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December 30, 2004

jenny mccarthy and carmen electra?

What is this, a "Singled Out" reunion? I guess we need to see what Chris Hardwick is up to.

Dirty Love? Now, y'all know I think Jenny McCarthy is hot. But I think Carmen Electra is not only not very pretty, but dumb as a brick.

The difference? Jenny doesn't take herself too seriously, and that's important when you're really only known for your looks. She may not be smart, but she's definitely smarter (and overall better looking) than most big-breasted girls I've seen on Stern.

(And according to IMDB, she had her breast implants removed in 1998... damn... she must have naturally had some nice boobs.)

Ok, enough drooling.

is wonder woman a chicken?

ok... so we all know wonder woman has an invisible jet.
and, most of us know she can fly under her own power.

so does she really have an "invisible jet"? or does she just sit like she's in a seat when she flies, and pantomime the controls?

(i know, i know, i saw the episode with the jet with other people in it... i'm just trying to point out something people might not have thought about)

perhaps she's like a chicken, unable to fly long distances?

and more importantly, will the toy manufacturers ever make an invisible jet for the JL series? (and then make a clear WW variant to pilot it?)

a mini-wishlist revisited

one day left till the new year, and i've been shopping again.

this wishlist only concerns itself with plastic crack (tm)... of the superhero kind.

super friends superman and lex luthor 2-pack
super friends wonder woman and cheetah 2-pack
super friends batman and scarecrow 2-pack
super friends aquaman and black manta 2-pack

microman flight gear batman
microman batman (grey)

Batman Yamato Wave/Series 1 Harley Quinn
Batman Yamato Wave/Series 1 Batman

Those are the harder to find items right now...
And, I linked to the cheapest places I could find them.

Now you all know the width and breadth of my addiction.
Of course I have many many more "needs" but this is the short, harder to find list. And of course, this is the totally "BUY ME THINGS" list.

And I'm a greedy bastard.

December 28, 2004

a note from the sis

I got a nice note (and package!) from the sis yesterday... it included a nice big box of Godiva truffles, and two photos of the cutest niece. Ok. I'm biased. his nieces are pretty damn cute, but I only have one, and she looks every bit as ornery as her two parents.

Apparenly, Kadie loves the Paddington Bear I sent her, carrying him everywhere, wrestling with him. She's 10 months and walking.. dragging poor P. behind her.

I told my mom I thought it was good to have cross-generational toys like that. Paddington would kick Barney's ass any day.

The Godiva was delicious, as expected. I had forgotten just how good (and I mean GOOD) chocolate could be. It's been 7 years since I assistant-managed a Godiva store... and 4 since I'd been in one (before the sis's wedding). I miss the simplicity of inventory management and in-store buying. Everything operating as a well-oiled machine.

So, I ate a bunch of chocolate and thought about the good times she and I had together, back before she met her hubby, moved away, and became a mom. I miss her a lot, and it was good to know she still thinks of things like good chocolate.

And then I called her and wished her a happy birthday. On her answering machine. Hopefully she was out enjoying herself and not working.

It was a day that felt like a big hug. I need more days like that.

something to make me smile

unfortunately, I haven't been keeping up with the monthly releases from my friend robey's band, the Ice Weasels... but I have to say, I do like their December track, "Frosty's Drunk Again"...

From "A Year in the life of the Ice Weasels"... If I could dig up the old tracks, I'd post links, but right now, it's just the current month, December.

I've heard some of the other tracks, but can't find em. I'll email Robey today to see where I can get more.

LOUD ASSHOLES NEED TO BE SHOT

Ok, so I don't work in a cube farm. I work in an office environment. We all have doors. Technically, I could close my door. But, our heating/ventilation system sucks, plus we tend to be in/out of our offices a bunch, so generally we keep our doors open.

"HEY DAWG!"
"HEY DAWG!"
"HEY DAWG!"
"HEY DAWG!"
"HEY DAWG!"
"HEY DAWG!"

When I hear a 40-something-year-old white man yelling "HEY DAWG!" from over 30 feet away and around 2 corners... I cannot tell you the level of stabbing irritation it causes me.

Almost as much as Cackleland, where the two most annoying women try to out-fake-laugh each other. That's 40+ feet in the other direction. Both sound like they're IN my office. Last week I happened to be in the office next to the two Hens, and it was unbearable, so we shut the door. It didnt help.

Someday, you'll hear it here, courtesy of my digital audio recorder.

December 26, 2004

hours and hours

we got home approximately 4 hours ago.

i seem to have spent 4 hours going through my figures and organizing/putting up the loose ones.

i just sat down to surf through some of the action-figure message boards, and BAM! dominoes. I'm not sure who decided to fall first, but I saw Sandman's hat hit the floor, and something else fell behind the bookshelf. Sandman, Black Canary, Dr. Mid-Nite, Power Girl, Wildcat, Captain Marvel, and Black Suit Superman seem to have all toppled. DAMN YOU DC Direct, for not making figures which stand properly! (oh, I should probably say "for not QC'ing your figures so that each has means to stand properly", but that's nitpicking. Your factories are in China, so I guess I should expect that they're made by people making $0.02/hour and thus topple over on their own).

I wasnt even MOVING. I wasnt even BREATHING in that direction.

guess I'll have to put them back up again.

teen titans (tv) figures - wave 3 review.

ok... so I bought myself MOST of the latest run of Teen Titans figures (Puppet King, Master of Games, Speedy, Thunder, Lightning, Resculpts of Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg).

The figures have less articulation, crappy paint jobs, bad packaging (many paint rubs). But they also have bigger feet, peg holes, and bigger heads.

They're simply not as good as the other figures, but at least they're making some new ones.

December 25, 2004

it's been said before...

so... yesterday, before we left tried to leave for Toledo, I got a call from my dad. "Call your grandmother".

we talked a bit more, and i asked whether she was spending christmas with my uncle, as is usual now, since my parents are in florida.

"probably not. she's got a cold and he isn't well."

"not well? what do you mean?"

"he's dying"

um. er. ok.

this is getting all too fucking familiar, no pun intended.

my dad's only surviving brother is dying. lung cancer related to asbestosis. the docs have given up on chemo. it isnt working. he's just on medicine for the pain now, which makes him a little fuzzy on the speech. he's also turned yellow.

"does gram know he's dying?"

"he hasnt said anything, but she knows. she's seen it before, with your grandfather. once he turned yellow, it was the end."

i was trying very hard not to cry. not because i know the man, but because i felt so horrible for my grandmother, and this was all compounded on top of my Harrington-level mood swing from earlier that day.

So... based on this pattern... my dad has another 2 years or so.
Or maybe, he caught his health problems in time.

Horrible genes. Damn them!

mari- kurisumasu

:)

it's 8:38 and it doesn't feel like Christmas. it's 0 degrees. we're in Columbus. No family around. I'm running the dishwasher, pondering laundry.

it's fucking cold. brr. I gotta check the basement.

December 24, 2004

one more real quick entry before bed...

cant remember if i blogged this, but i'm not looking, and if i did, i'll delete it later.

it was a good christmas haul this year.
i got the three remaining sets of super friends figures i needed, and a gift certificate at my favorite comic shop for more plastic cracky goodness from nala.

and evebird got me one of the remaining dark knight figures i needed: carrie kelly robin!

so... i did a happy dance. i felt like a kid again.

the roads sucked.

so we're home.

we got a rotisserie chicken, some stovetop stuffing, made some lettuce slaw, and nala made kapusta, and we've got company, a fire in the fireplace, and an eddie izzard video.

nala's family called and asked him to tell the pon muha story. on speakerphone.

it was kick ass.

December 22, 2004

this just in...

barnes and noble dropped prices on dc direct figures...

and the alex ross superman/lois christmas plate $23.98

and this guy...
wakka wakka wakka!

what the hell

the government must be playing with their weather control machine again...

10" of snow by morning?
single-digits or negative temps 3 nights in a row?

December 21, 2004

tuttle cut

I'm now sporting what Nala used to refer to as the "Tuttle Cut" -- a half-assed version of a Caesar haircut that looks like shit on me.

I can never get the same haircut twice in a row, I tell ya. The same words spoken to the stylist/barber, the same beginnings by trimming up the sides the same way, still always come out different.

desperate hausfrau

So, I've been up since 3:00. ish. That's AM. Nala couldn't sleep, and I couldnt get back to sleep with him not sleeping.

Of course, now I'm tired, but I'm at work.

I baked another 6 dozen cookies. I surfed the web. I wrote a couple more Christmas cards. I sent birthday emails. I taped up and addressed packages.

3 more hours and I can go to lunch, the bank, the post office, the store, and to get a haircut. Then, I can go home and make more cookies. Mmm cookies. And wrap presents. And make dinner. And go see The Incredibles.

Hey, Lynette, pass me that ADD medication, will ya?

Housewives spoilers follow...

This week on Desperate Housewives...

Zach goes home, reluctantly, after Susan finds out he's been living upstairs with her daughter... Mike delivers him to Mr. Young, and lets him know he can call him anytime if he needs to.

Edie gets the cops to break into Mrs. Huber's house.

Gabi finds out Carlos really did do something bad for Mr. Tanaka. I've got to rewatch, but I think she burned only his passport and not his hidden papers... the opposite of what he asked her to do. Gabi hides her things in neighbors' homes (Bree's especially) so that the feds don't take it as "ill gotten gains".

Rex is banging Maisy Gibbons, the bitch from the prep school who Lynette faced off against, who, it seems, has a little business selling herself to the neighborhood men to make money since she and her husband fell on hard times and she lost the country club membership. She does it because Bree felt sorry for her? Rex has a heart attack while in mid act, and Maisy calls 911 while chained to him.

Bree finds out Rex is banging Maisy and likes it kinky. But still loves her. She visits him in the hospital, and seeming genuinely concerned, goes into full Melrose BITCH mode and tells him she's taking him for everything he's got. Because she wants it to hurt.

Lynette's new stolen nanny is sugar and spice but she sets up a nanny-cam anyway just to be sure. She thinks the kids love the nanny more, but the cam reveals not even SuperNanny can get three bratty boys to eat brussel sprouts. Even with cheese.

I probably missed something... No "Oh, Susan" moments.
And in case you missed the pilot, it's airing again this weekend.

December 20, 2004

spreading christmas cheer...

mmm. lasagne.

after a most wonderful and filling dinner watching 24 with Fab J and Mr. T, we delivered cookies and such to dear friends of ours in the old neighborhood.

i started early with kristy and alex, and mr. t and fab j of course, and then after dinner, we swung by wilber ave. (no dave and mary beth), and then neil ave. to pam and paul's, where i got to see the glorious showroom kitchen. finally, we hit monica and patrick's soon to be old home on dennison. what a cozy fun evening with friends.

and no cookies left for us! boo! guess i'll have to make another batch.

December 19, 2004

to do list...

laundry.
cookies.
cookie jars.
copy recipes.
trash out.
cat litter out.
boxes out.
return toys.
buy presents.
wrap presents.
buy stamps.
buy gift card.
send cards.
package to pittsburgh.
package to daytona.
buy cat litter.
buy gravel to weight down truck
deliver cards and cookies (mostly done)
buy wood shavings.
clean carpets.
put up tree(?).
clean kitchen counters, stove.
put fall/summer seasonal crap in basement.
mantle cover and table runners.

i guess it was a productive day...

cookies...

i'm about halfway through baking a batch of my great-grandmother's "Great Cookies"... peanut butter chocolate chip... and it's strange to think i'm baking these cookies from her recipe, and using her potholders to take them out of the oven.

i could eat about 4 dozen of these in one sitting. which leaves 2 dozen to give to friends.

or i could keep them all for myself! yum yum yum.

AUGH!

snow?!

dammit.

hoont was barking at 6:30. I got up, shoveled and swept, salted, and fed him and let him out.

just checked the weather... it aint gettin any warmer today... dropping to 10-15 by late afternoon, and 7 overnight.

good thing i can get cat litter and stamps at UDF.

chester is pretty pissed off.

December 18, 2004

such great heights

We went to see Garden State with the Juice last night... very cool movie. Even cooler soundtrack (available at iTMS for $9.99).

And, I was right about covers.

Iron & Wine covered the Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" (thanks, google, for helping me find which did it first...)

I was fairly certain there was one other cover on that album, but I couldn't find it by listening to snippets. Then again, it could've just been the familiarity of Imogen Heap's voice on the Frou Frou's track.

Ok... time to get moving on the house-cleaning and cookie making.

December 17, 2004

today sucks the balls.

so.

ok.

hellspawn is back.

and then there's my ex-friend's aunt dying.
and then there's my friends breaking up.
and then there's a friend's grandmother dying.

it's been a rough day. and it's only getting better.
i'm making a drink. and looking for stamps.
and finishing christmas cards.
and waiting to hear from a friend about a movie.

at least i'm home, beside my hoont.

ugh.

of course, i just got an email that my ex-friend's aunt is in the hospital, dying. i don't know her, and i just ended the 9 year friendship a couple months ago...

but i do feel some sympathy for him.

his grandmother died this time of year. his parents divorced this time of year. his coma was this time of year. et cetera.

--

in other news, my childhood friend who made a point of telling me i couldn't bring nala to his wedding just emailed me to say he'll be in ohio in the spring for his cousin's wedding and seeing what i was up to.

i'm still trying to figure out what to say. i don't want to be the angry homo, but hey. i am.

identity crisis

You know it's bad when you check your answering machine at home and it says "[Nala] was right. I just read Identity Crisis #7 and it sucked!"

December 16, 2004

a very cool Christmas gift

last night I took my one Transformers collector friend his Christmas (and birthday) present (Alternator Dead End), and two other Alternators he asked me to pick up for him.

in exchange, he gave me a present for me and Nala... which of course, I opened. It was ... the Peter Gabriel tour cds FROM the show we saw at Germain.

I was stunned. Thrilled and stunned.

Now if I can just find a cheap copy of the other band's CD... they were awesome.

white Darkseid, where are you?

Sears? Penney's? Apparently so.

Who knew there were two Darkseids in the Justice League line (not counting the 4-pack)? One has a grey face, one has a white face.

And apparently the new JLU and Titans stuff has made it here to TRUs... so I'm off at lunchtime to go see what I can find.

Damn you Hasbro and Ban Dai and Mattel. And Diamond. You all suck.

My sinuses hurt and I'm tired. Wonder if I should go see the doc.

desperate housewives' weekly visit...

Ok. You all know I watch this show... and taking a week off from it killed me. But not as dead as Mrs. Huber.

Lots of shit happened. Zach broke out of the looney bin. Young Van De Cute smoked pot and his mom ratted him out. Zach's dad buried Mrs. Huber in the woods? Lynette Scavo: Nanny stealer. John and Gabi broke it off, and Carlos got arrested. No Mike this episode? Charity fashion show -- John's mom thinks he's sleeping with Susan? Ick. Even I'd say ick, and I think Teri Hatcher is still doable. She looked so cute and his mom ruined it.

And it seems I may have been right about Rex and his ... issues. Oh, how predictable. Thanks, Tim, for the tip.

Sad. If this show gets more predictable, it will die a quick death. Maybe it's because I watch Knots every day, but damn. I think Michelle Phillips needs to make an appearance as Edie's mom, and try to sleep with every husband in the neighborhood, ala Abby Ewing. I know I'm mixing Knots characters, but hey...

It's just a soap.

man, ohio sucks sometimes.

I thought I would share this letter with you, the reader. I sent it far into the reaches of Jesusland and Canada yesterday, via email, and at least one of you chose to send a letter to our Secretary of State as well.

The following was sent to a rather politically active friend of mine in response to his letter to the secretary of state regarding the "gay marriage ban" which was on our ballots and passed this fall. All names have been removed to attempt to foil googling.

[Please note any typos are from transcription]

On behalf of [state] Secretary of State, [name of SoS], thank you for your recent letter concerning [the Issue]. I am responding on his behalf.
Your civility, both in tone and wording is evident and demonstrates your thoughtfulness and passion for your viewpoint. In turn, and in good conscience, I will attempt to lay out a few of the Secretary's thoughts on this matter in a civil manner.
There are two issues at play here. The first issue, giving constitutional protection to a group of individuals who surpass the bar for legally protected group status, has historically not been applied to individuals who choose to engage in sexual intercourse with a member of the same sex. The U.S. Supreme Court has never held that a person, who chooses to have sexual intercourse with another person of the same sex, and thus, identify himself or herself as a homosexual, deserves equal protection under the law as someone who does not choose their race, gender or age for example.
The second issue deals with the definition of marriage. For thousands of years, an untold number of civilizations have recognized that marriage was between a man and a woman. One, to now accept that two men or two women can come under the definition of marriage would be to totally eradicate the meaning and structure of marriage. Two, such a "union", in essence, would say there is no need for either a father or mother in a home. All of the data says otherwise. As a matter of fact, as is much as humanly possible, numerous studies show that a husband and wife should stay together for the health, welfare and sake of their child(ren). There is something undeniably unique, and the facts bear it out, about the stability a mother and father can bring to their child. Discrimination, no. If a person wants to become married, there have always been guidelines - age, no.one closer than a second cousin, no current spouse and someone of the opposite sex - one can choose to follow if they so desire.
As [the Issue] allegedly relates to destroying property rights or foiling the intent of inheritance bequests, such is not the case. Individuals always have the legal ability to carry out personal transactions through contracts, wills, trusts and the like.
In terms of the ramifications of the second paragraph of the Issue, as worded on the ballot, time will tell as it is defended and interpreted by the Attorney General and analyzed by judges. As for the role of the Secretary of State's office in educating the voters on this issue, our role on this and every ballot issue is to disseminate as widely as possible a booklet which allows the proponents and opponents to stress their arguments on behalf of their given position.
Although we may maintain different perspectives on this important issue, hopefully our dialogue has remained respectful. Again, thank you for taking time to convey your thoughts and for being an engaged citizen. On behalf of Secretary [name], may you experience much joy during this holiday season.
[name] Assistant Secretary of State

-------------------

A response email I got from a friend no longer living here: "I just sent [the Secretary of State] and [the Governor] a letter about why I will never move back to Ohio and how this law is going to ruin the university system and Ohio's economy. Suck it, [Secretary of State]."

That sums up my sentiment. Suck it. You fought dirty and won, asshat.

a blue christmas

want to see which retailer contributed to which campaign? check out Buy Blue. it's very depressing.

thanks to another Dunn whose site I read.

December 15, 2004

entry 1000

I was going to rant about how I've had a headache since this morning, I burnt the biscuits I took to work, had a greaseburger for lunch because the healthy place closed (couldnt afford to stay open over break -- lots of places doing that this year), and how the postal service keeps fucking us harder and harder every year while their service gets shittier and shittier.

And how Ohio sucks ass sometimes. (Ken Blackwell, this means you.)

But, it's post #1000. I'm tired, my stomach hurts, and I'm angry. But I feel the need to post something nice.

So here it is...

One of the cutest kids I've ever seen... my cousin Lucy held by her grandfather, my uncle, Bill.

bill-lucy-sm.jpg

She makes me smile.

December 12, 2004

weekend update

laundry. breakfast. comic shop. shopping for housewares. and computers. and just stuff. and dinner in the suburbs. and more shopping. and laundry. and building a bookshelf.

fun stuff, i tell ya.

at least justice league was good, and so was the company who came over to watch it, bringing a belated birthday gift. woohoo. Interpol on cd. and pizza and cookies for dinner kicked ass.

managed to get caught up on laundry, more or less. so now, it's time to clean house again. and finish some sewing. (yes, I am a hausfrau. and i am SO over being teased about it.)

gotta get the mantle-cover done so we can get the christmas stuff up.

oh, and if anyone knows which store carries the calphalon stainless steel canister set, please let me know. i want to look at them again before i buy any, and i cant for the life of me remember who had them. thanks. there's two other contenders: a set at Marshall's (brand unknown) and a set at Target, (brand also unknown.) Of course, I would also consider some nice, wide-mouth white ones, too. As long as they seal and are at least rust-resistant. My old tins from college were a little too beat up and werent sealing anymore, and had started to rust. Bad.

Update: I found the Calphalon canisters at Bed Bath and Beyond in Dublin, but not Upper Arlington. Now I'm uncertain as to their quality. While I trust Calphalon, they didnt seal as tightly as (sigh) the WalMart ones or Marshall's ones, whose steel might be questionable. I know I'm over-analyzing. This is the reason I didn't get them last year. I did see some glass canisters with screw-on lids for $5 at Anderson's. Old fashioned jars like Grammie used to have... They'd be fine, for now... till I find something better. I guess.

December 10, 2004

what's this ripping and burning?

Ok, so I used to work in radio. I used to know every college-rock wannabe musicians who hit the airwaves. Now I don't, but I have a decent collection of music from that era of my life, and probably a good 75% of my music would've been played on the air at my old station.

Now, I work in IT. My days are spent, generally speaking, worrying about whether or not a website is pretty and/or functional, but I've also learned a lot about software and hardware. Some of which I knew before I started at the radio station.

So, when a music geek starts telling me how he built his home entertainment computer, I listen intently. Especially when the words "RAID 5" and "terabyte" enter into the conversation.

This guy built his own terabyte RAID to hold his music. And it's full. 20,000 uncompressed songs at roughly 50M (megabytes) apiece. In case your mind isnt up for math, the usual mp3 of a single song is 5M, a floppy holds 1.44M, a cd-r is around 650M, and your typical new hard drive is about 80G (gigabytes). A gigabyte is 1000 megabytes. A terabyte is 1000 gigabytes. Roughly, because everything in computer math is 1024 instead of 1000.

So. It's overkill. The average joe (me) won't typically notice any difference between a 50M and a 5M file other than the space it takes up. And the cost to set up a Terabyte of storage is just annoyingly huge. He said "but it was only $1000" to which I said "do you live with your mom?" (no offense to some readers who do, in fact, live with their moms).

Lets face fact... I am not a music afficionado. I love music, I love to listen to music, but for 22 years I listened to AM, FM, and vinyl on a 30 year old Zenith stereo. And I liked it. There's something to be said for the resonating bass out of speakers encased in a big, real wood cabinet. And dust on the needle. And an intermittent pop in the circuits.

It warms my heart to listen to Christmas music on that old stereo. Or, truthfully, just about any music produced before 1985. It was part of what made that house home.

Fresh baked cinnamon rolls, candlelight, and real heat from the woodburning stove... Christmas mornings were special, even if my dad had to work.

Ugh. Even on a music post, my mind wanders.

Kids today and their $1000 wonders of technology. I was mean and pointed out that when are drives bought in batches, and one fails, the probability of another failure is high... we've had it happen here at work. So now he has to buy a backup for his 1 Terabyte of storage. HA. HAHAHAHAHA. Along with his other Terabyte RAID he's building now because he ran out of space.

December 9, 2004

shipping

wow. I sent 7 packages last Friday, Dec. 3.

1 to Gahanna, OH.
2 to Wakarusa, IN.
2 to Daytona Beach, FL
1 to Chicago, IL
and
1 to Walnut Creek, CA

Two of them have been confirmed as having arrived at their destinations. And only one was one of the three sent Priority Mail. (The ones to Chicago and Walnut Creek arrived yesterday, Dec. 8.)

December 8, 2004

let's just see, shall we?

ok. so. i told you i have spent a lot on crack in the last 2 weeks, but what would full retail value be...

Let's see, shall we?

First Appearances 1, 4 figures, $16.95 apiece.
JLA 1 and 2, 9 figures, 14.95 apiece.
Hush Wave 1, 4 figures, 14.95 apiece.
JL Animated Atlantis 4-pack, 19.99
The Batman Man-Bat and Bane, $6.99 apiece.
Batman Animated Man-Bat, $6.99
Preacher Jesse Custer, $14.95
Green Lantern Alan Scott, $14.95
Silver Age Batman/Robin $30.00
Silver Age Superman/Lois $30.00
Superfriends Superman/Lex $30.00

$423 + tax. Say $27. That's $450 worth of figures.

I'm wondering how much the average crack habit costs, anyway?
Let it be known, I'm a good shopper, mostly, and nearly none of this cost me anywhere close to retail.

buy! sell! trade! because i'm jonesing

well, i'm ALMOST convinced to sell on eBay, but with the holidays FAST approaching, I'm not sure I want to start there this time of year.

but, I also think it could be a good time to jump in, especially with the holidays driving up prices for last minute gifts.

so, being torn, i decided to post a short have/need list on the buy/sell/trade thread on the dc direct action figure boards, after seeing Hush Wave 2 at my local store today, and lusting after both it and the First Appearance Wave 2.

I NEEDS MY CRACK!

....

Ugh. Sick to my stomach. Why do I let those guys drag me to Bento?

new house? but you just moved?!

so... my friend ben left me voicemail that he and his wife just bought a house, and that they'll be moving just in time for Christmas.

with a 3 month old... ick.
also looks like i'll be helping since i missed their last move.

December 7, 2004

damn dc direct...

not only am i pouting for missing the first appearances wave 2, but now Hush Wave 2 is out this week. I'll be behind by 8 figures.

Damn you DC. Some collectors dont live with their parents!

of course online they go for $80 total, + 8 shipping. that's a hell of a lot cheaper than the $160+tax they'd be in the store.

December 6, 2004

once again, JCN drops the ball

You'll recall our prior dealings with that computer company, JCN, where they screwed up our order for 20 desktops. Well, they promised it would never happen again, that they had everything under control, that they were doing everything they could to keep us happy and make it right.

Their VP called us last week to talk about our past problems.

And there is rumor that our contract with them may be going away sooner than expected.

Of course, our latest order was for 1 pc. With a CD-RW and a DVD drive. It shipped with neither. No optical drives. Again.

Needless to say, our hardware guy was PISSED. After all, it's HIS machine. And HE ordered it. And JCN promised no fuck-ups. And it's all in writing.

So... It's now 10am, emails went to JCN at 7am. It has to all be done via email for documentation purposes. If, by noon, they havent agreed to next-day-air the drives and have their techs install them tomorrow, as instructed by our purchasing people, this problem will be escalated thru both sides of the transaction. ours and theirs.

There is only so much screwing that our favorite Purchasing people can take before they say "ENOUGH! TAKE YOUR CONTRACT AND BEGONE!"

b1ack1ist

so, mt-blacklist hits an invisible wall around 3800 entries. it's not really a "bug" but more of a limit. after that, you must clean up your entries before you can add new ones... deleting and combining entries with the use of regular expressions.

which i suck at and didnt want to take the time to brush up on.

but, over at the alumni site, comment spam is creeping back in. as a stopgap, I loaded a global .biz ban into the blacklist, and hope that nobody legit is using them. that let me clean out 30+ entries just at first glance.

last week I managed to clean off 15000+ spam comments (accumulated since Sept), and I don't want to do it again.

December 4, 2004

31? Wasn't I just 25?

Some jackass broke the driver's side mirror off my truck last night at 3am. I was up, in the bathroom. Heard it hit, looked out the window, saw nothing. Sighed in relief, and then went back to my earplug-enhanced sleep. Then when leaving for breakfast, did a "motherfucker!" when I saw it. Pushed it back around into place, and cut my hand on the plastic.

I'll be calling Napa tomorrow. Fuckers.

It wouldnt be MY birthday without drama.

December 2, 2004

Nicolette and Madam

jay: "Pop beauty Jessica Simpson is paranoid about the size of her bottom and gets enraged when it is mocked by her Dukes Of Hazzard co-star Johnny Knoxville. The singer, who beat off Britney Spears for the coveted role of Daisy Duke in the big-screen remake, has reportedly had enough of other actors' jokey antics."--IMDB.com

jay: notice anything unusual in one of those sentences?

me: beat off britney?
me: mocked by knoxville?
me: remake of Dukes?
me: pop beauty Simpson?

jay: beat off. but it's all representative of just what hellish times we live in

me: there's a positively horrid photo of her and Nick out on the web from something in [new york] where she looks like a cross between Madam and today's N. Sheridan.

jay: scary

me: girl should not wear her hair back with pale skin and retro-red lipstick

jay: 'course, neither should we

47? What the hell?

I know I've talked about this before, because I thought he celebrated before, but the manager of our print1ng depar7ment just hit 47 years of service today. 47!

Crazy bastard. He won't retire till his wife does, and she's not ready yet. He looked around the room and said "hell, half of you weren't even born when I started!" And half of those weren't even in kindergarten when he was eligible for retirement.

We all looked at each other with a "goddamn, how did he make it this long?" look.

Only 42 years left for me to go.

packages make me feel loved

No card, no note, just a plain brown cardboard box from Daytona Beach. Very heavy. Didn't rattle.

What was in it?

Vintage cookbooks. Small ones. Ones I don't care much about, and others I've come to covet, and one REALLY thick one published by a company I hadn't heard of. Some from the 30s, some from the 70s.

At least I know they didn't pay a lot. My dad's an auction-master when it comes to books, and he buys in bulk. Then he sells the rest to Half Price.

I suppose this was an early birthday gift, but whatever it was, I'm happy for the surprise package.

and more money comes in...

so, unexpectedly, my old boss emails me to say he got $50 for my trouble helping him with frontpage a couple fridays ago on my vacation day. OOH! Christmas isn't so bad after all.

combined with the work (3+ hours so far) i'm doing for another friend, that should be make the holidays pretty joyous.

more money gone...

walked into Chas's store yesterday on my weekly comic run, only to say "Oh SHIT." The second wave of JLA figures had arrived, as well as the First Appearance figures. Ugh. While I broke down and bought the JLA figures, I left the Hawkman and Superman on their pegs. It killed me. But, it's December.

Plus, I'd found "such a deal" on eBay for some other figures, I was hopeful.

Eh. It turns out DCBService still has eBay's lowest prices beat by $3/case after shipping.