June 2010
1 post
1 tag
You know what’s really sad?
Website adverts that pop up over the site you’re trying to read.
Are there people out there that actually respond to these things? Do people even actually get a chance to see what’s being advertised? Because my immediate response is invariably “WHERE’S THE FUCKING CLOSE BUTTON ON THIS THING SO I CAN GO BACK TO THE THING I WAS TRYING TO...
April 2010
1 post
1 tag
You can pick your friends. And you can pick your nose. But you can’t pick your friend’s nose.
However, you can pick your friend’s brain.
March 2010
1 post
Argh
Pollen everywhere
*sneeze* *sneeze* *sneeze*
February 2010
2 posts
January 2010
1 post
3 tags
Adventures in Home Theater
I went out and bought a stereo receiver today.
In this case, ‘receiver’ means, ‘amplifier, tuner, and switcher.’ It’s the box you plug your audio sources into, amplifies the audio and sends it out ot speakers, and has a built-in AM/FM tuner.
This one was a Sony brand. It cost about $165. I was considering a slightly cheaper one for $150 (also a Sony) but I decided...
November 2009
1 post
2 tags
Geocaching!
I bought a GPS today.
While it will certainly be useful to me, seeing as I have a natural talent for getting lost, I got it mainly for its hobbyist uses.
Geocaching is a game where someone hides a box, then posts its coordinates online, where others can hunt for it. The box will typically contain a logbook and pen for finders to sign. It might also contain various low-value items that might be...
October 2009
2 posts
Amusing Moment At Work
[My MP3 player is playing next door in the slicing deli while I'm working in rotisserie]
Coworker: F'real?
Me: What?
Coworker: F'real?
Me: F'real what?
Coworker: The Backstreet Boys!?
Philips GoGear Vibe
My trusty old iPod died. It went through the wash. RIP.
I bought a Philips GoGear Vibe to replace it.
It’s about the size of a box of matches.
It’s half the cost of the equivalent iPod, but does the job almost as well. It’s easy to use, the UI is clear and simple. It comes with its own media player software for transferring files, but it’s some fly-by-night operation...
September 2009
2 posts
I saw a truck spewing more smoke out the tail pipe than I’ve ever seen. It was billowing smoke like a house on fire. There was a whole haze all the way down the street after it went by.
Gives new meaning to the term ‘gross polluter.’
August 2009
1 post
July 2009
3 posts
2 tags
Homemade Diet Soda
Kool-Aid + Splenda + Seltzer water = Not bad!
I think I should call it SplendAid!
The exact measurements I used (on this batch) were:
2 packets of Kool-Aid
2 1/4 cups of Splenda
2 quarts water
1 quart seltzer water
This yields a lightly-carbonated soda. it is a bit more concentrated than ‘standard’ Kool-Aid, and slightly sweeter (to offset the bitterness of the...
Splenda
Sucralose (trade name Splenda) is marketed as an artificial sweetener that tastes like sugar, instead of tasting like fake sugar. It’s chemically similar to sugar, and is supposed to not have the bitter taste of fake sugar. It sounds like the perfect artificial sweetener.
Unfortunately, it’s almost utterly impossible to find products made with sucralose.
Sure, there’s tons of...
1 tag
June 2009
1 post
2 tags
Today's Music Acquisitions
David Gilmour
About Face - David Gilmour
On An Island - David Gilmour
Amused to Death - Roger Waters
La Luna - Sarah Brightman
(via Rasputin)
May 2009
5 posts
Today's (this weekend's, actually) Music...
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour
(via Rasputin)
I believe this officially completes my Beatles collection.
2 tags
Music Review: The Alan Parsons Project
I used to say that Pink Floyd was my favourite band. Now, I realize that at best they’re a tie with The Alan Parsns Project. The Project has the unique property that I actually really like just about everything they ever did. Even Pink Floyd can’t claim that.
So, in my typical style, on the Binary Scale (which goe from 0 to 1, integral), is my review of the Project discography and...
2 tags
Music Review
Albums
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Commonly considered to be their best album, this has some great classics, and some
lukewarm tracks.
Score: 1
Top Picks: Master of Puppets, Welcome Home, Orion
Metallica - S&M
A live album, recorded with the San Francisco Symphony. While I usually like rock/symphony
fusion (witness all the Alan Parsons and ELO in my collection), this one...
Today's Music Acquisitions
Alan Parsons - The Time Machine
Eric Woolfson - Freudiana
Andrew Powell - Ladyhawke
(Stolen off the internet, as they are all out of print)
You hear that, Mr. Music Industry? You just lost THREE SALES because you couldn’t even be bothered to SELL THE DAMN THINGS
2 tags
Unified Agenda
To Do
Find a dentist
Figure out what time I want to go to Weight Watchers and do it
Clean room
Clean bathroom
Clean garage
Therapist homework
Take truck to AAA for inspection
Call in Rx refills
Shopping
Shower brush
Projects
Fix Truck
Build a small workbench for garage
Look for a car that I don’t despise
Truck issues
Rear axle seal? (Big O claimed this when I got my brakes...
April 2009
16 posts
2 tags
More Music Acquisitions
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Metallica - S&M
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
via Rasputin
2 tags
Today's Music Acquisitions
“Bonus” studio tracks from Alan Parsons - The Very Best Live (I didn’t buy the live part, just the studio tracks)
When
Take the Money and Run
You’re the Voice
Other miscellaneous Alan Parsons tracks
The Naked Robot
Antarctica
And two other individual tracks
Ozzy Ozbourne - Crazy Train
3 Doors Down - When I’m Gone
All via Amazon MP3
2 tags
2 tags
YACF
So I knew I had to take the truck in today, and knew there was a good chance it would be there all day or overnight. So this week I bought a bike. I’d post a picture but that would involve hiking upstairs, and I’ve already dealt with enough bullshit for one day. The bike cost $260 at Costco.
Of course, with the bike has to come the inevitable accessories. First I went to OSH, but...
2 tags
Reactrix, RIP
Reactrix went out of business.
You’ve probably never heard of them, but if you ever visited a fancy mall you might have seen their handiwork. They made these neat little interactive projector displays. Basically it was a ceiling-mounted projector that projected an image onto the floor, with an electric eye that would sense when someone/something moved over it, and alter the image...
2 tags
Handy Household Tip Of The Day
To get mildew out of a shower curtain: Throw it in the washing machine, with bleach.
Test
At Pete’s. Typing this on his Google phone
3 tags
Music Review
As always, everything is rated on the Binary Scale.
Synthesizer Greatest, Volume 2
A compilation of new-age synthesizer music. Very spacey.
Score: 1
Top picks: Magnetic Fields
Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape
Roughly half bubblegum pop and half rapless-hiphop (the subject of another article I might write soon), not entirely dissimilar to her previous album.
Score: 1
Top Picks: The Sweet...
2 tags
Unified Agenda
To Do
Doctor’s appointment Tuesday
Wood Shop Tuesday
Take the truck in to get smogged
Find a dentist
More blood work [DONE]
Figure out what time I want to go to Weight Watchers and do it
Call EAP about further therapy
Taxes [DONE]
Clean room
Clean truck [DONE]
Shopping
Hard drive enclosures
Lawn chairs and tables for back and front
Projects
Fix Truck
Look for a car that I...
2 tags
The "Complete" Beatles Discography
A.K.A. “The complete list of CDs you have to buy to get all the material the Beatles ever released”
Having bought “Past Masters” volumes I and II today, I was reminded of the confusion regarding the official, complete Beatles discography. Between the myriad non-album singles, EPs, and differing album versions, it’s difficult to tell what exactly makes up the...
2 tags
Unified Agenda
To Do
Doctor’s appointment Monday [DONE]
Wood Shop Tuesday
Take the truck in to get smogged
Find a dentist
More blood work
Figure out what time I want to go to Weight Watchers and do it
Call EAP about further therapy
Taxes [DONE]
Clean room
Clean truck
Shopping
Hard drive enclosures
Lawn chairs and tables for back and front
Projects
Fix Truck
Look for a car that I...
3 tags
Today's Music Acquisitions
The Beatles - Past Masters Volume I
The Beatles - Past Masters Volume II
Beatles For Sale
The Police - Every Breath You Take - The Classics
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
via Rasputin
1 tag
“Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.”
– Bumper sticker of the day. (I need this one.)
2 tags
Cluserfuck Update
My dad got up early Wednesday morning and went shopping for fridges so I didn’t have to. He ordered a new one, it’s supposed to get delivered sometime tomorrow.
In the meantime the little one is working well. In fact it’s working a little too well. My milk was starting to freeze, so I turned it down a notch.
3 tags
The Latest Clusterfuck
The fridge just died.
I noticed it this morning, when my milk wasn’t quite as cold as it usually was. Probably only someone as anal-retentive about their milk being ice cold as me would have noticed. But now it’s blazingly obvious. It’s already cooled off enough that everything in the freezer has defrosted.
I can hear the compressor cycling on, then cycling back off after...
March 2009
21 posts
2 tags
Unified Agenda, ongoing
To Do
Wood Shop Tuesday
Take the truck in to get smogged
Find a dentist
More blood work
Figure out what time I want to go to Weight Watchers and do it
Call EAP about further therapy
Taxes [DONE]
Clean room
Clean truck
Shopping
Hard drive enclosures
Lawn chairs and tables for back and front
Projects
Fix Truck
Look for a car that I don’t despise
Truck issues
Fuel line leak
...
3 tags
Today's Music Acquisitions
The Beatles - Help
The Beatles - Let It Be
Oystein Sevag - Global House
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81
(via Rasputin)
2 tags
Unified Agenda, ongoing
To Do
Wood Shop Tuesday
Take the truck in to get smogged
Find a dentist
More blood work
Figure out what time I want to go to Weight Watchers and do it
Call EAP about further therapy
Go to credit union and get my address change straightened out [DONE]
Taxes
Clean room
Clean truck
Shopping
Hard drive enclosures
Lawn chairs and tables for back and front
Projects
Fix Truck
Look for a...
3 tags
Tool Review
Irwin Handi-Clamps
These pincer-shaped clamps are designed to open and close easily. They ratchet
shut, and only open when you pull the release lever. I got them for holding wood
down on the sawhorses when I’m using the saw, but unfortunately they don’t
grip tight enough for that — they can only grip as tight as you can squeeze. They’re
still useful for holding guides...
2 tags
Unified Agenda, ongoing
To Do
Wood Shop Tuesday [DONE]
Take the truck in to get smogged
Find a dentist
More blood work
Figure out what time I want to go to Weight Watchers and do it
Fix the bathroom door lock [DONE]
Get another piece of wood for shop [DONE]
Shopping
Hard drive enclosures
Lawn chairs and tables for back and front
Doorknob [DONE]
Pegboard hangers [DONE]
Projects
Fix Truck
Look for a car...
2 tags
Measure *right*, cut once.
I started cutting the sides for the jewelry box project in shop last week. I cut the front and back pieces properly, but I screwed up the side pieces.
My technique was perfect. My use of the machine was perfect. My measurements were perfect, to the point of anal retentality. I cut a perfectly-sized 3¾” piece.
I was supposed to cut a 7¾” piece.
It doesn’t matter how many...
2 tags
Unified Agenda, ongoing
Today is going to be mainly a catch-up-on-sleep day, since I haven’t had a proper one of those for weeks now.
To Do
Wood Shop Tuesday
Take the truck in to get smogged
Find a dentist
More blood work
Get latest cholestorol Rx [DONE]
Figure out what time I want to go to Weight Watchers and do it
Fix the bathroom door lock
Get another piece of wood for shop
Get called into work on my...
3 tags
Television Review
As always, everything is rated on the Binary Scale.
The IT Crowd
Taking the same old bullshit sitcom formula and throwing in a few geek in-jokes
doesn’t make it a ‘geek sitcom.’ It just makes it shitty television. Utterly without merit.
Score: -1
Doctor Who
The new series is good. But it’s missing something intangible that the old series had.
Can’t quite...
2 tags
Unified Agenda, Tuesday
To Do
Psychiatrist appointment Tuesday [DONE]
Wood Shop Tuesday
Take the truck in to get smogged
Get this number on the Do Not Call list [DONE]
Find a dentist
More blood work
Get latest cholestorol Rx
Look into Weight Watchers [DONE. Printed out a schedule for the Concord location. I don’t have to do anything, just drop in]
Call in my Rx refills [DONE]
Shopping
Hard drive...
3 tags
Today's Music Acquisitions
Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix
Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape
Dire Straits: Money for Nothing
Synthesizer Greatest Vol. 2
Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty
(via Rasputin)
3 tags
Music Review
As always, everything is rated on the Binary Scale.
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Sounds like the bastard child of Rock and Techno. There’s only one track on it that
I really like, and I already had it on PureMoods II
Score: 0
Choice tracks: Teardrop
Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene
Early synth-ey new-age music. Very mellow and ambient in some sections, more
upbeat in others.
Score: 1...
2 tags
Unified Agenda, Monday
To Do
Psychiatrist appointment Tuesday
Wood Shop Tuesday
Take the truck in to get smogged
Get this number on the Do Not Call list
Find a dentist
More blood work
Get latest cholestorol Rx
Look into Weight Watchers
Call in my Rx refills
Clean room [DONE]
Shopping
Hard drive enclosures
Lawn chairs and tables for back and front
Projects
Fix Truck
Look for a car that I don’t...
3 tags
Today's Music Acquisitions
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene
Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
The Who Sings My Generation
(via Rasputin’s)