eclecticism: March of the Sinister Ducks
Oops, I realized that I never put this up last year. Here it is for the people that asked for it.
January 30, 2007
Idiot in Motion
Now, if you've done better on your SATs than the average rutabaga, then, you'll probably see the problem earlier than I did.
I've had problems with carpal tunnel in the past, though luckily not bad enough to need surgery. Just bad enough that sometimes I have to wear a brace and sleep with a different brace.
On Sunday, I played volleyball. And served the ball, as I had been taught in High School—which is to hit it with force, underhanded on the heel of my hand. We practiced for three hours or so, so I served the ball repeatedly.
Monday, surprise surprise, my wrist felt like someone had hammered a spike into it. The sad part was that it took me nine, ten hours to put the cause and effect together. I figured it out just before bed and dug my night brace out before going to bed and followed that with some ibuprofen. I don't know if it was one or the other or both, but in the morning, I could probably even have juggled without needing an EMT on standby.
More stupidity is surely to follow...
I've had problems with carpal tunnel in the past, though luckily not bad enough to need surgery. Just bad enough that sometimes I have to wear a brace and sleep with a different brace.
On Sunday, I played volleyball. And served the ball, as I had been taught in High School—which is to hit it with force, underhanded on the heel of my hand. We practiced for three hours or so, so I served the ball repeatedly.
Monday, surprise surprise, my wrist felt like someone had hammered a spike into it. The sad part was that it took me nine, ten hours to put the cause and effect together. I figured it out just before bed and dug my night brace out before going to bed and followed that with some ibuprofen. I don't know if it was one or the other or both, but in the morning, I could probably even have juggled without needing an EMT on standby.
More stupidity is surely to follow...
January 26, 2007
Me and My Big Mouth...
Just got a phone call from someone from Paris. He introduced himself, I said bon jour and he launched into a rapid stream of French. When he took a breath, I had to admit that I only knew bon jour.
Once he stopped laughing, I was able to get the message for a co-worker in English.
Once he stopped laughing, I was able to get the message for a co-worker in English.
Caffeine Monkey on My Back
The insomnia's been driving me nuts, so I wanted to go caffeine-free today. The good news is that I didn't have a caffeine headache this, but with only four hours of sleep last night, I really need the damned caffeine.
I finally broke down and had a Diet Coke with lunch. Here's hoping that the weekend detox will help me. I'm hoping that the only monkeys on my back will be the kids jumping up and down on the Uncle Jungle Gym. (I think I got that from my friend, Al, but I don't see the text on his blog. Must have been an email or something.)
*Yawn*
I finally broke down and had a Diet Coke with lunch. Here's hoping that the weekend detox will help me. I'm hoping that the only monkeys on my back will be the kids jumping up and down on the Uncle Jungle Gym. (I think I got that from my friend, Al, but I don't see the text on his blog. Must have been an email or something.)
*Yawn*
January 25, 2007
Dresden on iTunes
Okay, I can get access to US TV for $19.95 for a season pass to various TV shows. For that, I get my TV shows in easy to digest half a gig iTunes format. That'll take about a half hour to download and almost forty-five minutes to watch. The picture will be tiny (though it can be expanded until the picture looks more than a little off) and the sound (at least in the one iTunes episode that I've watched) will be a little sketchy.
I'm not sure if I want to do that again. I think I may be happier whining about missing a show I want to watch and catching it on DVD next year.
That said, I liked The Dresden Files. Much like the TV show, Bones, it varies in many major areas from the books that the series is based upon. That said, I think I like it and I think it could stand on it's own well. The main character was easy to look at and the character has a similar mix of hard-boiled and caring to the character of the same name that Butcher has written.
They removed some of the things that I loved about the character in the conversion to the small screen: difficulties with technology, the beloved VW, and the sort of wizard's cave of an apartment. Hell, they even changed Bob, the skull. But I can see why some of these changes had been made and I'm certainly willing to see where they go with this.
I'm not sure if I want to do that again. I think I may be happier whining about missing a show I want to watch and catching it on DVD next year.
That said, I liked The Dresden Files. Much like the TV show, Bones, it varies in many major areas from the books that the series is based upon. That said, I think I like it and I think it could stand on it's own well. The main character was easy to look at and the character has a similar mix of hard-boiled and caring to the character of the same name that Butcher has written.
They removed some of the things that I loved about the character in the conversion to the small screen: difficulties with technology, the beloved VW, and the sort of wizard's cave of an apartment. Hell, they even changed Bob, the skull. But I can see why some of these changes had been made and I'm certainly willing to see where they go with this.
January 24, 2007
Fun With Bush
I'm listening to the NPR coverage of President Bush's State of the Union address last night: it's much more fun to listen to at double speed. He's no where near as annoying when he sounds more like Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks.
And it won't take anywhere near as long to listen to the damned thing with all the applause breaks.
And it won't take anywhere near as long to listen to the damned thing with all the applause breaks.
Snow!
I woke up this morning to a crisp tinge in the air. Glancing out the window on the way to the bathroom, I spotted a surprising whiteness. Confused, I leaned against the window and blinked at the darkness. There was snow on the ground. Not much, but enough to pull a flimsy blanket over garden and cars.
I tried to take pictures on the way to work with my camera phone, but the drizzle in the air and the long shadows managed to defeat the meager light of my phone's flash. You'll have to make do with my description.
At quarter after six, the snow was still mostly pristine, only a single pair of prints marred my path for a block or so until bikes, commuters and luggage crushed the snow to slush. It wasn't much snow by New England standards, but by Old England it was enough for drivers to slow to single digits and for the tube to ground to a halt.
Ah, winter.
Update: Added a picture and a link to a BBC story about it.
January 22, 2007
RadioTimes linking to Randi
RadioTimes is basically the UK equivalent of TVGuide. I was checking to see what would be on tonight and found links to interesting sights online. One of the three or so links for today was for James Randi's exposing of Uri Geller and Peter Popoff.
I just love how this stuff actually gets a higher profile over here than in the States and wish the States would catch up.
(They also had a link to Stephen Colbert at the Washington Correspondents Dinner last year.)
Made my morning.
I just love how this stuff actually gets a higher profile over here than in the States and wish the States would catch up.
(They also had a link to Stephen Colbert at the Washington Correspondents Dinner last year.)
Made my morning.
January 20, 2007
Other New Glasses
What do you think?
And over my shoulder, if you look closely, you can see my Ryan monkey. (My nephew and I both got them.)
January 15, 2007
New Glasses
These are my new glasses, which unfortunately, can't do anything for the vacant and vaguely confused look on my face.
Next Saturday, my other pair of new glasses comes in so you can see me in that, as well.
Update: Changed the picture, because it looks like it was compressed a bit and I suddenly look much more angular.
January 12, 2007
More Monkey News!
The TSA has put out information about how to deal with monkey helpers:
TSA: Service Animals
But I think the Daily Kos sarcasm is far more important here:
Daily Kos: Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY!
TSA: Service Animals
But I think the Daily Kos sarcasm is far more important here:
Daily Kos: Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY!
Monkey Helpers
· The monkey handler should carry the monkey through the WTMD while the monkey remains on a leash.
· When the handler and monkey go through the WTMD and the WTMD alarms, both the handler and the monkey must undergo additional screening.
· Since monkeys may likely draw attention, the handler will be escorted to the physical inspection area where a table is available for the monkey to sit on. Only the handler will touch or interact with the monkey.
· TSOs have been trained to not touch the monkey during the screening process.
· TSOs will conduct a visual inspection on the monkey and will coach the handler on how to hold the monkey during the visual inspection.
· The inspection process may require that the handler take off the monkey’s diaper as part of the visual inspection.
It's also important to check the monkey's shoes for explosives and make sure they're not on the DHS "No Fly" list. And if your monkey misbehaves, well...be creative.
January 11, 2007
Dresden Files
Yet another reason, why I wish I was home with my ReplayTV:
The Dresden Files on the SciFi Channel.
I am so going to be bugging my friends regularly to find out how this is turning out. :) Expect my calls.
January 6, 2007
Secretive US Government? Where did you get that idea...
Your tax dollars at work:
Bush Admin Makes White House Visitor Records Disappear(And yes, I did get a word of the day calendar, why do you ask?)
By Paul Kiel - January 5, 2007, 4:43 PMWhat do you do when there are public records showing the details of visits by a corrupt lobbyist and his associates? If you're the Bush White House, you do what you do best: make them disappear!
January 1, 2007
Heaven
On the flight back to London, British Airways upgraded me to business class. More space. More comfortable seats. It almost made up for the fact that I had to wait an hour for my luggage to make it down to the little merry-go-round.
December 24, 2006
Back in the States and Heroes...
Let's see — made it to the States without a problem.
Well, I was a little late, an hour or so, but not the end of the world and I was able to spend the evening with my friends. The perfect response to a long and arduous day of travel.
The hotel that we stayed at has high speed broadband access. Which means, I can watch the episodes of Heroes online.
Everyone that said that I would love the show wasn't kidding. This is friggin' incredible. AIGH! And I'm in the UK.
Well, I was a little late, an hour or so, but not the end of the world and I was able to spend the evening with my friends. The perfect response to a long and arduous day of travel.
The hotel that we stayed at has high speed broadband access. Which means, I can watch the episodes of Heroes online.
Everyone that said that I would love the show wasn't kidding. This is friggin' incredible. AIGH! And I'm in the UK.
December 22, 2006
Still Foggy
It's still foggy today.
I'm hopeful, but still have no idea whether I'll fly out on time.
Update: Made it out — relatively on time. We were about an hour late after sitting on the tarmac for close to two hours at Heathrow.
I'm hopeful, but still have no idea whether I'll fly out on time.
Update: Made it out — relatively on time. We were about an hour late after sitting on the tarmac for close to two hours at Heathrow.
December 21, 2006
Worries About My Holiday Plans...
BBC News story: Fog causes more UK flight delaysI'm hoping that this will be sorted before Saturday at 4pm, but to be honest, I have no idea.
Thick fog has forced British Airways to cancel all domestic flights from Heathrow and many European ones.
Worst case, I'll see about having myself a holly jolly London Christmas and see what it'll take to mail presents from Western Mass. (I really hope that doesn't happen.)
Update: I forgot to add how bad it was this morning. I walked by the Putney Heath on my way to the doctor's office . The fog was so thick that from across the street, I could barely see the shapes of the trees bordering the roadway. If Heathrow was half that bad, I can understand the delays and cancellations.
December 20, 2006
Foggy Morning in London
As I walked to work this morning, I wanted to take a picture of the dark and foggy street. It's nowhere near the horrible pea soup days of Jack the Ripper, but then again, there's less coal and gas smoke in the air now.
I also learned an important lesson about taking pictures in fog with a flash. They were horrible, but they did look kind of cool, though. The invisible water in the air is reflective:
December 19, 2006
Damp Room Redux
Thank you to all the people that offered ideas or recommendations on how to fight the damned mold and mildew.
I spent last night, after work, scrubbing the walls with a bleach solution. Unfortunately, I found that the corner of the room is only the tip of the iceberg, the black yuck has spread behind the headboard and also all over the window behind the curtain. I got the walls last night. The window will be tonight.
Yuck.
An evening of scrubbing. And I don't even have a DVD of Battlestar Galactica to distract myself afterwards.
I spent last night, after work, scrubbing the walls with a bleach solution. Unfortunately, I found that the corner of the room is only the tip of the iceberg, the black yuck has spread behind the headboard and also all over the window behind the curtain. I got the walls last night. The window will be tonight.
Yuck.
An evening of scrubbing. And I don't even have a DVD of Battlestar Galactica to distract myself afterwards.
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