thirtysomething...

What. Like you've never read the newspaper while riding the elevator...



More Pics from the Disney Trip. Well, the ones I have uploaded... And yes, we're still in WDW. :)

For Saturday to be over. For two reasons. One is a long term(-ish) goal, and the second is more immediate.

The Long Term(-ish):
1. I'll be done with work & on my way to catch a plane to The Happiest Place on Earth.

The more immediate/annoying reason:
2. The South Carolina Republican Primary will have happened.

I'm quite tired of ignoring the ringing telephone with 800 numbers and New York area code prefixes. Apparently the GOP thinks I am a registered Republican (which I'm not) or that I may swing vote to the dark side (which I won't). They've called 3 times tonight. In the span of one TV show. Luckily at La Casa Púrpura we have Caller ID, and it shows up on the TV. But still, it rings and rings and rings and rings until voice mail picks up. And then I have to go check the message just to make sure it wasn't someone I need to ring back.

"blah blah blah, Ron Paul has the best blah blah blah" -=press 3 to delete message=-

3

"Senator John McCain blah blah more blah" -=press 3 to delete message=-

3

-=CLICK=-

It has gone on for 2 weeks now. Thankfully we'll be in Sunny Florida when the SC Democratic Primary rolls around next week. That's all I need now is Clinton and Obama going at it on my voicemail. Hilary already called twice last week asking for The Wife. Didn't want to speak to me either time. Bitch.

One good thing has come out of all this nonsense: I know my dog isn't a Paultard. Seems that Ron Paul and his Lemming Flock of Paultards stole a blimp last week, painted "Ron Paul: Who is He?" on the sides and buzzed the downtown peninsula for 2 days. In the rain. And high winds. I was letting the dog out to take a crap Sunday afternoon and she went ape-shit barking at that damn blimp. Not like she does when she wants the squirrels to come down out of the pecan tree so she can eat 'em. It was like she was trying to intimidate a grizzly into backing out of a mauling. Greatest thing that dog has ever done. Well besides eating her own poop when she shits in the house so I don't have to clean it up.

The dog might really be a Republican (she is a dog after all, what does she really know) but I at least know she's not a Complete Idiot.

3 Days... The last load of laundry is in the dryer. Soon I'll have another ticket to add to my collection. Here's the most recent one (from May 2007) -->

Things were going so well today. Slept in until noon. Got out of bed with no real back problems. YES! Must have been the NyQuil. My mutated cold seems to be going away. Now I'm left with only the congestion to get rid of. Went around to Charlie's to get a Cherry Coke, smokes, and a Cheerwine for The Wife. Made a pepperoni & cheese (goat) sammich. Sat around watching something on TV that I can't remember. Went outside and cleaned the windscreens on both cars with Dirtex and a razor window scraper. Crystal clear now! Drove over to the local auto parts store for oil & oil filters for both the Camry & MINI. Did the oil change on the Camry in 15 minutes. Not a drop spilled anywhere, with either car.

That should have been my first clue. I normally come out with black, oil coated hands.

The MINI took a bit longer. It needed to cool down from the drive for supplies. Once I got going on the Cooper S, it only took 20 to 30 minutes. Didn't even have a problem with the oil filter. In the past that thing has been a complete ass to get back on.

So that should have been a clue as well.

Put the tools away, got a few different bobs & bits out and fixed my shower door. Right as Rain. Went back downstairs to fix a coffee mug I haven't used in years because of a broken handle.

My first thought: "Why are you fixing this, Now?"

That's when I should have known.

The handle was only broken away at the bottom. I couldn't get the glue to seep in enough because of the tiny crack. So I figured, "What if I brake the whole handle off and glue it in both places."

Bad Idea.

Handle broke clean off. And promptly sliced through my left thumb, opposite the knuckle. Deep. In the space of 2 nanoseconds, I pinch it off with the other hand, stand up, say "SHIT" and place said injured-pinched thumb over my head. The Wife looks over and says, "Do you need to go to the Hospital?"

No "Are you ok?" nothing like that.

Do you need to go to the Hospital.


hehe

She knows me pretty good.

So here I type with one thumb stuck out like The Fonz using MarsEdit for the first time letting you guys know how my day went. I should have stopped with the Oil Changes. But ya know, visible accomplishments always feel better than the ones that are behind the scenes.

Visible mistakes on the other hand (or thumb) DO NOT share that feeling. In fact, quite the opposite. So I guess if my luck truly has run out for the day, you'll never know because MarsEdit will loose this piece and I won't feel like typing it back out. Or it will work, and I can sleep better for that. :)

See the timer? :)

Hopefully my cold will be gone by then. I had it around Christmas, passed it on to The Wife. She was so thankful, she passed it back. Mutated. Great.

According to Nikon, my camera has been repaired and is in final billing. :eek3: I've already seen the estimate before work began and hopefully it isn't much over that. What is the likelihood that I'll have it back in time for the trip? I'm not holding my breath, but I'll definitely cross fingers.

Oh yeah. You guys have to check out one of my latest purchases. Just so you know, I love playing cards. I picked up 2 decks at a new magic shop in town. Very cool. They have a couple-o-three gaffed cards, but those got thrown out. I haven't done card tricks in Years. I bought these two decks, well, cause they're cool.

Anyway, here's a pic of one of the decks:

The Black Bicycle


The other deck is yellow.

I'm a slacker.

Too Many Holidays
Too Many Parties
Too Many Rabbids



Tomorrow. I promise.

I did actually do something productive this week. Finally sent off the Nikon to be repaired & cleaned. I hope it will be back before we head down to WDW. In 2 weeks. :eek3:

If you really need something to do, teach the SlackMistress how to do something Survivorish over at The Post-Apocalyptic Workout.

And why did it take me this long to listen to these guys?


Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism





If I remember correctly Passenger Seat was played on an episode of Californication...


Me Likes.

The Writers Guild of America Strike is driving me crazy. For the past few days it has really been the only topic running through my brain. Last night I started working on this piece in my head and when I woke up it was my first thought. WGA WGA WGA... I don't know why yet, maybe by the end of this piece I'll know, but it has consumed me.

This morning I found an open letter on the Variety WGA Strike Blog from "an anonymous crew member" that comes close to how I feel.

A TV show is not created solely by writers. There is no denying the importance of their creative process, as well as the impact of a truly great script. However, these scripts would never make it to air if crews of people were not dedicated to making it happen...people who put in 15-20 hour days on stage or on grueling locations. These are the people who miss out on time with their families to finish a picture. These are the people who are still devoted to these shows and trying to work right now. These are the people who get paid a small fraction of what the writers do and are going to be unemployed for months during the holidays and beyond in result of this conflict. They have not gotten to make a choice in this matter, yet are somehow being continuously punished.

the full letter

The author goes on to say that he/she is neither on the writers' side nor the studios' side. The author feels for the below the line crew.

That is pretty much how I feel.

Why do I feel that way? Well, you see, in another life I was the infamous Best Boy/Grip/sometimes camera assistant. I was one of the Below The Line Crew.

When one part of the giant circle of motion picture production breaks down, the whole thing falls apart. You NEED a Crew to get everything in place. You NEED a Director (with a vision) to tell the story. You NEED a Producer to find all those people and get them to work together. You NEED Actors to give life to the story. And you MUST HAVE Writers to give us a purpose for being stuck on a plane full of venomous snakes. Take out any of those essential people and the whole plane crashes.

I have NO argument with the WGA demanding residuals from internet distribution. When The Wife and I were living in England, that was the only way we could keep up-to-date on our favorite US shows. We subscribed to their respective series on iTunes Music Store. We didn't download "free" Bit-Torrent versions of the shows. We paid for them. The nice thing about paying those shows is that the iTMS downloads have no commercials. Which on broadcast TV is how those shows make money, and in return pay residuals to the creative members of the production. The new NBC Hulu site will air shows for free, but with advertisements. So, even though the consumer doesn't pay outright for entertaining TV, the studio is still making money off the writers and not kicking any back to the "Team".

A new form of distributing your work is created and you aren't getting revenue from that aspect, where's the equality in that? I for one hope the writers get what they are entitled to and this strike ends soon because even though the Below The Line Crew isn't technically on strike, they are by default or will be in the not so distant future.

This strike may only boil down to 4 cents on the dollar, but in the long run it is worth so much more to a considerable larger group of hard working people.

Think these rims would be too heavy to autocross with?



Too bad there's no Silver 73 to place bets on...

via: TechEBlog

And it's a shame really, because you guys can't read what I'm thinking about most of the time. I literally do it all day, every day. I'm constantly writing commentary or extra dialogue to things going on around me. Usually at work. And most of it is quite sarcastic.

But the bad part is, those stories never make it home with me to be typed out to share with you lot. I'd love to be able to sit down and write them down while I'm at work, but 1. There's no time. 2. I'd probably get fired for sitting around and writing stories all day long. and 3. If I was writing all day long, I'd never have any interaction with customers & life in general to comment on. So you see my predicament?

My boss does it occasionally. Sitting down and writing a small bit. Not for a blog though, she's working on a book of sorts. Crazy stuff customers ask or say. Like asking for "Scream Wire" or wanting to know "Where's yer corkin at?" The latter one really gets me. Number One: It is behind the "at". Numero Duo: The word you're looking for is CAULKING not CORKIN. And C: Look around, the caulk is to your right. NO. Your other right.

And it all leads to THIS STORY, which if you actually know me, you've seen & heard me tell.

My absolute favorite customer story is one that I didn't witness. It actually happened to me. A woman (sorry ladies...) came in asking for an air conditioner filter. 24 inches by 12 inches, or something rectangular like that. I say OK, we've got that. Walk down to the AC filter aisle, grab a 12x24 filter and walk out holding it like this:



I walk up to the counter and she's got this scowl on her face, "No, that's NOT what I asked for. I ASKED for a 24 by 12 filter."

Ok. No Problem.

So I rotate the filter (right infront of her) so it is oriented like this:



"NO. THAT'S NOT RIGHT!"

I walk BACK to the filter aisle. Stand there with the SAME FILTER for about 30 seconds (she can't see me) and walk back out carrying THE SAME FILTER!! "Well, I had to search a bit for it, but we have ONE left!!"



"PERFECT! That's the one I wanted"