gigamatic

in case anybody reads this and gives a hoot, here's some handy-dandy Doctor Who news...

BBC has greenlighted a second new season. Hooray.

Christopher Eccleston has quit as the Doctor, citing "grueling" production and a desire to not be typecast. Motherf*cker. However, he has signed on to do the Holiday Special this year.

Perhaps that will give us the regeneration sequence into season 2. I think we need it, since Billie Piper will be continuing her role as Rose in the second season. Perhaps, like Lalla Ward, (Romana II) he could "try on" some new bodies before we hit the right one. Of course, they could pull a Bewitched and just run with it, and drive the fans completely batty.

As with Doc #9, Doc #10 has many names listed as possibilities for the role. Richard E. Grant, who has lent voices to the role in web and audio stories (as well as playing one of the Doc's many regenerations in "The Curse of Fatal Death" comedy special); David Tennant; and finally Bill Nighy, who, as a much older actor, would bring a different flavor to the role.

My favorite, I suppose, of the three would be Bill Nighy, just for his age. Perhaps the Doc was aged in some accident involving the time stream? Or is that too hokey. He looks as if he would be a great antagonistic Doc, much like William Hartnell. But it looks as if David Tennant is the BBC's favorite for the role.

Here's something, BBC... make sure you get the actor IN CONTRACT to say he'll do a second season if the first does well. This one-season crap is quite ridiculous.

Update: the short list of Eccleston replacements?

Kelmeister suggested, via email, that Coupling's Richard Coyle (Jeff) take the role, which, by my reckoning, wouldn't be all that bad. Think about it... The Doctor looks at Rose and just starts chanting "Breasts!"

Posted by gigamatt at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

this morning, i was stopped well behind the line in the westbound left turn lane at the intersection of ackerman and kenny. i'm listening to my friend on the radio (97.1) and cursing the fact that i've hit EVERY red light between home and work, adding many extra minutes to my commute. the traffic has a green light southbound on kenny, and the two turn lanes start their approach.

about 8 cars back is a black SUV with some bitch talking on her cell phone. i watch her approach and realize she's halfway in my lane. i have nowhere to go. i can't back up, and i can't move sideways. at the very last second (trust me, i was all tensed up and waiting for impact of my airbag) she swerved back into her own lane.

i realize that on rare occasion i am guilty of talking while driving. i have done it a handful of times without my hands-free kit, and only in extremely light traffic or traffic so heavy it isnt moving. it would not bother me at all if a law was passed to stop non-hands-free cell phone use by drivers. in fact, i might even campaign for it. i have a hands-free kit which works well, and a phone which is easily dialed to any particular contact of mine. i also have speakerphone, which i have yet to try. so it wouldnt bother me at all.

but bitch, when your SUV is barrelling towards me at 50 miles an hour because you're late for work and talking on your fucking phone instead of watching where you're going, you'd better believe if you hit me and i survive i'm gonna jam that thing so far up your ass you'll be typing out text messages with your tonsils.

ok... now i'm analyzing that last sentence. wouldnt it be easier to make her choke on it? yeah. but it doesnt sound as good.

Posted by gigamatt at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

every day, i check 'mazon to see if they've changed the price or rebate forms for the Sidekick II. It's a steal, if you intend to use it as a cell phone, which I don't... at least until I've tested it.

And granted, it's a steal at $75 if I can only use the $50 TMob rebate. But it's even better if I could use the damn 'mazon rebate (which they changed in late Feb/early March to include the $40 service plan as a stipulation.)

They dont even let you pick the data-only plan on the 'mazon website. They say "oh, you can choose any plan you want" -- which is bs. I'm trying to figure out how.

I want this phone. I want to give it a try. If it's good, I want to use it as a phone, and if not, I'd rather just use it for data. I just dont want to pay the $300 they're asking if you dont sign up for a plan.

Perhaps I'll call TMobile and ask "If I buy a phone at a retail store that will only let me sign up for x plan, but I dont want x plan, how can I change that plan before I get billed?"

Posted by gigamatt at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

yikes.

ok, so y'all know i'm a webmaster. obviously for this site, but for 10 sites at my job, and another 1 or 2 as a hobby.

well, one of our initiatives at the huge-ass university bureaucracy is to make all sites compliant with both section 508 and WCAG standards. that's good. it's been planned, it's been dealt with, leaving me with a minimum of changes that HAS to happen by July.

94 pages. 10 sites. easily do-able, no?

well... about 6 of those sites are going to be "easy" fixes. find/replaces in the code and a few minor tweaks.

and then the progress all has to be reported back to the Hellspawn.

my self-imposed deadline for documentation is Friday. so far, I have updates to 16 of 94 pages complete.

Posted by gigamatt at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bahahaha! I really want to get one of these for Kelmeister.

And one of these for Nala. Because Nascar is boring.

Posted by gigamatt at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

ok, so my credit card company is a bunch of wankers.

i know, you're gonna say "duh!" but seriously. a few years ago, i opened an emergency credit card account. i used it occasionally, just to build better credit, and then they upped my limit. hooray! well, i also realized i was getting pummeled on interest (not that ANY company has great interest rates -- after all, that's how they make money!). Well, at the time, my credit was bad, and I had to get one of those "secured" cards, meaning I had to put money into the account to be able to use it. ouch. well, as I recall, I put $250 in, so that I could have $250 in credit.

yeah, my credit was bad.

so now, in february, i called to have my card's interest rate lowered, considering i was being tempted by my regular bank's offer of a rate 1/3 as high. well, they agreed to lower my rate to the lowest secured card rate... which was about 2/3 of what it had been. not great, but better, and i decided i would stay with them a while longer.

while on the phone with the second level customer service person (who, incidentally I got the name of), she told me that she could also roll my account from a secured account to an unsecured account at the lower rate, and refund my deposit. Woohoo! Yes ma'am, please, send me that check. Ok, will do. All set, everything good.

well, here it is, a month and a half later, and still no check. so, wednesday, I call again. they say i only deposited 49 and they could refund that, but the check has never been authorized and they have no record of my speaking to anyone on that day in february. and after 30 minutes of holding and run around and speaking to someone with a horribly difficult accent who could not form complete sentences, I gave up and decided to call back when I had the documentation from my previous call in hand.

tonight, i dug out the paperwork from the previous call, and called them back, only to get a third horribly mumbling person with a really thick accent. (guess what folks, more outsourcing!) and I was told that I could not have spoken to anyone on Feb 11, since there was no record of it in their computer. When I gave them the name of the person, the department, the time and the date, I was told "There are a thousand people here with that name. We will never be able to track them."

So, you're telling me that even though I made sure to get the name, the time, and the date of my call, you cant help me? Nope. Cant help. There was no call on that date.

Even though you changed my interest rate as requested, you're still claiming I never spoke to anyone? You did not speak to anyone on that date.

Let me talk to your supervisor please... 20 minutes on hold... more explanations... $49 only, no interest either... so not only did the person whose name and department lie to me about the amount, but also the interest, and oh by the way they didnt exist???

When I've dealt with banks on this mistakes before, they fucking pulled TAPE from the time and date of the call to prove themselves right or wrong, going so far as to quote everyone involved in future conversations, and this ASSCLOWN tells me I never spoke to anyone, and that if I did, they lied, and they're sorry, but they can't help me?

Fuck you, and take your "No Hassle" and shove it. Over an hour of my time (total) was spent trying to resolve this matter, and I bill at $250 per hour. Pay the fuck up, asswipes.

Now, I just need to decide whether I want free toys or frequent flier miles on my next card... I dont even know how frequent flier miles work, but it sounds like free travel to me!

Posted by gigamatt at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

welcome home from your trip to the land of plastic crack, evebird, and here's hoping you don't catch the latest cold which is going around!

i know a certain little mischief maker and his sister who will be glad to see you tonight! (not to mention your wife!)

Posted by gigamatt at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

i cant believe i picked up 3 losing pepsi bottles in a row today. yeah, i cheated and checked on the first two, but odds were really good that that third one was a winner.

i wonder if i should even bother playing the mega lotto tonight. something in me still says "yes, you cant win if you dont play!"

cash value tonight? 31.2 million. that's what, 15 million after taxes? i'd say that'd be enough to quit my job, fix up the house the way it should be, and establish a good life for myself and my family.

(Aside: "DAWG!" is back again. What a fuck.)

Posted by gigamatt at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ok, so there were no meddling kids, but there was a silence in the house when i woke up at 5 and then couldnt get back to sleep. something in the air. something that said... WAKE UP!

my throat said "stay in bed. fight this cold." and then i heard nala leave for work. i hopped on my work email account and emailed the powers that be to say i wouldnt be in. i got an autoreply from my coworker reminding me i'd been left in charge today... everyone else was out.

so... i stayed in bed for another two hours, enjoying the warmth and silence. and of course, the chester, who curled up under my chin. eventually, around 7, i checked my work email again, and had a frantic email from someone needing assistance. I replied "be there soon," and dashed for the shower.

while i am feeling generally good, my throat is on the verge of sore, and i'm feeling mega-snotty, which to me is a sure sign i've got whatever nala has.

i fucking hate being sick. HATE IT. and of course, it seems everyone here (and by here, i mean everybody in town) seems to have gotten every single cold to come around in the last 2 months. sick for a while, then all better, then sick for a while, then all better. I think this is round 3. maybe 4. i lost count.

tonight, i have to cook a quick dinner, start laundry, pick up the living room, wrap Dan's Hulk Hands, label Acadia's gift with the Indiana address for mailing tomorrow morning, pick up all the crap from the dining room table, dump the piled up newspapers, sort boxes of toys from the guest bedroom, move 2 bags of clothes for goodwill to my car for early drop-off, start reorganizing my closet, and put clean laundry away.

Hooray for guests coming! Excuses to clean!

Posted by gigamatt at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

via the other 'matic:

1. Grab the nearest book. University Office Supply Catalog
2. Open the book to page 123. Conference and Training Room Furniture Solutions
3. Find the fifth sentence. Mostly fragments with periods, but that'll do...
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.

Dual-position legs on Crescent Table provide more seating capacity and leg room. LIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY. ASSEMBLY REQUIRED.

5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

Jesus, like I would've picked this?! I really need to clean my desk.

Posted by gigamatt at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

my favorite online vintage clothing store is gone?! boo! must remove her from my sidebar. sad.

Posted by gigamatt at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, tonight's plan to go see National Treasure for $0.50 with our friend Mrs. B has been trumped by her trip to Pittsburgh with a German family to visit museums and Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. And that's ok. I'd rather spend big bucks to see Falling Water in all its splendor than $0.50 to see Nicholas Cage in a Disney flick.

Does that mean I'm not going to spend $0.50 to see National Treasure? No... I probably will still go. I mean, come on. It's cheap. CHEAP!

And my coworker just stuck his hand into my doorway from around the corner and flipped me off. Cute. I work with such gentlemen.

Posted by gigamatt at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

today, my last lingering NT servers have been decommissioned.. two domain controllers and a webserver which was also running coldfusion 3. yes, THREE.

and there was much rejoicing! (yaaaaay!)

Posted by gigamatt at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This just in from Cynedd:

Got the [disk] in campus mail this morning -- needless to say the subsequent 45 minutes of my work day was spent watching it! Loved it. I only wish we could get the show in the states.

Me too... me too.

Posted by gigamatt at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i would post sto lat again, but you've read it a zillion times. happy birthday!

(and at least I didnt buy you this dorky hat as #35!)

Posted by gigamatt at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I think I'm going to download the entire Conjure One cd from iTMS. it's good.

... I hear violins, when I close my eyes
I am at the center of the sun
And I cannot be hurt
By anything this wicked world has done

Posted by gigamatt at 8:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

again...

using tips from a site i found online, i'm starting a whole sub-section for my recent acquisitions. but, i'm thoroughly distracted by the noise going on upstairs in my bedroom, where it sounds like Nala decided to reorganize his closet right before bed. AAAAAAArgh!

oh, and seriously, this week, expect me to write something longer about Kon-El of Finland. And his pals.

Posted by gigamatt at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I cannot tell you how much I'm looking forward to tonight's meal. It's been one hell of a week, and I'll be very very glad to just chill with friends, eat some light dinner, and enjoy the fact that spring seems to be here.

Oh and here are some pretty flowers that just say "spring" to me.

Posted by gigamatt at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

webmasters who don't know how to ftp
webmasters who don't back up their site (and can't figure out how)
webmasters who can't move files from one server to another
webmasters who can't edit file permissions
webmasters who are f*cking morons

as i told nala this morning... you've just got to remember, we're having a nice dinner with great food and good friends tonight. and a little sake.

personally, i can't wait.

Posted by gigamatt at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

over at the alumni site, I get a lot of comment spam, and once a week or so, I purge it. well, as I was browsing the list of comments making sure i didnt delete any real ones (i probably did, but oh well...) i came across one from mattymatt at iknowwhatimdoing.com. strange, i thought. it linked to his flikr profile and included his real email address.

now, given that i had never talked to this guy, or read his site before this week, i was sort of intrigued, so I went to his flikr page, where he explained that someone had been comment spamming as him and he was not the sexy bi- southern 24-year-old it proclaimed him to be.

too much weirdness on a friday before coffee.

Posted by gigamatt at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, grades have been entered. The final exam was ... tough, having still missed a great deal of class. Especially when a few "guest lecturing" TA's notes were not of the same quality as the professor's. Think Powerpoint(vague bulletpoints) when you're used to getting Cliff Notes.

All in all, I'm ok with my grade. I still pulled a B, But an A- would've been better. At least my cumulative GPA (sorry, PHR) didn't drop.

Now, I get to relax again for Spring Quarter. Unfortunately that also means I won't be on campus appreciating the scenery. *sigh* It's one of the little pleasures in life.

I suppose it's more time to be spent at home working on home projects, and that, as Martha says, is a "good thing".

Posted by gigamatt at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i'm thinking of starting another sidebar item in order to try to push myself to read more news... the Daily Outrage. It should be easy... there's almost always something in the news that's cringe-worthy.

Like this.

(thanks to Andy for pointing it out.)

Posted by gigamatt at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

hey folks...

it's me again...

i almost bought a 10G iPod with all the accessories, manual, and box, yesterday on eBay. the price was right, but I was wary. i wasn't sure if it was a generation 1 or 2 or 3, or if it would work with both mac and win, and on and on.

i want one that i can plug into either my windows machine or my ibook.
i want one that has over 1G of space.
i want one that works with an fm modulator for my car. i realize they all do, but i would prefer to use one which has a high epinions rating and is designed to work with it.

the one i almost bought was marked as a "windows" one -- whether that meant it would only work with windows, i don't know. that's sort of annoying. the seller didnt even know. and when i plugged the apple part number into apple's website, i got nothing.

so help me, readers. i really want an ipod. tell me what's good.

Posted by gigamatt at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sunday night, I talked to my dad on the phone. Bike Week was just ending there, so the ungodly roar is gone for a while. Now, it's time for bikinis, in 80-degree weather with sunshine and waves.

According to some newspaper article, 70% of Spring Breakers have their part of Florida as a destination this year. This sounds like it's up over past years... I guessed that it was due to the economic slump. It is the more cost-conscious choice, and ranked above Miami, the Tampa area (including Panama City, which seemed odd), and Vegas.

All my dad cares about is having my mom drive slowly past all the scantily-clad women on the beach. I think I need to buy my dad a good pair of sunglasses.

Posted by gigamatt at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

wow... first migraine in a while. chalk it up to hellspawn tasks right before a final exam.

so far, all is on target. the hellspawn task was finished right before the final, and the final is also now over. i even squeezed in time to run home and take some meds, although they arent entirely working.

thank goodness it's close to time to go home.

and, to the robot minion, I'll try to stop in to see you this week.

Posted by gigamatt at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We were sitting at lunch when J got an SMS from his girlfriend, who works at another one of our divisions, saying she was being called into a mandatory meeting on her day off.

"i'm not getting in any van" she said. (a joking reference to past layoffs in our dept, where all employees were bussed to another location and told they were out of work...)

we laughed. they couldnt possibly be shutting down that place.

i got back from class to find out we were wrong. J's girlfriend who sent the SMS will be out of work at the end of Spring quarter... she's already a mess from her prior stress levels. Apparently the two full-time salary guys are going to be shuffled into other positions.

J and his girlfriend are leaving in 2 weeks for 2 weeks in Japan. At least the trip is paid for.

Posted by gigamatt at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

some part of me is longing to go to the hockey championships tonight... and my email inbox is taunting me with this message:

MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM BEGINS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

-- See the Ohio State Buckeyes men's hockey team begin the quest to defend their 2004 CCHA championship this weekend as the team takes on the Ferris State Bulldogs in the first round, best of three series in the
2005 CCHA playoffs at Value City Arena. OSU Hockey T-shirts will be given to the first 1,000 fans today (3/11), while the game on Saturday (3/12) will be Johnsonville Buck-A-Sausage Night. All games begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and Family Four Packs of tickets are available for $20.

If I'd been aware of this sooner... I would've planned. I would've gotten friends together to go.

Instead, I'll probably watch Snots tonight while trying to catch up on laundry.

Because, like Kelly, I am teh lame.

Posted by gigamatt at 8:22 AM | Permalink

oh god, i just remembered, after emailing my best friend from elementary school... i wrote doctor who fan fiction when i was 12.

i really, really hope it's all been destroyed. it was the most horrible god-awful stuff.

Posted by gigamatt at 8:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Disclaimer: I've done my best to keep spoilers out of this post, and I'd appreciate it if other Whovians who've seen it did the same when it comes to commenting... at least for a while, till the usual suspects have seen it.

ok, after watching the new Who twice, I can say I really enjoyed it. Do I think it would work with a broad American audience? No. But then, the old Who certainly didn't. I'd like to explain why I think this, but not just now. Suffice it to say, I think it's because Who hits so close to home. Same with the 4400. If the strange aliens are not here on Earth, it's more believable. Aliens infiltrating our society? Today? Not a chance! Inconceivable!

The other reason is that it's too British. Americans like their SciFi with accents more like the midwest. They like shoot-em-ups. They like their evils to be truly evil, and their aliens to be ... alien.

While I enjoyed the new Who, I have to say there were things that made me groan. If you watch it, you'll groan too. Once very specifically, and once about the whole episode.

There were also things that made me smile... Christopher Eccleston quite obviously WANTED this role. (Yes, I know it was reported he personally asked to audition.) When you see his acting, you will know that he probably played at being the Doctor when he was young. By the looks, he was a fan, not just someone who had heard of the show. And as I've said, Eccleston is hot. Not in that dripping with sex, muscular tan chisled body way, but in the smart, suave, silly, geeky way, and as the Doctor, it works, even as he made fun of his own ears upon seeing them in Rose's mirror.

Billie Piper was generally a good casting choice as Rose, and even though she is too young to know what a Police Box is, she did make us care... she was jobless, strangled, chased, and just generally having a shitty day... and having nothing to lose, she proved her worth. (But did the Doctor push her in that direction? He is a lonely, manipulative bastard... with hearts of gold, more or less... so, yes, he probably did.)

Posted by gigamatt at 8:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

so, i have it. of course, it's an avi, and on my laptop is pretty choppy. i've watched a good 8 minutes, and so far, i like it. the doctor was a blip, screen time for 30 seconds or so.

i cant wait to watch the rest. unfortunately, i'll have to. at least till i get home again.

Posted by gigamatt at 7:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

You know you're a geek when: you spend 6 hours (give or take 30 minutes) scouring the web, the newsgroups, learning about edonkeys and bittorrents, before you finally find all the websites and software you need just to be able to download the very first episode of Season 27 of Doctor Who.

And then have to go to bed because the download seems like you're using that old telephone cradle modem you had for the TRS-80 computer you used back when you watched the 5th Doctor on your 12" black and white tv while holding your crappy UHF antenna in one hand.

Aint technology grand?

And yes, of course, Kelmeister's Brother and Cynedd, I'm looking out for you, too. 5 hours left on the download...

Posted by gigamatt at 8:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

buzz buzz buzz... it's 10pm and i should be asleep! but no, i'm going to have to give myself a dose of nyq-il and try to get some rest.

more action figure stuff tomorrow, if i have time between meetings at work.

one more thing: 42 DC animated and custom figures on eBay, some of which have appeared in "Custom Con". this is a lot to drool over, at least for a minute or two.

Posted by gigamatt at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

lets see...

1) distracted? check.
2) hungry as hell? check.
3) jittery? check.
4) hungry as hell? check.
5) floating in a world all my own? check.
6) hungry after having eaten 4 granola bars? check.

jesus h. if i keep taking this stuff, i'm going to have to switch to the no-fat veggie diet just to keep the pounds from piling on. seriously. i think i'm going to take off after my class today just to fill up.

Posted by gigamatt at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

once upon a time, i felt it necessary to purchase mugs reflecting my choice in online reading material. they were formerly seen on my desktop holding pens and other desktop needs, but since we moved, going on two years ago, I have not had a desk, and these mugs have since taken up residence in our cupboards, much to Nala's dismay... (but when I paid $14+ for a mug, I'll be damned if it's going to the yard sale)...

Among those currently feeding my need for steaming mugs of hot medicine are Bradlands "Lesser Kudu" mug, and ever-popular Ultrasparky bannerhead mug... two of my long-time favorite online journalers. I was going to pick up one of Ernie's mugs way back when, but it was impossible to see if the little Dexternie was going to print well on the mug, so I passed.

Now, there's one other mug I have which I bought from CafePress, and that's the Google/Dilbert mug, which at the time of its arrival was cause for great laughter in my office, as I was working on a new logo for one of our clients, on a "need it yesterday" timeline, and the scene on the mug is Dilbert's boss saying "We need a new logo by Friday. Any suggestions?"

Be assured, if Nala ever designed another mug, I would have it. Especially if it was graced with the presence of the Alien Hoont Head.

Posted by gigamatt at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm looking at my site for the first time on two CRT monitors at work, on a Windows system, and I'm not quite liking it. Something is off.

Something about the two reds: the deep dark background is ok, but the not-so-dark text div is ... kinda off. and the text color is harder to read, depending on which of the two CRT's I'm using.

I could go with white as the text backgrounds and the deepest red as the text color, but I was trying to stay away from white this time. And grey might put me in Buckeye territory again.

Suggestions?

Posted by gigamatt at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

after a generiQuil induced nap, i'm feeling much more like myself, and i've even made myself several bowls of my favorite salad (mixed greens, gorganzola, pine nuts, craisins and raspberry hazelnut vinaigrette). god, that's tasty.

earlier today, I emailed my mom about my halfassed plans to hike part of the Appalachian Trail with Annalisa sometime this year; my preference being up between Andover, ME and somewhere in NH. i've got to ask my friend Dan how far he thinks an out-of-shape programmer like me might hike in a day.

Posted by gigamatt at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I ended up leaving the house to go see a movie with juice and nala, and now I'm feeling worse. go figure.

However, I did have a hefty bowl of the soup evebird brought yesterday, and it was pretty good. a nice midafternoon snack after seeing Constantine.

I'd like to convince Nala to go to the store, but I'll just go myself. Gotta buy some more Q and generiflu.

Posted by gigamatt at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

while I wish I could be out having breakfast with the juice and nala, I just made myself some shitty bisquik pancakes, and am feeling much more like myself.

I want to get out of here. I'm stir crazy, but still not well enough to leave the house.

a zillion things to do.

Posted by gigamatt at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i said i was going to bed. instead, i fixed the file size on the con-el graphic to the right to make it more dialup friendly.

and, because some of you are wondering about the new tagline, it's taken from one of my favorite ben folds five songs, which i have always found amusing and true, for me.

i'm always trying to cover my redneck past.

Posted by gigamatt at 8:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i really really hate being sick. not the "i have a cold" sick, but the "if i get outta bed i'm gonna fall down and puke" sick. the kind where you know you'll get better, but you havent been this sick since your mommy said you could stay home from school.

i've been taking massive amounts of theraflu.
i'm hoping i feel better in the morning.
or at least that my headache is gone.

at any rate, evebird brought me augolemono, otherwise known as greek lemon chicken rice soup. i dont know where it came from, but i was craving it (i'm saving it for tomorrow's lunch.)

my friend pete's aunt makes some kick ass augolemono that he serves at cafe corner. mmm. i'm almost ready to go make myself a bowl.

but instead im going to curl up in the covers and hope that i have started to beat this thing. because my wireless router is acting up (again) and I dont want to be disconnected all weekend.

there's only so much tv i can take.

Posted by gigamatt at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

still some minor things to fix up over here, but if you see anything at all that looks funky, let me know (and please, which browser/platform, too).

ugh. i am most definitely sick.
theraflu and chicken soup are going to be the regimen tomorrow, i think.

and hooray for the last lab being done.

Posted by gigamatt at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

last weekend, i sorted all the comics in the bedroom. my plan is to sort the equivalent of one short box every weekend till we're done.

yeah, we've got some one-offs. we've got some total crap. we've got some complete series that we're re-buying in trade. and we've got some in just tpb format.

it feels good to be organized. in fact, i crave organization. i don't know what the fuck ever happened to me, but sometime in 1997, i became an organization freak. i get off on it.

i dont DO it enough (much like some other things i enjoy) but I love it. when i managed our store's inventory in 1997, I was damn good at it. I knew where every ounce of every variety was located, which stockroom or cooler, how much we needed to get through any given week.

it must be the feeling of being in control.

i mean, i organized our dvd's. alphabetical by genre. (couldnt tell it now...)
i organized my cd's, too, by genre and year.

(and as a sidenote, nobody met the reserve on the ipod auction i was bidding on. the bidding went well over my willingness to pay, too, and hit $175 for a used 15G 'pod, with $15 addl for shipping. For that, I'll buy a new one, thanks. "buy it now" was $375, proving that all kinds of ebay sellers are on crack.)

Posted by gigamatt at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i feel like total ass. of course, i took some "non drowsy" cold meds this morning, and i feel even worse.

Normally, I'd just stay home and sleep, and try to burn it out of me, but today i have lab. and it's the next to last day for my student employee.

I'm thinking I might leave as soon as he gets in and we review his final project.

I'm thera-floating in some odd bubble of chemical haze anyway.

Posted by gigamatt at 8:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

and i'm slap-happy, and sleepy, and itching to finish, but it will have to wait till morning.

i've added some color again, and a couple new features. hopefully, you'll agree that they're a fine addition to this otherwise boring website.

but, like i said, you'll have to wait. depending on how sick i am in the morning, you may have to wait longer than a few hours.

at any rate, it's something different.

Posted by gigamatt at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

of course, now i feel like I'm getting sick. guess i'll be stopping by the grocery for some generiflu of my own, along with some dinner.

i hope it's just a reaction to the heat in my office and the craptastic fries i had at lunch. yeah.

time for zinc and echinacea.

Posted by gigamatt at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

so, i'm thinking about getting an iPod of some sort. i know, i'm seriously lagging behind in the technology department -- which is odd for me, i know. i love gadgets, and so does Nala, as evidenced by our lusts over the finest all-computerized touch-screen washing machines.

my dad used to say if it had a button or a knob, i wanted it. (insert gay joke here).

so at any rate, I love the price-point on the new shuffle. it's teeny, fits in your pocket, connects directly to your usb port, uses a flash drive... but you cant visually search for songs or read song details. The small one starts at $99, and the 1GB one starts at $137 (with the edu discount.)

now, granted, 1GB is more than a cd filled to bursting with mp3s. in fact, that's about 200 songs. let's say 4 minutes per song... which makes a good 13 hours of music, if I did my math right.

my average album has 12 songs. that's 16 disks which i can load up onto something smaller than a pack of gum.

now, multiply that x 4, and you get the smallest iPod mini, at around $170. 64 albums. 64!? That's about all I have of any one specific genre. 96 disks on the larger mini, at $230.

another $40 gets you a total of 320 albums, or probably more than I own, not including legally purchased iTMS songs.

Now, granted, at that point, I start cringing from spending that much money when I could've put money toward a new laptop, which brings me back down to "reality" and the fact that 64 albums is quite a bit of music on the mini.

But, part of me says "flash drive!" and 200 songs is plenty. And if I use my Best Buy gift card, I bring it down less than educational pricing.

*sigh*

Off I go to buy more figures.

Posted by gigamatt at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

because i'm a friggin dips#it, and it didnt sink in the other day, Happy Birthday to Mrs. Evebird, too.

here's hoping it's filled with lego-y goodness. (among other things.)

Posted by gigamatt at 6:10 PM | Permalink

so... our friend annalisa is being mentioned (quoted?) in a runner's magazine, and our friend mr. smith has an article mentioned on Slate.

Makes me want to spend more time writing. I guess that means I'd spend less time... doing whatever the hell else I do.

Posted by gigamatt at 6:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i can't read the transformer tribe forums on tribe.net anymore. when even as a peripheral fan i know more than some of them, i just get frustrated. and if i post a correction, then i'm a knowitall. or worse.

i've been working on a redesign over here. it's not going well.

i've got a project management seminar all day today at the fawcett center. so i'm going to be totally disconnected from the world for 8 hours.

I should be working on my stories for Trustysidekicks at the moment, but instead, i'm typing a crappy blog entry...

I really just want to crawl back in bed, but that would mean my dept. wasted $400. i really need sleep.

one thing to look forward to, though, is dinner at kaya tonight. mmm, korean or sushi, with good friends.

Happy 30th Alex! Don't let it get you down.

Posted by gigamatt at 7:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)