We have been warned for years that video games were bad for us. While this story certainly proves it, I'm guessing this isn't exactly what our parents were thinking when they issued those dire warnings.
Thanks to Propsqueen for passing this on to me!
Update:I came across this story from the Arizona Republic. See?!? They are out to get us!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
You Found Me Where?
As part of this blog, I have a stat counter which not only tracks the number of hits I receive, but where they are coming from. Before anyone freaks out, it only supplies some basic information. It tells me what city/state/country the hits are coming from, what pages they are looking at, how long they stay, and if they used a referring link. Okay, yes it gives me the IP address, but it does not attach a name or full physical address to it. There are some I've learned who they are, but that's because I already know them. I can recognize the IP address of people like Journey, Brett, and my friend Propsqueen (I'm not posting her link because I don't know if she wants it out there or not). Some others I can guess because I know where they are from their blogs and I can make an semi-educated guess. Everyone else, complete mystery who you really are.
One of the most interesting things about the stat tracker is the referring link information. The vast majority of the time it either says "No referring link" - meaning that person used a bookmark or typed in my URL directly - or it's a search engine hit - right now I'm getting a lot of hits off "new NHL uniforms."
But every so often a hit comes in from some completely unexpected location. For example, I have had one this morning from "Bike Forums." The fuck? I've never posted on "Bike Forums" - hell, I didn't even know "Bike Forums" existed. So, I followed the referring link to find out what I had to do with this particular forum. Turns out, this particular thread is debating the ACLU, and someone had copied and pasted one of my posts (the one on the footbaths at the University of Michigan-Dearborn), and then given me credit for it and proved a link to the post.
Personally, I find it rather interesting and more than a little amusing that I'm starting to pop up in random places like this. I did not start writing here because I was looking to spread my views of make a mark on cyberspace or anything of that nature. It simply was a way to entertain myself and have some fun. Not that I'm necessarily surprised mind you. I know how quickly and how far things can spread online, and I know how long they remain out there (that's a story for another time - got keep people coming back at least some!). And I certainly am not opposed to people doing this sort of thing. As long as people give me credit for my stuff, and don't change it or use it out of context, I really don't care.
By the way, probably the funniest hits I get are from people looking for porn. I have a post on the "12 Days of Christmas - Hawai'ian Style" (a song I grew up hearing every year). Well, in the lyrics, instead of spelling 6 like this "six" it's spelled "seex" - because that's the way 6 is said in Hawai'ian pidgin (the local/slag way of speaking). So I get hits from people searching for "sex" with two E's.
One of the most interesting things about the stat tracker is the referring link information. The vast majority of the time it either says "No referring link" - meaning that person used a bookmark or typed in my URL directly - or it's a search engine hit - right now I'm getting a lot of hits off "new NHL uniforms."
But every so often a hit comes in from some completely unexpected location. For example, I have had one this morning from "Bike Forums." The fuck? I've never posted on "Bike Forums" - hell, I didn't even know "Bike Forums" existed. So, I followed the referring link to find out what I had to do with this particular forum. Turns out, this particular thread is debating the ACLU, and someone had copied and pasted one of my posts (the one on the footbaths at the University of Michigan-Dearborn), and then given me credit for it and proved a link to the post.
Personally, I find it rather interesting and more than a little amusing that I'm starting to pop up in random places like this. I did not start writing here because I was looking to spread my views of make a mark on cyberspace or anything of that nature. It simply was a way to entertain myself and have some fun. Not that I'm necessarily surprised mind you. I know how quickly and how far things can spread online, and I know how long they remain out there (that's a story for another time - got keep people coming back at least some!). And I certainly am not opposed to people doing this sort of thing. As long as people give me credit for my stuff, and don't change it or use it out of context, I really don't care.
By the way, probably the funniest hits I get are from people looking for porn. I have a post on the "12 Days of Christmas - Hawai'ian Style" (a song I grew up hearing every year). Well, in the lyrics, instead of spelling 6 like this "six" it's spelled "seex" - because that's the way 6 is said in Hawai'ian pidgin (the local/slag way of speaking). So I get hits from people searching for "sex" with two E's.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
It Continues
Internet access is still flaky - even university sites don't always load!
I just spent an hour and a half in a pointless meeting about things I already knew, but that I was required to attend anyway.
And I have another meeting this afternoon, also about things I already know but that I am required to attend anyway.
I just spent an hour and a half in a pointless meeting about things I already knew, but that I was required to attend anyway.
And I have another meeting this afternoon, also about things I already know but that I am required to attend anyway.
Well, That Didn't Take Long
It's not even 8:30 in the morning yet and already I'm annoyed. Yeah yeah, I know, me being annoyed at something isn't exactly front page news or anything. The fact that it happened so early in the day is a little impressive, however. First was the guy who was completely incapable of making a left turn at an intersection. They have finally laid down the light rail tracks outside my apartment. With that, I now have to go out the back gate and use the light to make a left. Well, the guy in front of me today pulled out into the intersection and waited for on-coming traffic to clear so he could make his turn. Unfortunately, there was a enough on-coming traffic that the light went yellow and then red before he could get across. This complete waste of oxygen, however, didn't complete the turn. No, he waited on the tracks in the middle of the road.
You are in the intersection, dumbass! Finish making your turn instead of holding up traffic and creating a major hazard! If trains were running, he would have been roadkill.
The next fun was one of those drivers who knows that the right-hand lane is about so end so they speed up and try to get ahead of as many people as possible. Unfortunately for this particular young woman, I saw this. And when she was finally forced to merge over, it was behind me. So I, knowing that she was obviously in some great hurry, promptly slowed down to the exact speed limit. Since traffic in the left lane was heavy, she couldn't move over either! Boy was she pissed. But, you know, it's hard to scare anyone when your a little blond girl with over sized "trendy" white sunglasses, driving a bright yellow VW Beetle. And I will freely admit that I take a great deal of rather malicious pleasure in getting in the way of people like her. (Incidental, I came across this article, Tires and Brimstone, yesterday on the nine levels of hell for bad drivers.) About half way to work, she turned off and went another direction, which made me happy and allowed me to speed up to the flow of traffic.
Once I actually reached campus, I had the fun of dealing with all the freshmen moving in today. Actually, freshmen move in began yesterday, but the people today were far worse. I keep reminding myself that I was the same way when I moved into the dorms as a freshmen, so I should really cut them some slack. That being said, however, they still annoyed me.
If things had ended there, I would probably be just fine. But no. Apparently our network is having some kind of shit-fit this morning and I'm only getting intermittent Internet connections (I actually have been writing this in WordPerfect and will copy-n-paste over to blogger when I'm done and have a connection). I have work to do and I really kind of need the network to be functioning. Needless to say, this has officially put me over the top and I can now say:
"I am annoyed. Greatly annoyed."
And it's still not even 9:00 AM. Great. At least having Zeppelin playing is helping some!
You are in the intersection, dumbass! Finish making your turn instead of holding up traffic and creating a major hazard! If trains were running, he would have been roadkill.
The next fun was one of those drivers who knows that the right-hand lane is about so end so they speed up and try to get ahead of as many people as possible. Unfortunately for this particular young woman, I saw this. And when she was finally forced to merge over, it was behind me. So I, knowing that she was obviously in some great hurry, promptly slowed down to the exact speed limit. Since traffic in the left lane was heavy, she couldn't move over either! Boy was she pissed. But, you know, it's hard to scare anyone when your a little blond girl with over sized "trendy" white sunglasses, driving a bright yellow VW Beetle. And I will freely admit that I take a great deal of rather malicious pleasure in getting in the way of people like her. (Incidental, I came across this article, Tires and Brimstone, yesterday on the nine levels of hell for bad drivers.) About half way to work, she turned off and went another direction, which made me happy and allowed me to speed up to the flow of traffic.
Once I actually reached campus, I had the fun of dealing with all the freshmen moving in today. Actually, freshmen move in began yesterday, but the people today were far worse. I keep reminding myself that I was the same way when I moved into the dorms as a freshmen, so I should really cut them some slack. That being said, however, they still annoyed me.
If things had ended there, I would probably be just fine. But no. Apparently our network is having some kind of shit-fit this morning and I'm only getting intermittent Internet connections (I actually have been writing this in WordPerfect and will copy-n-paste over to blogger when I'm done and have a connection). I have work to do and I really kind of need the network to be functioning. Needless to say, this has officially put me over the top and I can now say:
"I am annoyed. Greatly annoyed."
And it's still not even 9:00 AM. Great. At least having Zeppelin playing is helping some!
Monday, August 13, 2007
It's Golden
To the fans at the Denver/San Francisco game who were yelling out during the moment of silence for Bill Walsh:
It's called a moment of silence for a reason, dumbasses! It's not called a "moment of jackassery"! So shut up and act like you actually have some grace.
It's called a moment of silence for a reason, dumbasses! It's not called a "moment of jackassery"! So shut up and act like you actually have some grace.
Who Turned Up The Heat?
Well, after a relatively mild summer for us in Arizona, things are starting to get hot again. When I say mild, you have understand that I'm talking about the fact that for the last four weeks or so temperatures have been hovering right around 100F. For us, that's mild - usually the end of July/start of August is more like 110 or higher. But this year, it's been kind of nice. And yes, that 10 degrees makes a big difference.
But as of yesterday, it's been getting hotter again. Normally, our average right now is about 105. Yesterday we topped out at 114, breaking the record (previously 113). Today, we're going to be right there again. Most of the time, I don't have to deal with it too much simply because I work inside in the a/c. But, there are some signs when it's getting hot again. For example, you notice that you get hot water out of the tap. More specifically, the cold tap. For whatever reason (and no one knows exactly why), when they built this building, they only installed hot water taps on every other floor. The floor I'm on is one of the ones without hot water. Most of the time, anyway. I'm not talking about room temperature water - no this water is actually warm. And considering it's only 10:30, that's not a good sign.
But as of yesterday, it's been getting hotter again. Normally, our average right now is about 105. Yesterday we topped out at 114, breaking the record (previously 113). Today, we're going to be right there again. Most of the time, I don't have to deal with it too much simply because I work inside in the a/c. But, there are some signs when it's getting hot again. For example, you notice that you get hot water out of the tap. More specifically, the cold tap. For whatever reason (and no one knows exactly why), when they built this building, they only installed hot water taps on every other floor. The floor I'm on is one of the ones without hot water. Most of the time, anyway. I'm not talking about room temperature water - no this water is actually warm. And considering it's only 10:30, that's not a good sign.
Be Fair
As I was scanning the news this morning, I came across this story from the New York Times. The gist of the story is that the University of Michigan-Dearborn has decided to install some footbaths across campus. They decided to do this because they have a rather significant Muslim student population (more than 10%). Part of the five-times-a-day prayer ritual Muslims preform involves the washing of feet. Muslim students had been using sinks, which resulted in puddles on the floor and damaged fixtures. So the University plans to install these footbaths to make things easier for Muslims and to deal with the puddles and damages.
This prompted a degree of outrage from some people in the area, who decried the "Islamification" of the University. They argue that the installation of these footbaths would be an unconstitutional governmental support of a religion. I just have one question for these people: Would you have a problem with a university building a chapel on campus? Because nearly every university I've ever been to has had one. It's usually small and off the side somewhere, but it's there. If the installation of a few footbaths is unconstitutional, what about these chapels? Do you think we should tear them down?
Oh, and one more thing, a few footbaths do not mean the "Islamification" of the university! Quit over-reacting and get on with your lives!
This prompted a degree of outrage from some people in the area, who decried the "Islamification" of the University. They argue that the installation of these footbaths would be an unconstitutional governmental support of a religion. I just have one question for these people: Would you have a problem with a university building a chapel on campus? Because nearly every university I've ever been to has had one. It's usually small and off the side somewhere, but it's there. If the installation of a few footbaths is unconstitutional, what about these chapels? Do you think we should tear them down?
Oh, and one more thing, a few footbaths do not mean the "Islamification" of the university! Quit over-reacting and get on with your lives!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
More Fun With New Neighbors
I found out something interesting from the apartment manager today. I'm not the only one who has been annoyed by the new neighbors I mentioned last week. Recently, they woke me up one morning at about 5:00 AM or so by breaking something. I wasn't sure what it was, but it certianly was loud enough to wake me. After that, they quieted down enough that I was able to go right back to sleep. Yesterday, however, I discovered what is was they had broken - their own front window! Looks like they did it from the inside, because you can see all the glass shards in the rocks right below the window. I saw this yesterday, but didn't call the manager at the time. I figured the neighbors would take care of it. But when it still hadn't even been cleaned up yet, I decided to call it in. Given my previous encounter with on of these guys, I wasn't entirely sure that they would even know they had a broken window.
So I called the apartment manager this morning. She told me that, in fact, they were aware of it and were working to get it fixed. But, while she had me on the phone, she was wondering if I had had any problems with these guys. Were they too noisey or have they been causing any problems or anything. I admitted, yeah, they were a little too loud for my tastes, and I related the rattling silverware incenident. She informed me that others had reported problems and filed complaints on these guys. And they would be recieving a written notice today, warning them to keep it down or risk being evicted. This is awesome! The manager said that she wasn't going to put up with this kind of behavior. This is even better! Hopefully, the threat will be enough. But if not, I may have a new set of new neighbors.
So I called the apartment manager this morning. She told me that, in fact, they were aware of it and were working to get it fixed. But, while she had me on the phone, she was wondering if I had had any problems with these guys. Were they too noisey or have they been causing any problems or anything. I admitted, yeah, they were a little too loud for my tastes, and I related the rattling silverware incenident. She informed me that others had reported problems and filed complaints on these guys. And they would be recieving a written notice today, warning them to keep it down or risk being evicted. This is awesome! The manager said that she wasn't going to put up with this kind of behavior. This is even better! Hopefully, the threat will be enough. But if not, I may have a new set of new neighbors.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Mwha Haaa Ha!
I came across this comic today and found it terribly amusing! Click on the image for a lager version.
You can go to "Jet Packs and Time Machines" here.
Sorry, had to include this one as well. It was too good not to!
You can go to "Jet Packs and Time Machines" here.
Sorry, had to include this one as well. It was too good not to!
A Weekend in San Francisco
This past weekend, Journey and I went to San Francisco to meet up with my dad's side of the family. The plan was for us to fly into San Fran early evening and then meet up with my family for dinner in Chinatown. Well, that sure didn't work out the way we had it planned. When Journey and I got to the airport, we tried to check in at one of the little "we're-too-cheap-to-pay-for-real-people" computer kiosks. And got a little yellow note on the screen that our flight had been cancelled and we needed to talk to a ticket agent. What the fuck?!? And right at that moment about eight other people when "What the fuck?!?" We tried to talk to one of the people behind the counter, only to find out that this is the first they've heard of this. So we had to go stand in line to talk to a real ticket agent. And, of course, the woman in front of us got the next to last seat on another airline's next flight to San Fran. And since there were two of us, that one remaining seat wasn't going to do us any good. Our original flight was supposed to be at 3:30. The next flight we could get on wasn't until 7:10. So, we decided the only we could do was to go with the 7:10 flight, and in the meantime go get something to eat at a real restaurant. If you have even been through Terminal 2 at Sky Harbor, you'll know exactly what I mean when I say that there's nothing worth eating in there.
After getting some real food in us, Journey and I came back to the airport and hung around for a few hours, waiting for our flight. Which, quite naturally, was delayed until 7:45 because of weather problems in Denver (where that particular plane was coming from). So in the end, we didn't actually get to San Fran until 10:00 PM or so, which was far too late for the planned dinner. Instead, we ended up splitting a cheese, crackers, and bread plate from room service. Oh, and so you know, we were staying here. The only way we could afford it was because we managed to get a discounted, pay-up-front rate, and got the plane tickets from my parents.
Once we actually made it to San Francisco, we had a good time. We spent most of Saturday during the day tooling around with Journey's aunt, who lives about 40 minutes outside the city, but used to live in San Fran proper. So she gave us the nickel tour around town, which was fun and it was a good chance to get to know Journey's aunt. After the tour, Journey and I met up with the rest of my family for dinner. In addition to introducing my future wife to my uncles and my grandfather, we also got the chance to meet my uncles's girlfriends, who I had never met before. Dinner went well, even if my grandfather was a little to free with the wine (knowing that this would likely be the case, I declined a wine glass and just had a Jack and water before dinner, and a single malt scotch afterward). But everyone seemed to be having a good time and getting along well. There wasn't any of the usual family drama which seems to have been par for the course the last few years, and that was a relief! After dinner, Journey and I sat in the hotel lobby bar with my grandfather, his companion, one of my uncles, and his girlfriend for a while, just chatting. After my grandfather and his companion retired, the rest of us went to a little lounge down the street, where everyone else was hanging out listening to some live music. The band was really good and the crowd was into it. We ended up sitting next to some local guy whose music knowledge was beyond anything or anyone I've even known (and considering I wrote a Master's thesis on American folk music, that's saying something). But what impressed me the most was that this guy knew more about music than my father. My father takes a great deal of pride (even if he would never admit it) in the fact that he knows more about music than most people. He almost never misses a question on music trivia, but this was able to answer every single question he was asked!
Sunday morning we had reservations at a very nice restaurant for brunch, where we all ate too much but had a good time together. We also took the time to celebrate one of my uncle's birthday while we were there. And given that he has gone through some real hell in the last few years (and no, I'm not going to be going into that here, that's a family matter), it was really good to see him happy and having fun and back to his old self. He's always been one of my favorite uncles.
After brunch, we went back to the hotel and changed into street clothes. Since Journey and I still had a few hours until we were scheduled to fly back to Phoenix, so we went down to Fisherman's Wharf and wandered around the shops down there. We were going to grab the cable car down, but as we got to the stop, the one coming up the hill was the wrong line, so we decided to catch a taxi instead as we didn't really have enough time to wait for another cable car. Right as we were getting ready to move over to taxi que, however, black stretched limo pulled up and driver offered to take us to Fisherman's Wharf for $5 each. What are we going to do, turn down a $5 ride in a limo? Yeah, right! So we hopped in and headed out. We decided later that he probably was already on his way down there to pick some one up, so why not make a couple of bucks on the side. Worked for us. And let me tell you, it was an interesting ride. Think rally-car race, but in a stretched limo. Actually, it was pretty damn amusing and Journey and I got a good laugh out of it after we got out! We wandered the wharf for a while and picked up some gifts for people, before having to head back to the hotel to pick up our bags and going to the airport.
And the flight back to Phoenix was almost as fun as the flight out. We boarded on time and there were even a few empty seats. But then the pilot comes on and says that it's going to be 20-25 minutes before we can get going because they have to reboot the plane's computer. Now, I've done my share of traveling, but I've never heard of them having to "reboot the plane's computer" before. And during this whole thing, there's a loud sound coming from the plane directly below where we're sitting. It sounded kind of like the pneumatic lug gun they use to change your tires (know what I mean?). And we've heard that sound before, but this was louder and went on longer than either Journey or I had ever heard before. Finally, they got the plane's computer rebooted and we got under way. We got out on the runway, and then pulled over and stopped. The pilot informed us that a switch wasn't working properly, but that they were going to try and fix it out there. Of course, this didn't work and we had to return to the terminal. We all got ready to deplane . . . and he came back on saying that they had a replacement part and it would only take about 15 minutes to replace, so we weren't going to get off the plane after all. Amazingly, replacing the part only took about 5 minutes, but getting the new paperwork, which was supposed take another 5 minutes, really took about 15. I guess that's a wash. By this time, it's 8:00 or 8:15. Our flight was scheduled to take off at 6:30.
Eventually, we took off and the flight to Phoenix was uneventful. No real turbulence or anything, which was nice. But our travel fun wasn't over yet. Oh no, they had one more little surprise for us. We came in for landing at Sky Harbor, only to touch down and then promptly take off again! The only time I've ever had a touch-and-go like that was to avoid hitting some animals on the runway. What was the reason this time? The runway was too short! Again, what the fuck?!? "Too short?!?" Somebody done fucked up! It's not like we had an odd sized plane or anything! So we had the great fun of smacking the runway once, coming back up to speed, taking off again, circling, and being redirected to another runway. By this time, I was listening in on the tower communications and I actually heard them divert another plane to a different runway so we could land. At last we made it down safe. By the time we got our bags, made it to my truck, and got out of the airport, it was after 11:00PM.
We both decided we were going to take yesterday off to recover from our vacation. So we slept late, and had a leisurely lunch before Journey had to head back to Tucson. All in all, I'd say it was a fun trip and we had a good time. The getting there and back sucked, but the trip itself was fun!
After getting some real food in us, Journey and I came back to the airport and hung around for a few hours, waiting for our flight. Which, quite naturally, was delayed until 7:45 because of weather problems in Denver (where that particular plane was coming from). So in the end, we didn't actually get to San Fran until 10:00 PM or so, which was far too late for the planned dinner. Instead, we ended up splitting a cheese, crackers, and bread plate from room service. Oh, and so you know, we were staying here. The only way we could afford it was because we managed to get a discounted, pay-up-front rate, and got the plane tickets from my parents.
Once we actually made it to San Francisco, we had a good time. We spent most of Saturday during the day tooling around with Journey's aunt, who lives about 40 minutes outside the city, but used to live in San Fran proper. So she gave us the nickel tour around town, which was fun and it was a good chance to get to know Journey's aunt. After the tour, Journey and I met up with the rest of my family for dinner. In addition to introducing my future wife to my uncles and my grandfather, we also got the chance to meet my uncles's girlfriends, who I had never met before. Dinner went well, even if my grandfather was a little to free with the wine (knowing that this would likely be the case, I declined a wine glass and just had a Jack and water before dinner, and a single malt scotch afterward). But everyone seemed to be having a good time and getting along well. There wasn't any of the usual family drama which seems to have been par for the course the last few years, and that was a relief! After dinner, Journey and I sat in the hotel lobby bar with my grandfather, his companion, one of my uncles, and his girlfriend for a while, just chatting. After my grandfather and his companion retired, the rest of us went to a little lounge down the street, where everyone else was hanging out listening to some live music. The band was really good and the crowd was into it. We ended up sitting next to some local guy whose music knowledge was beyond anything or anyone I've even known (and considering I wrote a Master's thesis on American folk music, that's saying something). But what impressed me the most was that this guy knew more about music than my father. My father takes a great deal of pride (even if he would never admit it) in the fact that he knows more about music than most people. He almost never misses a question on music trivia, but this was able to answer every single question he was asked!
Sunday morning we had reservations at a very nice restaurant for brunch, where we all ate too much but had a good time together. We also took the time to celebrate one of my uncle's birthday while we were there. And given that he has gone through some real hell in the last few years (and no, I'm not going to be going into that here, that's a family matter), it was really good to see him happy and having fun and back to his old self. He's always been one of my favorite uncles.
After brunch, we went back to the hotel and changed into street clothes. Since Journey and I still had a few hours until we were scheduled to fly back to Phoenix, so we went down to Fisherman's Wharf and wandered around the shops down there. We were going to grab the cable car down, but as we got to the stop, the one coming up the hill was the wrong line, so we decided to catch a taxi instead as we didn't really have enough time to wait for another cable car. Right as we were getting ready to move over to taxi que, however, black stretched limo pulled up and driver offered to take us to Fisherman's Wharf for $5 each. What are we going to do, turn down a $5 ride in a limo? Yeah, right! So we hopped in and headed out. We decided later that he probably was already on his way down there to pick some one up, so why not make a couple of bucks on the side. Worked for us. And let me tell you, it was an interesting ride. Think rally-car race, but in a stretched limo. Actually, it was pretty damn amusing and Journey and I got a good laugh out of it after we got out! We wandered the wharf for a while and picked up some gifts for people, before having to head back to the hotel to pick up our bags and going to the airport.
And the flight back to Phoenix was almost as fun as the flight out. We boarded on time and there were even a few empty seats. But then the pilot comes on and says that it's going to be 20-25 minutes before we can get going because they have to reboot the plane's computer. Now, I've done my share of traveling, but I've never heard of them having to "reboot the plane's computer" before. And during this whole thing, there's a loud sound coming from the plane directly below where we're sitting. It sounded kind of like the pneumatic lug gun they use to change your tires (know what I mean?). And we've heard that sound before, but this was louder and went on longer than either Journey or I had ever heard before. Finally, they got the plane's computer rebooted and we got under way. We got out on the runway, and then pulled over and stopped. The pilot informed us that a switch wasn't working properly, but that they were going to try and fix it out there. Of course, this didn't work and we had to return to the terminal. We all got ready to deplane . . . and he came back on saying that they had a replacement part and it would only take about 15 minutes to replace, so we weren't going to get off the plane after all. Amazingly, replacing the part only took about 5 minutes, but getting the new paperwork, which was supposed take another 5 minutes, really took about 15. I guess that's a wash. By this time, it's 8:00 or 8:15. Our flight was scheduled to take off at 6:30.
Eventually, we took off and the flight to Phoenix was uneventful. No real turbulence or anything, which was nice. But our travel fun wasn't over yet. Oh no, they had one more little surprise for us. We came in for landing at Sky Harbor, only to touch down and then promptly take off again! The only time I've ever had a touch-and-go like that was to avoid hitting some animals on the runway. What was the reason this time? The runway was too short! Again, what the fuck?!? "Too short?!?" Somebody done fucked up! It's not like we had an odd sized plane or anything! So we had the great fun of smacking the runway once, coming back up to speed, taking off again, circling, and being redirected to another runway. By this time, I was listening in on the tower communications and I actually heard them divert another plane to a different runway so we could land. At last we made it down safe. By the time we got our bags, made it to my truck, and got out of the airport, it was after 11:00PM.
We both decided we were going to take yesterday off to recover from our vacation. So we slept late, and had a leisurely lunch before Journey had to head back to Tucson. All in all, I'd say it was a fun trip and we had a good time. The getting there and back sucked, but the trip itself was fun!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Arizona Monsoon Rains
We had a great rain storm start up this afternoon while I was at work - including an emergency flooding warning on the radio. It was impressive enough that the power was flickering in and out. At one point it was bad enough that I actually had to shut down my office computer. This particular computer is crappy enough that it's perpetually on the verge of just dying, so a lightning strike would probably would have caused it to explode! So, I ended up spending a little over an hour trying to get work done without a computer. All kinds of fun.
The drive home was . . . interesting. First, there was a traffic light out and a lone (very wet) police officer trying to help traffic through. Poor guy, I do not envy him. While mostly uneventful, the rest of the drive was a pain simply because it took so long. Under normal rush-hour conditions, it takes me about 20-30 minutes to get home. Today, it was almost an hour! But, I'm actually willing to accept this because it means that people were driving reasonable speeds, given the conditions. Well, most people anyway. There was one guy who insisted on driving well above the speed limit - a speed which is based on good driving conditions, not rain and flooded roads. And, of course, he hit a very large puddle in the middle of the road right as he was passing me, spending a small title wave over the hood, windshield, driver's side window of my truck. At least I saw him coming up from behind and was prepared, and luckily there was no one to my left. So I simply slowed down, sped up my wipers, and let him go ahead of me. That way, if he were to get in an accident, at least it wouldn't be with me!
After that, it was just slow going until I reached my apartment complex. And found the parking lot one giant lake. Even around the edges where I park, the water was at least six inches deep. And me wearing business shoes, too. Had I been wearing my normal hiking boots or my shit-kickers, there wouldn't have been any problem. But no, I have to go and try to look professional. At least I was able to park near a curb, so I only had to get one foot wet. I just hope my shoe is all the way dry by tomorrow morning.
And you know what? I'm not pissed, angry, or annoyed! I'm actually quite pleased - because it rained!
The drive home was . . . interesting. First, there was a traffic light out and a lone (very wet) police officer trying to help traffic through. Poor guy, I do not envy him. While mostly uneventful, the rest of the drive was a pain simply because it took so long. Under normal rush-hour conditions, it takes me about 20-30 minutes to get home. Today, it was almost an hour! But, I'm actually willing to accept this because it means that people were driving reasonable speeds, given the conditions. Well, most people anyway. There was one guy who insisted on driving well above the speed limit - a speed which is based on good driving conditions, not rain and flooded roads. And, of course, he hit a very large puddle in the middle of the road right as he was passing me, spending a small title wave over the hood, windshield, driver's side window of my truck. At least I saw him coming up from behind and was prepared, and luckily there was no one to my left. So I simply slowed down, sped up my wipers, and let him go ahead of me. That way, if he were to get in an accident, at least it wouldn't be with me!
After that, it was just slow going until I reached my apartment complex. And found the parking lot one giant lake. Even around the edges where I park, the water was at least six inches deep. And me wearing business shoes, too. Had I been wearing my normal hiking boots or my shit-kickers, there wouldn't have been any problem. But no, I have to go and try to look professional. At least I was able to park near a curb, so I only had to get one foot wet. I just hope my shoe is all the way dry by tomorrow morning.
And you know what? I'm not pissed, angry, or annoyed! I'm actually quite pleased - because it rained!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Yea, Free Burrito-ie Goodness!
They just opened a new Chipotle near campus. And today they had a special promo - if you showed up with an ASU ID, you got a free burrito or bowl, including guac and a drink! Yes, the line was incredibly long, but it moved quick and we were willing to wait for free food!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Joys of New Neighbors
Recently, the people who lived in the apartment below mine moved out. All things considered, these people weren't too bad as neighbors. You could occasionally feel and hear the bass from their music coming up through the floor, but it wasn't enough to really cause any problems. Once in a while they would throw a party on the weekend, which could get pretty loud. But they pretty much always wrapped up by midnight or 1:00AM, and they wouldn't leave the front of the building trashed or anything like that, so I was willing to live and let live.
Someone else has now moved in, and already I'm concerned. Yesterday as I was trying to relax at the end of the day, the new neighbor decided to listen to his music. This guy's music was turned up so loud that I could hear the lyrics, and the bass was so high that things in my kitchen were rattling. I know that I live in an apartment complex, so there is going to be some noise bleeding through, but when the silverware in the drawer in rattling in time with someone's music, that's over the line. So, I went downstairs and knocked on his door, planning on asking to turn it down some. I knocked and waited, and waited, and waited some more. No answer – the music was so loud I don't think he heard me. So I knocked again, with a little more force. This time I got his attention. I could hear some muffled fumbling around, and eventually he opened the door. And I learned why the music was so loud and why it took him so long to come to the door.
If you've ever smoked pot, or even been around someone who is, you can identify the smell really quick. And that was the first thing I noticed when he opened the door – that smell. Well, the smell and the guy’s red eyes (another big hint). If people want to toke, fine. Doesn't really bother me at all. It just means that I have to be very clear with whatever information I'm trying to get across to them. So, I very nicely told him that I was his upstairs neighbor and that his music was moving things around in my kitchen and would he mind turning it down. This was all said in three short, very simple sentences. He kind of blinked two or three times, processing the request. For the computer geeks out there, it’s like when you ask an older machine to perform a task which is right at the limits of its abilities, like run a newer, more complex program, and it has to stop everything else its doing and things almost freeze for few seconds. I could have sworn that's what I was looking at as he was "thinking." And then, like that old computer does when it's finally opened that program, everything came back up to (almost) full speed. "Oh, sorry, man," he said, "I’ll keep it down." I thanked him and went back to my apartment. And thankfully, he was able to carry through on his word and things remained acceptably quick the rest of the night. I'm just hoping that I don't have to do this too often.
I am really looking forward to marrying Journey and getting a place of our own, where we don't have to worry about this kind of thing too much unless we want to!
Someone else has now moved in, and already I'm concerned. Yesterday as I was trying to relax at the end of the day, the new neighbor decided to listen to his music. This guy's music was turned up so loud that I could hear the lyrics, and the bass was so high that things in my kitchen were rattling. I know that I live in an apartment complex, so there is going to be some noise bleeding through, but when the silverware in the drawer in rattling in time with someone's music, that's over the line. So, I went downstairs and knocked on his door, planning on asking to turn it down some. I knocked and waited, and waited, and waited some more. No answer – the music was so loud I don't think he heard me. So I knocked again, with a little more force. This time I got his attention. I could hear some muffled fumbling around, and eventually he opened the door. And I learned why the music was so loud and why it took him so long to come to the door.
If you've ever smoked pot, or even been around someone who is, you can identify the smell really quick. And that was the first thing I noticed when he opened the door – that smell. Well, the smell and the guy’s red eyes (another big hint). If people want to toke, fine. Doesn't really bother me at all. It just means that I have to be very clear with whatever information I'm trying to get across to them. So, I very nicely told him that I was his upstairs neighbor and that his music was moving things around in my kitchen and would he mind turning it down. This was all said in three short, very simple sentences. He kind of blinked two or three times, processing the request. For the computer geeks out there, it’s like when you ask an older machine to perform a task which is right at the limits of its abilities, like run a newer, more complex program, and it has to stop everything else its doing and things almost freeze for few seconds. I could have sworn that's what I was looking at as he was "thinking." And then, like that old computer does when it's finally opened that program, everything came back up to (almost) full speed. "Oh, sorry, man," he said, "I’ll keep it down." I thanked him and went back to my apartment. And thankfully, he was able to carry through on his word and things remained acceptably quick the rest of the night. I'm just hoping that I don't have to do this too often.
I am really looking forward to marrying Journey and getting a place of our own, where we don't have to worry about this kind of thing too much unless we want to!
Vick, Bonds, and Donaghy
Disclaimer: These are simply my views on all of these things. I am in no way an expert on all the details or circumstances surrounding these men. Do not take my words as the be all and end all. As has been pointed out in the past, often by me, I am a well practiced and experienced bull-shitter. So, take these comments with a grain of salt – in other words, lighten up and consider who’s writing this crap (namely, me).
Michael Vick
I have tried to avoid writing about this simply because so many other people have written on it and, I think, many people are starting to get tired of it. As I have been following this, however, there is one thing that I've noticed and cannot keep silent about. This is the fact that nearly all of the commentators I've heard have already tried and convicted Vick. The man has a right to defend himself in the court of law before we condemn him. A grand jury indictment simply means that a group of people have decided that there is enough evidence that they are willing to listen to case. It does not mean, however, that the prosecution has proved their case.
That having been said, however, I personally think that he was involved, but I will give him the benefit of doubt until the legal process has run its course. Now, I've never been a big fan of Michael Vick. I think he's been over-hyped and over-rated since he entered the NFL. Not that he's a bad player, but he certainly didn't reinvent either the game as a whole or the quarterback position – which many were expecting when he came in. And on top of that, he's always come off a little arrogant to me. Not as bad as, say, Randy Moss or Chris Carter, but arrogant nonetheless.
And just a brief aside, here. The very thought of dog-fighting is abhorrent to me. Yes, I know it takes place and that such "sports" have been going on for centuries; for example, in the Medieval period, it was not uncommon for "bear-baiting" to go on. This was where they would chain a bear to a stake and then release several dogs on it, while the crowd bet on whether the bear or dogs would survive, and how many dogs the bear would kill or maim before it was all over. Society as a whole, however, as evolved and progressed, and it's time that we get past such behavior. We also used to think it was okay to tell women they weren't smart enough to vote. Societal evolution is a good thing.
Barry Bonds
Much like Vick, Barry Bonds has been convicted in the public eye before anything has been proven in any sort of court. And much like Vick, I personally think Bonds used steroids, but I'll give him the benefit of doubt for now. As Bonds approaches Hank Aaron's homerun record, I find myself wondering how history will record the event. Will it be recorded as a triumph or will it be recorded as a cheater simply getting away with it? Or will it be something in between? I honestly don't know. My guess is that there will always been a little asterisk next to him and his record.
Regardless of how history records it, I will always have more respect for Aaron than I will for Bonds. Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record with dignity and poise, all the while receiving hate mail and death threats. I have to give him some real credit for being able maintain his pride and dignity through it all. Bonds on the other hand, seems to feel that he is entitled to the record. This just annoys me. Sports figures should not feel "entitled" to anything, much less a record. Honored, proud, or grateful? Okay. Humbled? Even better. But not entitled. Never entitled.
I also wonder how many more seasons Bonds will play after breaking the record. I must admit that I would not be entirely surprised if he only played one more season and then retired.
Tim Donaghy
Again, I must emphasize that he has not been tried or convicted of anything as of yet. But I must admit that things don't look real good for him. I just have to wonder if this guy really thought he would be able to get away with this kind of thing. Sports and sports betting are so heavily watched that you would think that he’d know he’d be caught eventually.
But while what Donaghy is accused of having done is bad, I have to admit that I have long wondered at some of the officiating in the NBA. I'm not a huge basketball fan – a bunch of tall sweaty guys running around slapping a little round ball isn't all that exciting to me. (Although, I must admit that I've gotten into it a little more since I moved to the Phoenix area and get to see the Suns play. The game is certainly more interesting when you're surrounded by hard-core fans at the local bar.) But even I've noticed that there seem be a rather high number of bizarre or strange calls, both called and uncalled. I mean, at least in the other major sports there's some kind of back up system in place. Replay in football and hockey, call checks in baseball, and ref conferences in all three. But you almost never see NBA refs getting together to talk about a call or going back and looking at video replay (or at least, not in my limited experience).
Michael Vick
I have tried to avoid writing about this simply because so many other people have written on it and, I think, many people are starting to get tired of it. As I have been following this, however, there is one thing that I've noticed and cannot keep silent about. This is the fact that nearly all of the commentators I've heard have already tried and convicted Vick. The man has a right to defend himself in the court of law before we condemn him. A grand jury indictment simply means that a group of people have decided that there is enough evidence that they are willing to listen to case. It does not mean, however, that the prosecution has proved their case.
That having been said, however, I personally think that he was involved, but I will give him the benefit of doubt until the legal process has run its course. Now, I've never been a big fan of Michael Vick. I think he's been over-hyped and over-rated since he entered the NFL. Not that he's a bad player, but he certainly didn't reinvent either the game as a whole or the quarterback position – which many were expecting when he came in. And on top of that, he's always come off a little arrogant to me. Not as bad as, say, Randy Moss or Chris Carter, but arrogant nonetheless.
And just a brief aside, here. The very thought of dog-fighting is abhorrent to me. Yes, I know it takes place and that such "sports" have been going on for centuries; for example, in the Medieval period, it was not uncommon for "bear-baiting" to go on. This was where they would chain a bear to a stake and then release several dogs on it, while the crowd bet on whether the bear or dogs would survive, and how many dogs the bear would kill or maim before it was all over. Society as a whole, however, as evolved and progressed, and it's time that we get past such behavior. We also used to think it was okay to tell women they weren't smart enough to vote. Societal evolution is a good thing.
Barry Bonds
Much like Vick, Barry Bonds has been convicted in the public eye before anything has been proven in any sort of court. And much like Vick, I personally think Bonds used steroids, but I'll give him the benefit of doubt for now. As Bonds approaches Hank Aaron's homerun record, I find myself wondering how history will record the event. Will it be recorded as a triumph or will it be recorded as a cheater simply getting away with it? Or will it be something in between? I honestly don't know. My guess is that there will always been a little asterisk next to him and his record.
Regardless of how history records it, I will always have more respect for Aaron than I will for Bonds. Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record with dignity and poise, all the while receiving hate mail and death threats. I have to give him some real credit for being able maintain his pride and dignity through it all. Bonds on the other hand, seems to feel that he is entitled to the record. This just annoys me. Sports figures should not feel "entitled" to anything, much less a record. Honored, proud, or grateful? Okay. Humbled? Even better. But not entitled. Never entitled.
I also wonder how many more seasons Bonds will play after breaking the record. I must admit that I would not be entirely surprised if he only played one more season and then retired.
Tim Donaghy
Again, I must emphasize that he has not been tried or convicted of anything as of yet. But I must admit that things don't look real good for him. I just have to wonder if this guy really thought he would be able to get away with this kind of thing. Sports and sports betting are so heavily watched that you would think that he’d know he’d be caught eventually.
But while what Donaghy is accused of having done is bad, I have to admit that I have long wondered at some of the officiating in the NBA. I'm not a huge basketball fan – a bunch of tall sweaty guys running around slapping a little round ball isn't all that exciting to me. (Although, I must admit that I've gotten into it a little more since I moved to the Phoenix area and get to see the Suns play. The game is certainly more interesting when you're surrounded by hard-core fans at the local bar.) But even I've noticed that there seem be a rather high number of bizarre or strange calls, both called and uncalled. I mean, at least in the other major sports there's some kind of back up system in place. Replay in football and hockey, call checks in baseball, and ref conferences in all three. But you almost never see NBA refs getting together to talk about a call or going back and looking at video replay (or at least, not in my limited experience).
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Great Quote
I was watching "Around the Horn" this afternoon. It's a show on ESPN where a group of sports analysts go around and debate current sports topics and news. One of the regulars on the show is Woody Paige, a sports columnist for the Denver Post. Part of Woody's "schtick" on the show is to have a chalk board with some kind of funny statement on it behind him. Today's read: "Don't follow in my footsteps - I walk into walls!"
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Singin' the Blues
I'm a big fan of the blues - Chicago blues, Memphis blues, Delta blues - doesn't matter, I like them all. I have the blues on CD, MP3, and vinyl. I can even play the blues . . . at least, some. When I have time (which is rather rare), I sometimes relax by playing the blues on my bass guitar. As much I enjoy playing, I'm not all that great. And as much as I enjoy playing a couple of blues records on my stereo, nothing, nothing, can replace live blues. There is an energy and power to live blues which simply cannot be found on any recording. Unfortunately, there aren't really any good blues joints around here.
. . . Or, at least, there weren't.
I recently found out that a particular bar in my area was going to renovate and become a blues, jazz, and soul bar. Now, previously, this bar was such a dive, even I wouldn't go in there. It was dark, dirty, and not very inviting. It's still small and dark, but it's now clean and a great place to hang out. Last night was their grand re-opening, so I decided to check it out. It was great! The bands were groovin', and crowd was into it, and everybody was having a good time. So, if you're even in the Tempe/Mesa area, and feel like hearing some good live blues or jazz, stop by the Big Fish Pub. It still doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside you'll find great music and a fun night out. Oh, and the prices on drinks aren't too bad either!
. . . Or, at least, there weren't.
I recently found out that a particular bar in my area was going to renovate and become a blues, jazz, and soul bar. Now, previously, this bar was such a dive, even I wouldn't go in there. It was dark, dirty, and not very inviting. It's still small and dark, but it's now clean and a great place to hang out. Last night was their grand re-opening, so I decided to check it out. It was great! The bands were groovin', and crowd was into it, and everybody was having a good time. So, if you're even in the Tempe/Mesa area, and feel like hearing some good live blues or jazz, stop by the Big Fish Pub. It still doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside you'll find great music and a fun night out. Oh, and the prices on drinks aren't too bad either!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Oh, I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener . . .
Saw this story on the Arizona Daily Star website. Apparently, Tucson police mistakenly pulled over the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, thinking it was stolen when it wasn't. I just have to wonder how the officer called it in: "Uh, dispatch, I am currently in pursuit of a 25 foot hot dog, please send back-up with lots of ketchup, mustard, and relish. And a beer. Over."
7-2-7
July 2, 2007.
That's when one of my favorite web-comics is coming back. Anywhere But Here has been on hiatus since April while the author, Jason Siebels, dealt with some real-life things. But he had now announced that he's ready to get things going again. The strip will back in full swing as of Monday. If you haven't ever read ABH, you might want to check it out!
That's when one of my favorite web-comics is coming back. Anywhere But Here has been on hiatus since April while the author, Jason Siebels, dealt with some real-life things. But he had now announced that he's ready to get things going again. The strip will back in full swing as of Monday. If you haven't ever read ABH, you might want to check it out!
New NHL Uniforms
Beginning this coming season, NHL teams are going to have new uniforms. The new unis will be designed and produced by Reebok. They'll include a tighter fit and a different fabric which is intended to move better and keep the players cooler. At the same time, teams have been given the opportunity to redesign their uniforms' look. While information is still a little scarce, a few teams have unveiled their plans. The Boston Bruins, for example, have only made a slight change to theirs. The primary logo has changed slightly, and the secondary logo (on the shoulder) has been redesigned.
Other teams are going for a whole new look, most notably the Washington Capitals. They have completely scrapped their old unis and colors.
Here's the old uniform
And here is the new one:
And in addition to what we do know, there is plenty of speculation as to what other teams' new uniforms will look like. NHL Digest has a series of potential designs for a few teams. Of particular interest to me, of course, is the new Colorado Avalanche uniform.
I could live with this. As it is, my current jersey is out of date. I have a old Rob Blake white home jersey. Rob Blake is no longer with the Avs, his number now belongs to John-Michael Liles, and white is now the away color. Unfortunately, hockey jerseys tend to be rather expensive, so I don't think I'll be able to replace mine anytime soon. Of course, on the plus side, the wearing of old style jerseys is a perfectly acceptable practice for hockey fans, so there's no real hurry!
Other teams are going for a whole new look, most notably the Washington Capitals. They have completely scrapped their old unis and colors.Here's the old uniform
And here is the new one:
And in addition to what we do know, there is plenty of speculation as to what other teams' new uniforms will look like. NHL Digest has a series of potential designs for a few teams. Of particular interest to me, of course, is the new Colorado Avalanche uniform. 
I could live with this. As it is, my current jersey is out of date. I have a old Rob Blake white home jersey. Rob Blake is no longer with the Avs, his number now belongs to John-Michael Liles, and white is now the away color. Unfortunately, hockey jerseys tend to be rather expensive, so I don't think I'll be able to replace mine anytime soon. Of course, on the plus side, the wearing of old style jerseys is a perfectly acceptable practice for hockey fans, so there's no real hurry!
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