Insignifica

Internet Wackiness, Shirts, HDMI, Ren Faire Tix, Westboro Baptist, No Exercise, Wednesday

Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

Assorted potatoes. Taken this day in 2009.

Woke up late again today with the kid, so no gym and no walk. That's kinda rare for me. I'll have to double up tonight.

Man, I hate being on the same side with the folks at Westboro Baptist on ANYTHING, but in this case, the ruling for them was probably right. Free speech is really only tested when the speech is deplorable. We all need to just start ignoring them - that's the best way.

If you're going to the Socal Renfaire, make sure you buy your ticket (through the site) today or tomorrow to get 30% off ($25.00 tickets for $17.50).

Neat infograph on why expensive HDMI cables are nonsense. Monster Cable can rot in hell.

I need new shirts. Mine are literally starting to fall apart. Looks like a trip to the Goodwill is in order.

Lots of wackiness going on with the internets today - Facebook database issues, Gmail login issues, Meebo connection issues, and some other little things. Perhaps par for the course, but still annoying. Either way, keep on keepin' on, readers. Happy Wednesday!

Good Times, Hoover Dam, Allergies, Mail, Change It Up, Cloudy, Tuesday

Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

Some sort of porcine at the San Diego Zoo.

It's cloudy out there today. Kinda weird after the warm, dry weather we had all weekend.

No gym, but got my 1.4 miles in. I'm also sorer than I expected from my gardening/ditch digging I did this weekend. The key to a good workout, it seems, is changing it up.

The mail's been arriving at my house around 10am this week (as opposed to the standard 3pm). It's a little disorienting. Also, the mailman delivered a check to my neighbors instead of me - luckily they got it to me last night. You better shape up, new (or temporary) mailman.

All the good rain followed by good sunshine this winter has produced a particularly bad allergy season, if my own experiences and those of my Facebook friends are to be believed. Allergies are dumb, human body.

Determined my best route from Vegas to the Grand Canyon - it adds some time compared to staying in Laughlin, but I get to cross Hoover Dam, which I've never seen. That's pretty cool.

I hope your day is filled with good times, my friends!

Real Start, Tea Party, Exercise, Busy April, Weekend, Monday

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Katie dancing at my birthday last year.

Good weekend. I realized that I mostly spent it with the immediate family, and that's awesome too. While I'll be hoping for cool days in a few months, having a nice warm weekend is fantastic in March.

Another thing I realized this weekend is that April is gonna be busy. I've got a birthday, Easter, Ren Faire, some short trips with friends, and a trip to the Grand Canyon at the end of the month. It's likely every weekend is now full. Oh, and I might go to Santa Cruz in May. Yikes.

Got my 1.4 mile walk in, and yesterday I dug a hole, which is its own brand of exercise. Feeling sore, but good.

Here's an interesting piece in The Atlantic about the Tea Party movement, and why it's failing - no one in the movement is owning the protests. It makes fantastic points about how social protests work, and how much control really has to be present before one is taken seriously. Good read.

I'm off to get a real start on the day. Keep on keepin' on!

Spectacular Spring Day, Rodents, Scrabble, Fridays, Shorts, Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

Picture of the day!

Huntington Beach pier, taken with my iPhone.

Today's the first Friday of Spring. It's warm and sunny, and I'm wearing shorts to work.

Today's also the first Friday I've been in the office since February - for various reasons (sick, vacation, working from home), I've been out the last three. Interesting how that works.

I lost a game of Scrabble yesterday by one point when the other player layed down a 106-point play to finish the game. I'm still not recovered from the emotional impact of that.

Sometimes, I hear rustling in the ceiling at work, and it freaks me the hell out. While I'm quite looking forward to the renovations we're getting here, I'm not looking forward to the possibility of rodent displacement.

It's a spectacular Spring day. Get out and enjoy it, and happy weekending!

Good and Awesome, Birthday Approaching, Passwords, Gym, Sleep, Thursday

It's Thursday!

Picture of the day!

My brother Matt, Chris, and Adam playing poker at my house. This was combined with a BBQ, apparently, and some of the other pictures show people I don't know. I have no real memories of this event.

Got 8 hours of sleep, and the kid decided to sleep just about all the way through the night. I'm better rested than I've been in a while.

Hit the gym again today - it's been at least a week. While I'm not sick, I found myself pretty easily winded today. Not sure what that's about. Feeling pretty good overall now, though.

You know what I hate having to do? Regularly change passwords. This goes doubly on systems where the password really isn't protecting anything from anyone, like logging into Windows.

I have a birthday coming up in a few weeks, but NO idea how to celebrate. Big? Small? Dinner party? Blowout? Poker tournament? Your suggestions are welcome.

Today's a good day. Let's make it awesome.

Early Springtime, Keyboard, No Exercise, Health Care, Librarian, Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

My 6-month old in a suitcase.

I feel like a librarian today. Technically I'm a librarian every day, but I'm actually doing library stuff, like working with my collection and talking about the future of our archives. I like my job.

Somewhere along the line in this health care debate, it became unfashionable for those against it to actually say they were against expanded rights and more regulation (or the idea of healing people, in general), so the focus turned to the money. Almost every argument I've seen since it's passed is "how are we gonna pay for it" - this from people who have no economic interest in the government, and no desire to care about how any other government programs are paid for. It's odd how closely people echo what they hear on TV, and honestly think they're saying it from their own hearts.

No exercise today - early meeting. I'll have to make sure to get some in tonight.

I'm worried about my work keyboard. It appears to be full of evil gunk. But I'm taking a "popcorn ceiling"/"asbestos insulation" approach to the matter - if I don't disturb it, maybe it won't kill me. Here's to hoping.

We're quickly running out of March - get out and enjoy your early springtime today!

How's the Week Treating You, Ren Faire, "Diet", Spam, Feelin' Better, Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

A rest stop sign as only Arizona could have. FYI, I saw neither snakes nor scorpions.

Feeling much more like myself today. All the weekend's travel and beer made me feel a little off, but even with a tough early-seeming wake-up, I'm feelin' fine.

I noticed lately that the amount of spam I'm getting is relatively way down. Gmail keeps spam for 30 days, and the amount in the spam bin ebbs and flows. It used to hover around 13,000, but in the last few weeks, it's been under 10,000, and today it's under 9,500. I'm wondering if there's less spam being spent, or if Google's somehow catching serious offenders and deleting those before they even make it into my mailbox.

I'm back on the "diet" wagon, trying to keep better track of what (and how much) I eat. I like to think I do pretty well, but it's not being reflected in the scale or tightness of my pants.

Ren Faire quickly approaches, and I'm making some revisions to my "Fairy Hunter" costume. Ebay and Home Depot are my friends...

That's it for today. How's the week treating you, my friends?

Not Much Other News, Phoenix Recap, Monday

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Jesus at the Waffle House, Phoenix.

I've returned from Arizona. The trip was a lot of fun, though 6+ hour drives through the desert are a bit taxing. Some highlights:

- Dinner at Pizzeria Bianco was delicious, though the associated/expected 3 hour wait will silly. Very fun to do once, though. Missed opportunity - another group there had a traveling gnome that they took pictures with, very similar to my Jesus. I forgot to bring him to dinner, and would have loved to get a picture of them both.

- Went to a Waffle House restaurant. Fun and good breakfast.

- There's a "city" on the way to AZ on the 10 called "Desert Center". It looks like a trailer ghost town. It's got a bunch of decapitated palm trees, mostly due to lack of watering (the trunks remain, but the tops die and fall off). Kinda surreal.

- My hotel was cheap and very nice. Thanks, Priceline!

- Got to see good friends and enjoy good food.

I dunno if I'll make it back to Phoenix anytime soon (it's absurdly hot in the summer, without the benefit of chilly Vegas casinos), but it's a nice enough place to visit.

Not much other news - the trip took the whole weekend, and then some. What's new with you, my friends?

Do Good Things and Kick Some Ass, Why Won't God Heal Amputees, Census, Chubby, Gym and Oil, My Friday, Thursday

Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Bob, Katie and The Girlfriend, from the last time I vacationed in Arizona.

Today's actually my Friday, as I'm going to Phoenix tomorrow to get some pizza. Also, how come none of you told me they have Indian Casinos all around the Phoenix area?

Got to the gym this morning while my car was getting its oil changed. Multitasking FTW.

It's a good thing I got to the gym, as I'm feeling particularly chubby today. Maybe it's the freshly-laundered-and-therefore-slightly-shrunk clothes, but I feel larger than usual.

Filled out my census form, and forgot how quick it is, and how little they actually ask. Fill yours out, folks. It's important.

I once again had reason to check out the "Why Won't God Heal Amputees" website, and once again I'm entertained by it. It's a really good simple primer on the basics of logic and the vast problems with Christian belief (with a lot of emphasis on the problems of prayer). It's a very good read.

There may or may not be an update tomorrow - I'm leaving as soon as the kid gets to daycare, so I'll be on the road a lot of the day. Either way, do good things and kick some ass this weekend!

Work To Be Done, Haircut and Trip, Allergies, Irish Cultural Celebration, Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

Katie, in green.

I believe there's some sort of Irish cultural celebration happening today. What this means for me is that I shouldn't go to any bars, restaurants with bars, or drive anywhere near bars. Drinking's great, but not when it's amateur night...

While I'm mostly better from my cold, I was paid a visit last night by an old nemesis - allergies. I can smell the night-blooming jasmine, but I'm sure there are other baddies out there that are lining up to kick my ass. Today, better. Last night, oi.

Got a haircut today. Just about ready for my trip. Most of Riverside County's casinos are along I10, though most in the first two hours of the trip. It'd be nice to have a break a little over halfway to Phoenix, but a border town will have to do.

There's work to be done this day, so I'm off to do it. Enjoy your day!

Workin' For The Weekend, Flavortown USA, Faire, Up Too Late, DST Sucks

Seriously, you guys. Daylight Saving Time? It sucks.

Picture of the day!

Katie at Ren Faire last year.

While it's mostly my fault, it's hard for me to go to bed at midnight (which feels like 11pm), so I stay up past 1am, then wake up exhausted. Little earthquakes in the middle of the night don't help, either (I felt it, but didn't know I felt it - I just knew something woke me up at 4:04am). So, in conclusion, let's stop fucking with the clocks.

It's almost time for Faire! I have to find a way to make a "realistic" fairy head to impale on my spear.

Looking for things to do and places to eat in Phoenix this weekend, I came across "Flavortown USA", an indexed/mapped list of all the restaurants featured on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives". Surprised to learn that 10 Phoenix area restaurants have been featured.

Workin' for the long weekend here - Back to it! Happy Tuesday!

Work Not Gonna Do Itself, Green Hills, Arizona, Better, Windy and Dry, Pi(e), Ides.

Beware!

Picture of the day!

Marek and Jenn, Mardi Gras last month.

Good times this weekend - we celebrated pi(e) day early on Saturday with friends, then went out for pie last night. The Girlfriend and I also ate far, far too much garlic, and it was delicious.

It's windy and dry, and kinda warm - unseasonable, but not unpleasant.

I'm still getting over my odd little cold, but I'm feeling better today. It's winding me without making me feel out of breath. Strange. Oh well, hopefully I'm on the mend.

Going to Arizona this weekend for my mini-vacation. Baseball schedules have aligned so that I'm gonna miss Angels spring training each of the three days, though (unless I wanna get a really, really late start heading out on Sunday). Oh well.

The hills, bolstered by regular intervals of rain and sunshine this winter, are an amazing green, with patches of mustard yellow here and there. I'm sure the wildflowers are fantastic as well. I love Spring.

Work's not gonna do it self, so I take my leave of you. Happy Monday!

Everyone Needs an Awesome Weekend, Pi(e), No Exercise, Sick, Friday!

Friday!

Picture of the day!

Yeah, I really don't know.

Short update today, as I'm at home with the kidlet. Last night she wasn't feeling at all well (another cold), but a dose of Tylenol and she was almost normal. This morning, drug free, she's much better.

Yeah, no exercise today, as I very well might have the same little cold. Not the best week for the gym.

It's very nearly pi(e) day - in fact, that's Sunday. Not as much online chat about it this year. Last year it was oddly huge.

I hope your weekends are awesome - everyone needs an awesome weekend. Seeya Monday!

Enough Randomness, iPhone Apps, Penguin, Miles and Frosted Flakes, QOTD, Thursday!

Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Magic plants in our backyard.

Your question for today: What do Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Mark Twain, and Jesus Christ have in common? There may be multiple things, but I'm looking for a specific answer.

No gym, again, but I walked my 1.4 mile route. And Frosted Flakes were on sale at the store as I walked by, so I got some. Frosted Flakes, while simple, are really only done well by Kellogg. The imitators can't figure out the crunch factor.

Dude, look at this all black penguin. Extra melanin is rare enough, but to cover ALL the white feathers is absurdly rare. Also, penguins are pretty cool.

iPhone users: What are your favorite apps? Are there any paid apps worth my time and money? I use my iPhone more than my desktop computer, but I feel like I can be doing more.

Okay, I think that's enough randomness from me today. Have a fantastic Thursday!

Be Well, CTRL-Z, OC Atheists, Cable and Plumbing Issues, TV, Goodwill, Wednesday!

Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

The girlfriend's view from the slopes last week.

No gym this morning. Bought pants instead. Goodwill requires a little lookin', but there's some nice stuff out there, and it's the right price.

So, my TV. I decided when I bought my flat screen that I wanted to mount it on the wall. Took me forever to find a non-China-made mount, but I found a company in Corona that sold them. Great, except very pricey (almost as much as the TV, for what I wanted). Randomly looking around at Fry's last month, I found one made in Israel, and it was super cheap ($60 instead of $260). We finally got it all installed this weekend, and while I had to wrestle off the TV's base, it's up and looks great.

Related, when I unplugged the cable box to move the TV, it stopped working right, so Time Warner had someone come out yesterday. Nice guy, gave me a new box, updated some wiring, and accidentally broke the spigot off my outside hose faucet. It wasn't his fault - the thing had rusted through and would have snapped off at some point anyway. It's capped and waiting for the $6 fix (which requires we turn off the neighbor's water, so we have to wait until we can talk to them about it). All in all, glad to have both problems solved.

OC Atheists meet tonight. More info here. Come say hello!

There are probably millions of people out there who don't realize that you can "undo" with CTRL-Z, for times when you accidentally delete a large block of text, or copy/paste something wrong, or any number of other everyday annoyances. And they probably swear, retype whatever it is they were working on, and blame the computer. Poor bastards.

There's a busy day ahead, so I'm off to get it going. Be well!

Party Boobytrap, Hotel, Gym, Halfway, Gary Shandling, Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

Katie at Mardi Gras 2008. Yes, two years ago. Yikes, she wasn't even 2 yet there.

I must be under slept: songs are sticking in my head more than usual. The theme to the 1980s "It's Gary Shandling's Show" has been on rotation since I woke up. I'm blaming the new Ironman 2 trailer.

I'm almost halfway finished, How do you like it so far?

Got back to the gym this morning, surprising myself a bit. Feelin' pretty darn good.

Hotel booked for Phoenix - pretty cheap, too, thanks to William Shatner. I also got booked in the same hotel as the friends I'm going with, so that'll be fun.

How are you all today, my friends? Please include at least one palindrome in your response (words or phrases are both ok). Party boobytrap!

No Assistant, No Exercising, Smell, Laptops, TV Issues, Monday

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Katie and the fountain at The District.

Feelin' good. Got a lot of little things done this weekend, including hanging up my TV mount and getting the TV placed on the wall. It still looks a little funny floating there, though. Only two problems to report. First, the stands on my model TV (Olevia 537H) don't seem to want to be removed, no matter what we do. Second, apparently unplugging and re-plugging in the cable box causes it to no longer show television. It's still recording stuff fine (and I can set it to record the next thing on, then watch that), but I can't watch anything "live". Weirdo technology.

Speaking of technology, I've been bringing my work laptop home and have discovered that it's handy having two laptops downstairs - that's how much our two-adult household uses computers. I kinda wish I had room for my main desktop machine in the living room, but that's unlikely to happen.

My library smells of glue, or paint, or some sort of industrial chemical today. Not really a fan.

No exercising this morning - Mondays are like that.

My assistant here is out today, meaning I've got his work to do. Enjoy your day!

Beautiful Days, Walk, Day Off, Friday

Oh, hello. Happy Friday!

Picture of the day!

Prelude to D&D geekery. Apparently also my iPhone takes pictures at 604x453. What the hell is that?

Taking a day off to make sure I don't get sick - things are going around. But I love you all enough to update the site.

No gym today, but I walked my 1.4 mile route. Beautiful day out there.

Speaking of beautiful days, spring is only 2 weeks away. I'm ready, baby. With that, I leave you. Enjoy your weekend, do something awesome, and kick some figurative ass. Seeya!

Let's Keep It Going, Computers and Kids, Books, Baseball, Thursday

Happy Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Rainbow at my mom's house on Saturday. Look closely and you can see that it was a double.

You know what starts today? Angels Spring Training. I've missed baseball this off-season - it's good to have it back.

When I lost my office to my daughter, I put a lot of my books (the vast majority of them, in fact) into storage (in the garage) - seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I'm starting to dig them out, and finding stuff I didn't know I still had. Now, I just need more bookshelves than I've ever owned before to put them all on display.

Speaking of my daughter, I've started letting Katie play with my iPhone. There are actually some nice apps for 3-year-olds out there, and I (likely unwisely) taught her this week how to unlock the phone. Scrolling and button pushing aren't an issue for her at all. She'll never know a time without handy touch interfaces on personal handheld computers. That's pretty awesome.

Feelin' really good today. I got enough sleep, woke up to a sunny morning after a night of rain, and rode 5 miles at the gym. Let's keep it going. Have a great day!

Asparagus, Hotels in Phoenix, Public Speaking, Nutritional Info, Gym, Wednesday

Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

Wonton soup from Loving Hut. Good stuff.

Went to the gym this morning, and Foursquare let me know it was my tenth visit in a month. I'm pretty happy with this.

Talking about Thai food today with friends, and coming to the conclusion that it (and many other types of Asian food) are amazingly fatty and calorie-laden. I love going to small restaurant chains (or single-location places), but I hate that they don't have to post nutritional info. I don't buy all the "small businesses can't afford it" crap. They probably can't "afford" to keep all the bugs out and have hot water, but those are required.

Speaking to a coworker's class tonight about my job and using the internet for news gathering. While public speaking doesn't freak me out, I usually get a bit nervous. This one, though, I'm really looking forward to. The difference, I'm sure, is that I'm very prepared for it. Always worked in school.

Anyone have recommendations for hotels to stay at in Phoenix? Downtown or surrounding area preferred.

I've rediscovered asparagus, roasted with olive olive, salt, pepper, & rosemary. It's as close as I get to describing something as "divine". I'm not sure why it was so good, but I can't stop thinking about it. With that, I'm outta here. Enjoy Wednesday!

No Cussing, Twitter, Getting Things Done, March Project, Phoenix, Gym, Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

My fish army from this weekend.

Gym, feeling good, etc.

I'm getting excited about my Phoenix trip. There aren't a lot of major cities within a half day's drive that I haven't been to. Other than dinner and possibly a baseball game, I don't have plans yet. But I'm sure I'll find something to do.

I'm looking for a March project. It's probably a good time to break out and revamp the Fairy Hunter costume. There's a lot of little improvements to be made.

Speaking of projects, I'm re-energized and excited about getting things done around here. I've realized (again) that all the little things I've been putting off really don't take a lot of time - I've spent more time thinking about them than it would have taken to actually do them. Time to get started.

Since de-coupling twitter and facebook, I've been happier, and I've totally been ignoring the service. I still like it; I just prefer my posts to be more directed.

In honor of the California Legislature wasting their time passing laws declaring this "no cussing week", please cuss often and well. Do it for your freedoms. Have a good day!

Tummy, Diet Shasta, Veggie Grill Nutrition, Screws, Walk, Weekend, March, Monday

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Katie at the beach yesterday.

Wow. It's March already?

Great, relaxing weekend. Spent Sunday out and about, including an inpromptu beach trip (not too cold, not too crowded - perfect) and a pizza dinner at home. Good times. Lots of internet catching up to do this morning, though.

No gym this morning, but I got about a 1.5 mile walk in, plus got some errands done.

Just so you know, a M4-.7 screw will fit into a 8/32nds fitting pretty well, but the reverse is not true. Also, the Wikipedia page on the ISO metric screw thread is pretty darn interesting. All of this is related to mounting my television, which could happen today.

I'm a huge Veggie Grill fan, but I wish they'd just list the nutritional info of their meals instead of the fine job dodging the issue they do on their website. Quotes like "Nutritionists agree that it is the quality of the calories you eat on which you should focus, not the quantity" pretty much confirm my suspicions that the burgers, while vegan, certainly aren't low-fat.

Diet Shasta tastes way sweeter than most other diet sodas. Weird.

My tummy's a rumblin', so I'm off for foodz. Have a great day!