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41 entries from March 2007

Links for 2007-03-28

Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 16:29 | | Comments (0)

Shrivel

They’re doing some sort of maintenance work on the roof of this building, and the roof-access hatch is in the men’s room. Which facts resulted in two pronounced effects on me within the last four minutes:

  1. Mild coronary when I rounded the corner from my work area to the main corridor where the men’s room is located and nearly tripped over the security guard who is standing watch over this new (and otherwise unsecured except by large deadbolt) entrance to the building.
  2. Reduction in size, shall we say, when I was in the men’s room and the late-spring morning chill was blowing down the hatchway directly into the urinal area.

I don’t know why but it seems tremendously appropriate that right now my iPod is playing “Too Shy.”

Monday, March 26, 2007 at 04:18 | | Comments (0)

Links for 2007-03-21

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 16:36 | | Comments (0)

On Vox: QotD: This Time Last Year

It was a Sunday, so I did a couple loads of laundry in the midday. That night I went to Katharine’s for dinner and to prepare my 2005 tax return (she buys TurboTax every year).

That entire weekend was pretty tame, according to my Palm datebook. I worked Fri 03/17, my usual daytime hours at the lab; I have nothing at all down for that night, and on Sat 03/18 all I did (that warranted noting in my calendar, anyway) was watch The Legend of Zorro on DVD.

Answering:

What were you doing one year ago today?
Submitted by CassandraMorgan

Originally posted on donnunn.vox.com

Monday, March 19, 2007 at 06:17 | | Comments (0)

What green am I

Yeah, this is actually pretty true. And again via Julie Anne—I’m such a follower today:

You Are Emerald Green
Deep and mysterious, it often seems like no one truly gets you. Inside, you are very emotional and moody—though you don’t let it show. People usually have a strong reaction to you... profound love or deep hate. But you can even get those who hate you to come around. There’s something naturally harmonious about you.

Saturday, March 17, 2007 at 18:18 | | Comments (0)

Beer Personality

I’m wondering if everyone is Guinness:

You Are Guinness
You know beer well, and you’ll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered-down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them.

When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know-it-all, especially about subjects you don’t know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

Saturday, March 17, 2007 at 17:23 | | Comments (0)

Speaking of celibate teetotalers

Utah strikes again:

Salt Lake Tribune: State gets no kick from ‘merlot’ plate
By Dawn House
The Salt Lake Tribune

It took 10 years, but one miffed citizen finally figured out the word “merlot,” emblazoned on the license plate of Glenn Eurick’s car, means wine.

Merlot is also the name of a widely planted red grape in France’s Bordeaux region, famous for its wines. But the Utah Tax Commission has sided with an anonymous complainant that merlot is an alcoholic beverage - and intoxicant words are banned from vanity plates.

“People usually ask us what the word means,” said Eurick, who was surprised last week when he received a letter from the Tax Commission ordering him to remove the offending plate from his dark-red 1996 Mercedes.

How about “GRN JELO”?Eurick said most Utah bystanders wonder aloud if merlot is a family name or a foreign word. But when he and his wife stopped for gasoline in Green River on their way home to Salt Lake City, one man understood the significance of the word.

“He asked us if we chose merlot because there were too many letters in cabernet sauvignon,” said Eurick.

Tax Commission spokesman Charlie Roberts said it’s understandable that the offending word could have gone unnoticed for more than a decade.

“I’m a little rusty on my French, too,” he acknowledged.

License plate no-nos

In addition to its ban on intoxicants, the Utah Tax Commission also prohibits words that are vulgar, obscene, related to gangs or organized crime, promote illegal activity, identify certain body parts or functions, or show contempt of a race, religion, gender, or political affiliation.

Also banned: Plates with the numbers six and nine, combined.Roberts added that another Utahn has been ordered to remove a plate from his vehicle. This one spells out “chianti,” although he said the owner will be given the option of picking another region from France less well-known for its wine. The problem: Chianti has been famous for its red wine for nearly 300 years, but it’s located in Italy.

For his part, Eurick is protesting the state’s decision that merlot is an offensive word, although he said that he and his wife also enjoy the drink.

“It’s the color of our car,” he said. “But if we lose, I’ll suggest ‘no merlot.’ That way no one can say I’m promoting anything alcoholic.”

If that doesn’t make it past state censors, “burgundy” might be another option for Eurick’s Mercedes. Or perhaps not. Burgundy might be doubly offensive, being both a wine region and an alcoholic beverage.

Saturday, March 17, 2007 at 09:15 | | Comments (0)

Green stuff

Flickr photo sharing: Broccolini side
Broccolini side
Flickr: iL!N9c-A conversation between Katharine and Julie Anne at dinner tonight:

Julie Anne: Hey Kat, wanna try my broccolini?
Katharine: Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?

Ahh, Katharine. Ever the soft-spoken lady. ;-)

Friday, March 16, 2007 at 23:44 | | Comments (1)

Developments

So. The apartment where I was going to be living as of late April or early May (if I’d even mentioned it here before)?

Not happening.

The biz partner of the woman I’d been dealing with re-upped the lease with the current tenants.

He “forgot [I] was waiting in the wings.”

Goddammit. I hate! apartment-hunting.

:: • :: • :: • :: • ::

The replacement dark-lens clip I requested back in... January? early February? ... is finally in. Of course I heard this by voice mail at the exact moment the eyewear store was closing for the day today.

Guess I’ll be getting up early tomorrow, they’ve a lovely 08:00-13:00 Saturday business day.

:: • :: • :: • :: • ::

Off tonight to a Westminster College alumni function at The Tasting Room.

I’m not a Westminster alum. I attended classes there for a year and a half before the idea that school was a good thing flamed out in my brain and I went into full-time retail hell for a while before jumping into the tech arena.

No, I was invited because my sister is a Westminster graduate and my friend Julie Anne is affiliated through family history and fund-raising efforts and her previous jobs.

Two invites to a wine-tasting social event for an organization with which I do have some tie and at a place I’d wanted to try already. Rock!

:: • :: • :: • :: • ::

I only wish I got web-site hate mail anywhere remotely this funny. Alas, I rarely get web-site hate mail at all since my buddy Michael Manfredi went silent some months back.

:: • :: • :: • :: • ::

Have a good weekend. :-)

Friday, March 16, 2007 at 16:12 | | Comments (0)

I didn’t know that

Today I found out that First Hill, the neighborhood of Seattle which happens to be home to three hospitals (Swedish Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, and Virginia Mason Medical Center), is also called “Pill Hill.”

I’d thought perhaps this nickname was mainly used within the health-care industry, but maybe not. The neighborhood’s Wikipedia entry mentions the “Pill Hill” nickname in a pretty general way.

Learn something new every day.

Thursday, March 15, 2007 at 12:48 | | Comments (1)

Links for 2007-03-12

Monday, March 12, 2007 at 16:30 | | Comments (0)

On Vox: QotD: Mmm Cookies

Yep, ordered the usual Thin Mints and Samoas.

I used to detest Samoas but in the past few years I’ve come to enjoy them more than any other Girl Scout cookies. Weird.

Answering:

Did you order Girl Scout cookies this year? What kind?

Originally posted on donnunn.vox.com

Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 17:18 | | Comments (0)

Links for 2007-03-10

Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 15:26 | | Comments (0)

Links for 2007-03-07

Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 15:32 | | Comments (0)

sleep deprivation sucks

I am on this midnight-to-08:00 shift now, fourth week. Thought I would be thoroughly accustomed to it after the third week, well-adjusted to getting home between 08:30 and 11:00 (depending on how busy it is, if I have any after-work errands, if I stop for breakfast, whatever) and doing whatever I wanted or needed to do until about 14:00. That was bedtime, and I would stir and wake between 20:00 and 22:00 and shower and dress and the cycle would begin anew.

Except I never maintained this schedule effectively on weekends, because when one is not much of a night-life denizen, as I am not, one finds one has little to do at 03:00 on a Saturday. The only reason I was even up at that hour was to maintain the regularity of the overnight-shift schedule, try to adapt my sleep patterns as quickly as I could, but I failed each weekend and usually ended up off by several hours either or both days.

This week I really threw myself for a loop. I got home Friday at 09:20, still very much awake and planning to remain so until Friday night because I had plans with friends all afternoon and into the evening and I did not want to miss out on them. So I stayed up, not even a catnap because I have found over the years that when I am awake for nearly a full day, I need at least 3 or 4 hours of sleep to get any useful rest and not wind up stupid and sluggish for the remainder of a day, and when I got home at 09:20 that meant I would have managed maybe two hours of sleep if I were lucky.

Continue reading "sleep deprivation sucks" »

Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 02:48 | | Comments (1)

Unusual things I have done since I started this new work schedule three weeks ago

In no particular order.

  • Prepared and/or eaten any of the following foods before 10:00: mac’n’cheese; green beans; cheese and crackers; grilled chicken; soup
  • Gone grocery shopping on a weekday morning
  • Had to set an alarm to make sure I woke up by 22:00
  • Stayed up all night Friday into Saturday, but been at home alone the entire time
  • Almost missed the 22:00 alarm (yargh)
  • Missed every sunrise on my workdays, because my office is an internal windowless room

How’s your work schedule treating you? ;-)

Thursday, March 01, 2007 at 07:38 | | Comments (0)

Yo quiero Super Bowl

J: How do you spell Chihuahua?

K: You’re from New Mexico, you should know how to spell Chihuahua!

D: Just put down “absurdly bug-eyed dog.”

J, K: LOL

D: Or you could spell it: F-O-O . . . T-B . . . A-L-L.

[brief pause]

J, K, D: FOCLOL

Thursday, March 01, 2007 at 02:42 | | Comments (0)