strip-to-slide-count ratio say about a presentation? I think today's 3-hour session had about a 1:15 DSTSC....

Oh, yeah...

2006-04-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

...I suck at poker.

I seem to keep forgetting that....

Sign #1...

2006-04-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

...that you're not in California anymore: the strong whiff of cigarette smoke as you walk through the airport. The AIRPORT!!! *shakes head*

Non sequitur du jour

2006-04-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

What did I learn from AOL news today?

Cell phone legislation in the works

"In the accident, the 20-year-old driver fell asleep while talking on the phone, crossed three lanes of traffic and hit a car driven by a 55-year-old woman, who later died. Authorities lodged what they thought was Michigan's first cellphone-related negligent-homicide charge."

Cell phones put you to sleep!

"The cellphone, like eating a hamburger, putting on makeup or talking to your friend in the back seat is a distraction"

Yeah. I find mine really distracts me when I'm TRYING TO SLEEP.

Honestly ... this is the reason we're outlawing phones while driving? Don't get me wrong, I hate having to drive around anyone who's weaving around because they're on the phone (I find it *really* distracts me from my own phone conversations ;) but using this to defend a new law is just ridiculous.

Not to mention, the slightly more likely cause for the driver's drowsiness:
Later, they added drug charges, after a medical exam allegedly turned up illegal drugs in the driver's system.

...yeeeeeah.

I suppose if they hadn't found they guy's cell phone, they could have blamed it on something else, like whatever CD he happened to be playing at the time. "In the state's first recorded Yanni-related negligent homicide...."

Have you seen this cat?

2006-04-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

This critter looks strangely familiar....

(It's all Noelle's fault for posting the catamari pic last month...!)

Oh my god!

2006-03-22T21:18:00.000-08:00

They killed Chef!!!

...I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The South Park folks aren't the type to use the Chuck Cunningham treatment.

No more Chef???

2006-03-13T18:06:00.000-08:00

Isaac Hayes quits South Park after an episode mocking Scientology.

Wow. You would think someone who's been with the show that long would have understood the writers' sense of humor ....

Bucky == Stubby

2006-03-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

Get Fuzzy

sho 'nuff

2006-03-08T00:19:00.000-08:00

Colbert gloats

I called it. :-P

Note: I can only seem to get the above link to kick off the video in IE. You can also try this link, or go to the originating page here.

RIP Kirby

2006-03-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

Kirby Puckett dies at 45

Damn... I remember rooting for the Twins as a kid, and Kirby was my favorite (or at least had the funniest name, which is all that really counts when you're 8 years old).

"Puckett over the fence", big guy.

spooky

2006-03-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

So, I just had to check this on the DVR, and sure enough...

On a Colbert Report episode last week, Stephen used "The Da Colbert Code" to predict this year's Oscar winners:

Rachel Weisz
Reese Witherspoon
George Clooney
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Crash

Scary...
Can't wait to see the obligatory gloating segment. :-P

Why do I get the feeling...

2006-02-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

...that Scott Adams has a direct feed from one of the conference rooms at my office?

ugh

2006-01-31T22:35:00.000-08:00

I guess this is what I get for letting my blog just wither and die. Now it is just spam fodder. You would think the comment spammers would at least choose a post that is *not* a spam-related rant when they post their comments about how "inquisitive" my blog is.

I do not want to read your blog.
I will not read it with a dog.

Anyway. How y'all doing these days? Did I mention I'm really busy at work? Spent 12 hours at the office today, never a good sign. Ah well, it will all blow over soon... I hope... :-P

Gee, thanks...

2006-01-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks, blog spammer, for reminding me that I haven't posted anything in a couple months. If I hadn't needed to come back to delete that comment, I wouldn't have even noticed. :-P

Oh, and to all the non-spammers out there: Happy New Year!

Whoo-hoo-Foo

2005-10-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

Went to the Weezer & Foo Fighters concert last night. Eeeeeexcellent. :) I think I need to invest in some FF albums. :P

Thanks Noelle, for hooking us up with the early tickets! You rock!

mmm, sci-fi

2005-10-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

Saw a late showing of Serenity last night. Very enjoyable. :)

Now, who's going to lend me the Firefly DVDs?

Today's in-flight movie: you!

2005-09-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

JetBlue passengers watch their own drama unfold on DirectTV

(Bet you wish you were on United watching Monster-In-Law instead, huh? Huh??)

Of course, the problem here is not so much the fact that they had access to the news; it's that the news folks couldn't resist showing the damn thing live and speculating about what would happen. It's like they can't miss an opportunity to have something explode, live, on their station... it's just sick.

This can't be right...

2005-08-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

Christopher Walken for President?

picture progress (or lack thereof)

2005-08-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

As if it wasn't bad enough that I can't print or copy on this pinter/copier/scanner, now the thing's squeaking in pain as I try to scan anything. This could take longer than I thought...

...on the bright side, I did find some interesting pics among the disposable camera prints, hence the need to scan...

Photos are up

2005-08-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everybody who took photos at the wedding! I've uploaded a bunch (from various contributors) to Yahoo.

(Larger version of this pic)

Recovering

2005-08-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Got a good night's sleep once we were home with the kitties.

Photos from Saturday are coming soon, once I figure out where to upload them...

Second rant of the day

2005-08-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

They did it again. Again!!!

How the hell does this happen? Do I simply disappear from their books? Or do they think I won't mind that the dentist has taken another vacation and forgotten to reschedule...?

Maybe it's time to get a new one. Now, what was that 1-800 number from the TV...?

wedding rant

2005-08-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

To the guys handling my ceremony - if I want your advice, I'll ask for it. When I tell you what I want, you don't need to tell me what is more popular. I don't care what everyone else does - just write down what I asked for and move along.

To the guys handling my family dinner - yes, it really is possible for 17 people to have a celebratory dinner without touching a drop of alcohol. Honest. No, no one will ask for any. Stop asking stupid questions and just take the frickin' reservation.

To myself - stop obsessing. It will be fine. It will all be over soon...

oof...

2005-07-31T21:25:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a week of vacation to leave me utterly exhausted. What a way to start off the work week...

Stop messing with my clock!

2005-07-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Daylight Saving Shuffle

Okay, just putting aside the fact that I can't stand having to change my clocks twice a year anyway, what the hell kind of excuses are these for tinkering with time?

"The beauty of daylight-saving time is that it just makes everyone feel sunnier"

"Kids across the nation will soon rejoice," said Upton, because they'll have another hour of daylight trick-or-treating.

This is how our legislature makes decisions? Based on how good it will make kids feel? Greeeat.

Seriously, if it's about saving energy, stick with that. Don't come telling me how happy I'm going to be when I realize I wasn't supposed to set my clock back on the date it said on my calendar. (I can just see it now - the public outreach campaign that mails out stickers to put on your calendar for the "real" clock change date! Wouldn't that be a great way to waste government funds...)

Even sillier is the "compromise" (they still want to change it, but now will choose different new days for the start and end of Daylight Saving Time) that they think will help resolve the problems people expressed when they first talked about changing it:

According to some senators, farmers complained that a two-month extension could adversely affect livestock, and airline officials said it would have complicated scheduling of international flights.

Seems to me you'll screw up schedules whether you extend it a week or a month.

Sadly, *this* kind of stupidity gets bipartisan support.

Head count

2005-07-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

So, who can make it to Reno August 13?

Kenny Rogers Jackass!

2005-06-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

No, really!

(okay, wrong Kenny Rogers, but still...)

Must. See. Movie.

2005-06-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

I wanna see War of the Worlds! Who's with me?

(Can anybody go tonight, or should I just wait til the weekend?)

How about a Hawaiian Punch?

2005-06-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

Woman sues for 100 Grand

Not like I need another reason to hate radio DJs...

Byrd's brain

2005-06-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

Byrd regrets KKK membership

"It ... has taught me in a very graphic way what one major mistake can do to one's life, career and reputation" - says the man who has been a U.S. Congressman for more than 50 years. He joins, he recruits, and he finds a role model who helps him discover his direction in life. It reads like an ad for the racist Boy Scouts. Where's the moral to this story, again?

And on a side note, maybe if you get old enough you naturally turn into Yoda: "...the thought of a political career had never struck me. But strike me that night, it did."

desperate measures?

2005-06-07T21:26:00.000-07:00

Comcast is trying to peddle their high-speed internet services door-to-door. I said no when you called me, idiots. And when you called me again. And again. Leave me alone!!!

Thanks Kevin!

2005-06-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Kevin for putting a link to the abridged ROTS script in his blog. I needed a good laugh. :)

George Lucas' to-do list

2005-06-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

~~Explain why C-3PO doesn't remember Anakin or Obi-Wan~~

~~Set up that "Obi-Wan once thought as you do" line before placing Obi-Wan in hiding on Tatooine~~

Remember to add Liam Neeson to the end of Jedi when replacing the old Anakin with an artificially aged Hayden Christensen

Work the "Imperial March" into the soundtrack for A New Hope ... maybe in the scene where Vader shoots Greedo

Get James Earl Jones to record some new lines about "having the high ground", to be inserted into the lightsaber duels in Cloud City and the Emperor's throne room

Make Nien Nunb a Gungan, to avoid explaining why there are no notable Gungans in Episodes IV-VI.

Replace "mother" with "midichlorians" in that now-awkward Ewok village scene

Insert new lines for Yoda in Empire and Jedi, like "To the hand you will talk" and "Go you do, girlfriend!"

Weekend

2005-05-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, I actually got out of the house this weekend...

Mrin flew out to San Jose for the long weekend, so we ended up going to Napa, San Francisco, an overpriced Mediterranean restaurant, and a long and typically musical Hindi film (with a dose of Team America to cleanse the palate afterward).

So this morning I look like I've gotten a little sun and very little sleep. Which sounds about right.

Next, free movie day! I'm off to see Episode III again, on the company dime. :-P

We're hiring

2005-05-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

If you know anyone looking for a position in Software development or Product Management, send them my way... I could use the referral bonus. :P

Looky, pics!

2005-05-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

Just to prove I'm not a total nerd - this weekend I also attended a wedding. See? Seeee? Me in broad daylight...!

So pretty...

Vindicated

2005-05-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

After a chat last night with a childhood acquaintance, I have confirmed:

- I'm not the only one who saw those inconsistencies in Episode III.
- I'm not the only one crazy enough about Star Wars to actually care about plot consistency. (Okay, I already knew that, but it helps to hear it from an in-real-life source.)
- I'm not the only one pissed off at the pathetic attempts to tie everything together at the last minute at the cost of a quality storyline.

Of course, to get this confirmation I had to find someone near, at, or above my level of zeal for the series ... that is, not Aki. He's too easily swayed by the lightsaber fights. Action, CGI ... these lead to the Dark Side.

*Sigh* ... not easy being a purist. But I've been too well trained in the art of fundamentalism to quit now! :-P

Only while watching the O'Reilly Factor...

2005-05-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

...would I think of a word like "undoctrinate".

One of these days...

2005-05-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

...Sher Khan is finally going to figure out the door knob. And when that happens, nothing and no one will be safe...

Stupid cat.

Owwwwwwww

2005-04-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

My back hurts.

And I still don't get to leave.

And when I'm done here in the city I have to drive an hour to get home.

:(

Ah, well. At least Hitchhiker's guide is coming (seeing it tomorrow). Now, where did I put my towel...

ick

2005-04-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Being sick sucks ass.

It's kind of hard to do anything when you feel like your eardrums are about to explode.

Luckily I'm now past that stage and into the disgusting explosive phlegm phase of the cold.

Ick.

And now to finish the work I postponed as a result... *sigh*

CNN quote of the day

2005-04-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

Cat Shoot

"Every year in Wisconsin alone, an estimated 2 million wild cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds, according to state officials. Despite the astounding numbers, Smith's plan has been met with fierce opposition from cat lovers."

Well, duh.

Somehow I have a hard time thinking of anything that might convince cat lovers to let their neighbors shoot Fluffy the next time she steps off the porch.

Maybe they should also consider letting people hunt windows:

More bird deaths

Microsoft is frickin' brilliant

2005-04-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

So, now that XP SP2 has been forcibly installed on my computer (company policy), I am treated to the latest in Microsoft's helpful features.

For example, SP2 added a pop-up blocker to IE. When a site tries to launch a pop-up, IE catches it and displays a note in the Information bar below the Address bar.

Then XP pops up a message in the middle of the screen explaining the new Information bar and how it spares me from annoying pop-ups.

Good work, SP2. Have a cookie.

I'm not quite dead yet...

2005-04-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

...just dead tired.

Too much work.

Not enough Warfish. :-P

How appropriate

2005-03-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

Today I finally turned the page on my Despair, Inc. calendar at work. This month's demotivator just happens to be Procrastination.

New life form

2005-02-23T17:28:00.000-08:00

Everything I've ever seen in sci-fi shows tells me that this discovery of a new life form can't be good.

The organism froze on Earth some 30,000 years ago, and was apparently alive all that time and started swimming as soon as it thawed

Anybody else worried yet? It's only a matter of time before the thing devours the team that discovered it and starts threatening all of humankind.

As if to seal the X-Filesy nature of this story, CNN was kind enough to tell us where it all began:

He discovered the bacterium near the town of Fox, Alaska, in a tunnel drilled through permafrost

When will scientists ever learn???

Never fear; I'm sure the world will be saved by one or more of the following:

It was only a matter of time

2005-02-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

Blockbuster "no late fees" lawsuit.

So, this time...

2005-02-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

...maybe I *could* have danced all night. We had a group swing dance lesson followed by a "party" with various dance music and the instructors pull you out onto the floor to try out steps you know (or don't quite yet). It was fun, although it's hard to keep the beat when I'm doing a turn in a dance I barely know.

Hmmm. Must get better at this.

I could have danced all night...

2005-02-05T13:34:00.000-08:00

...no I couldn't.

For one thing, I can't dance very well. And for another, the free lesson only lasts a half hour. (Yeah, the old first-one's-free business model.)

Ah well, we're going back next week for more lessons. Let's see if this works. :-P

So, to sum up this last week...

2005-01-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

Neck pain bad.

Chiropractor weird.

Ability to move my head again... priceless.

So much for my faith in the media

2005-01-25T14:48:00.000-08:00

Yahoo baby blues

2005-01-22T13:29:00.000-08:00

Schwarzenegger jeopardizes his Austrian citizenship

See, what I don't quite get is how so many of Schwartzenegger's other activities don't seem to have damaged the reputation of the Austrian republic. Playing a futuristic cyborg with a heavy Austrian accent? Being accused of womanizing? Pursuing high political office in his newly chosen country of citizenship?

Gotta say, I'd be in favor of revoking someone's American citizenship the minute they obtain citizenship elsewhere. Then we don't need to worry about them reflecting badly on us. We've got enough people here to do that already.

Invertibraephobia

2005-01-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

Spongebob story

Gotta say, I think the funniest thing about this story is the image caption.

damn corporate policies

2005-01-18T13:48:00.000-08:00

But I don't want to change my password yet!!! I just got used to the old one...

OMFG!

2005-01-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

Comcast OnDemand has Aqua Teen Hunger Force!

My life suddenly has meaning again.

It figures

2005-01-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

The one time I've got a Monday off work is the weekend adult swim decides to move ATHF to an earlier slot. And you guys couldn't do this last week because...???

*sigh* ... oh well, guess I'll stay up and watch Tom Goes to the Mayor now just for the hell of it.

Time stands still

2005-01-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Waiting on the next player in Warfish

Waiting on the eBay auction to end

...

*check bloglines*

....

*hit Refresh*

.............

*pace around kitchen*
*open fridge*
*close fridge*
...

*pace*.....

*Refresh*
*Refresh*

......

*Refresh*

...

*sigh* ...

Gun court!

2005-01-11T14:44:00.000-08:00

Firing squad not included:

Gun Court

Reducing gun crime by enforcing the law? What a novel idea...

I never learn

2005-01-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

Yet another half-groggy Monday. The slow work week was more than compensated for by a quickly disappearing weekend ... movies, birthday party, blues show... arrgh. Need caffeine.

Slow week

2005-01-08T16:17:00.000-08:00

I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

In other news, I'm quickly becoming addicted to Warfish. Not that I wasn't already addicted to the board game on which it is based ....

And one of these days, this habit of postponing work is gonna catch up with me. *sigh*

Instead of late fees...

2005-01-05T20:12:00.000-08:00

So Blockbuster is starting their new "no more late fees" campaign. And of course, I had to look for the fine print:

if a member chooses to keep a rental item more than a week after the end of the rental period, BLOCKBUSTER® will automatically convert the rental to a sale on the eighth day after the end of the rental period.

So it's technically not a "late fee" if it's a "sale", eh?

Proof...

2005-01-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

...that my cats are pure evil.

I was just planning to document the slow demise of the contents of this vase in our living room. Seems the cats just love this dried grass or whatever it is. I had no idea how far they were willing to go to get it...

Before picture

After picture

After picture

Closeup

That book that somehow ended up face-down on top of the overturned table top is a little gift book titled "The Artistic Cat." Apparently my cats are not only pure evil, they also have a twisted sense of humor.

so tired...

2005-01-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

Why is it that even when I have a full day to recover from New Year's I still end up so damned tired ???

Oh, yeah... Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Damn adult swim and their Sunday night schedule...

If you're bored...

2004-12-28T16:41:00.000-08:00

...and I mean *really* bored...

Try the "Next Blog" link at the top of the page.

You could make a drinking game out of this:

Every ultra-liberal blog = 1 drink
Every ultra-conservative blog = 1 drink
Either of the above combined with religion or homosexuality = 2 drinks. (Extra points if it has both!)
Every blog with a picture of a cat on the first page = 1 drink
Single-post blogs = 1 drink
Foreign blogs = 1 drink of something produced in that country.
Whiny teenage blogs = no drink.

If you feel the urge to comment on a blog in any of the above categories, don't. Drink!!

Christmas

2004-12-26T16:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Aki, I now have an Xbox and SOUL CALIBUR II!!!!

I will therefore be unavailable for any other activity until well after New Year's...

sniffle

2004-12-23T10:06:00.000-08:00

I hate being sick... especially since I still feel compelled to work, so I can't just sleep it off.

At least I can work from home thanks to VPN. But I also have to put up with Sher Khan's whimpering (no, I will *not* open the door and let in all the cold air!!!).

*sigh* ... what made me think I could work like this? :P

Privacy

2004-12-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Privacy policy rant, a.k.a. "Make up your freakin' mind!!!"

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/12/21/soldier.email.ap/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/12/21/gun.lawsuit.ap/index.html

They ain't guidelines. They're policies and laws. You can't freakin' have exceptions. Hey, here's a thought - maybe people wouldn't want you reading their email. It might have things in there that'd spoil your memory of the person - or, more likely, it's just a bunch of spam and a few emails to friends and family - who, if they want you to see your son's words, can simply hit the "Forward" button.

And sorry, but sharing my prescription with the pharmacist at WalMart is creepy enough. I don't want the sporting-goods guy to know what I'm taking. If somebody's mental problems are bad enough that you can't trust them to take care of their own health, you oughtta get them declared legally incompetent and get yourself assigned as their legal guardian. If you *didn't* think it was bad enough for you to be in control of their life, well, how would some automatic computerized check be able to determine that?

Freakin' ridiculous. And don't get me started on targeting big-name companies just for the publicity...

[Addendum: so, the moral of the story was supposed to be: make up your mind - do you want your privacy protected or not? 'Cause we can't just protect you and then let you trample on someone else's privacy rights, no matter how emotionally appealing it seems.]

weekend

2004-12-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

Went skiing this weekend with Aki ... and, sure enough, now my legs are sore. I need to seriously think about getting my own ski gear, since the rental boots never fit quite right...

Anyway, it was fun to get out on the snow again. :)

And I think to myself,

2004-12-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

I am such a geek ....

(will explain later. maybe.)

Shopping

2004-12-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

So, this weekend I have started the Christmas shopping in earnest. The difficult part is coordinating gift selection with several family members in another state... and I've got to have everything far enough in advance to ship it all. *sigh*

Note: Aki can't hear a thing while he is singing. This is a good time to talk to other people about Christmas gifts for him, but a bad time to ask him what he's buying for my mother.

Catch and release

2004-12-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

So, this time the bird managed to fly off after Sher Khan dropped it (not by choice - he let go when I yelled at him).

Now he's sitting in the doorway, waiting for another one to be stupid enough to sit in the same spot.

I wonder if I should put a bell on him...

Thanksgiving & family

2004-11-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

The standard family conversations (via phone, of course)...

Talk to Mom about food, TV, animals, whatever.
Talk to little sister about high school.
Talk to other little sister about college and what she wants for Christmas.
Talk to older brother and get a hint of his financial situation. But mostly a pleasant conversation with a couple of laughs, too.
Talk to older sister and get a detailed description of her [desperate] financial situation. And her health problems.

*sigh* ... holidays...

The clothes make the man...

2004-11-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

...into a woman, apparently:

"Cross-dressing" tradition

Delana Davies, 33, said she complained after reading a school notice about "TWIRP Day." Davies, whose 9-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter attend Spurger Elementary, said she viewed the day not as a silly Homecoming Week activity, but rather something related to homosexuality.

"It's like experimenting with drugs," Davies said. "You just keep playing with it and it becomes customary. ... If it's OK to dress like a girl today, then why is it not OK in the future?"

I wonder if Ms. Davies once dressed as a witch for Halloween?

I really should know better...

2004-11-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

...than to get caught up in a political argument. That seems to be happening too frequently these days.

It's mine, all mine!!!

2004-11-11T17:18:00.000-08:00

Well, technically, it's mine and Aki's. Which is still stretching it because he's the one who actually paid for it. But anyway, the Honda is officially ours now.

Now, how to convince Aki to spend that regular monthly payment on me instead.... :P

Why Californians piss me off, part 2

2004-11-07T13:21:00.000-08:00

If you liked this year's ballot initiatives, you'll love what's coming next!

The Attorney General's website has some of the initiatives that have been submitted for review.

Included is the "School Holiday. Children’s Human Rights. Initiative Statute." [PDF] -- most of the text in this submission was copied and pasted directly from the UNICEF website, and really doesn't have much to do with the actual proposal (though it may provide insight as to what this guy was doing when he got the brilliant idea that we need another freakin' holiday). And don't forget to read up on "Restrictions on Sex-related Instruction in Public Schools. Initiative Statute." [PDF] This would prevent kids in kindergarten through 6th grade from learning why Heather has 2 mommies. And of course, "domestic partnerships" comes right after necrophilia in the list of forbidden sexual topics.

This pisses me off because not only did someone come up with these, but they got people to sign the petitions to put them on the ballot. And I know how they did it, too. They get their hustlers-for-hire to stand outside Safeway and ask, "Do you want to keep schools from teaching bestiality and necrophilia?" And they probably use that same line for both of the above initiatives...

Why Californians piss me off

2004-11-03T09:26:00.000-08:00

Ballot: Do you want to fund some mental health services?
California: Hmmm...
Ballot: It won't cost you anything. We'll get the money from rich people.
California: Sure!
Ballot: Do you want to give 50 cents of your own money to help pay for emergency services?
California: Hell no!

Halloween pics

2004-11-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

The whole suit...

...and without the jacket

Finishing touch

2004-10-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

Got myself some little Smirnoff bottles as the final accessories to my costume. Now I just need to get rid of the alcohol so I can take them to work (filled with water for the occasional swig).

Any volunteers?

M1

2004-10-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Got my new license in the mail the other day.

C + M1 = ???

I should know better

2004-10-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

Reading the Official Voter Information Guide never fails to piss me off. It's barely a step above the unofficial voter guides I get from politicians, law enforcement, firefighters, etc.

Why, you might ask, would an official publication of the Secretary of State get my ire up? Well, you see, in this "Official" guide, they've been kind enough to include arguments for and against most of the propositions that will be on the ballot. This is, I suppose, an attempt to be - uhh - let's say "impartial and equally weighted" to avoid trademark infringement. ;)

Anyway, it almost never fails... flipped through this election's guide, and sure enough:

Prop60A
Surplus Property.
Legislative Constitutional Amendment.

...

Arguments
------------
Pro

[blank]

What???? This thing managed to find its way onto my ballot, and there is no one willing to tell me why it's there and why I should vote for it?

Granted, I could read the actual text of the proposal, but have you seen how long those things are?? :-P

Hmm. This one appears to be short. Guess I'll have to read it after all. *grumble*

.........

Oh, and as it turns out, there is a "Pro" argument in the next section. Guess someone just filled out the paperwork the wrong way. @#$% bureaucracy... so much for keeping the people informed. :-P

Since I've been gone...

2004-10-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hmm, guess I ain't been hanging around the blogs lately... what did I miss? ;)

Well, let's see, Halloween is coming up - who wants pictures of me in costume? :-P

He got one...

2004-10-10T01:01:00.000-07:00

So today, after a couple years just watching the birds, Sher Khan actually CAUGHT one.

Poor birdie.

Stupid cat. He was going to bring the thing inside to finish it off...

Boot Camp part 2

2004-10-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

Guess it's not as bad as Monday. I only feel like puking, rather than like dying.

5 more weeks of this.... ugh.

Owwww

2004-10-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

I'm in PAIN....

Can't hardly walk today. This is what I get for signing up for something called "Boot Camp"... arrgh.

Random site of the day

2004-09-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

This is what I get for looking up Indian restaurants.

Things Indian - American Culture & Customs

Okay, holidays I get, but what's with that last link?

Too bad most of the links are broken - now I can't tell what American values are. :-P

Back from Omaha

2004-09-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

And what have I learned?

Motion-sensitive bathroom equipment is annoying.

So, like, I'm in the bathroom and I need to wash my hands. I go to the sink closest to the paper towel dispenser and wave my hands under the faucet. Wave... wave... wave... nothin'. Move to the next one. Wave... wave... okay, the water comes on. Then I reach up to get some soap and, of course, this means the faucet stops. Wave... wave... wave... FINALLY, it comes back on ... off... on. *sigh* ... then I walk over to the paper towel dispenser, with the friendly picture of a waving hand at the bottom. Wave... and the water turns on. D'oh!

Other interesting note: apparently you can fit 5 business travelers' carry-on luggage (including a laptop each) in the trunk of a Ford Focus. Fitting said travelers into the seats is another matter... Oh, and don't be fooled - the lack of automatic locks and trunk release is actually a security feature! (Damn you, Enterprise!!!)

Nice rack

2004-09-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

This is what I get for browsing billiard accessories on eBay...

Gentlemen!

2004-09-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

I bring you... CORN!!! I'm not sure why, but I'm in Omaha for the next couple days. Fun... At least the steak is good.

Don't ask me why...

Today's lessons...

Oh yeah...

CNN quote of the day

Let there be...

Hey baby, hey baby, hey...

Highs & lows

Oh, no!

Chew toy

AOL news quote of the day

Today's forecast

O'Reilly quote of the day

*groan*

Oh, yeah...

Sign #1...

Non sequitur du jour

Have you seen this cat?

Oh my god!

No more Chef???

Bucky == Stubby

sho 'nuff

RIP Kirby

spooky

Why do I get the feeling...

ugh

Gee, thanks...

Whoo-hoo-Foo

mmm, sci-fi

Today's in-flight movie: you!

This can't be right...

picture progress (or lack thereof)

Photos are up

Recovering

Second rant of the day

wedding rant

oof...

Stop messing with my clock!

Head count

Kenny Rogers Jackass!

Must. See. Movie.

How about a Hawaiian Punch?

Byrd's brain

desperate measures?

Thanks Kevin!

George Lucas' to-do list

Weekend

We're hiring

Looky, pics!

Vindicated

Only while watching the O'Reilly Factor...

One of these days...

Owwwwwwww

ick

CNN quote of the day

Microsoft is frickin' brilliant

I'm not quite dead yet...

How appropriate

New life form

It was only a matter of time

So, this time...

I could have danced all night...

So, to sum up this last week...

So much for my faith in the media

Invertibraephobia

damn corporate policies

OMFG!

It figures

Time stands still

Gun court!

I never learn

Slow week

Instead of late fees...

Proof...

so tired...

If you're bored...

Christmas

sniffle

Privacy

weekend

And I think to myself,

groan

I really should know better...