you can't force a rant

I've been working on a particular entry for a few days - the annoyance of attention-getting devices.

It didn't work.

My muse was absent and the whole entry sounded forced, and it was. I guess the reason is that I hadn't been exposed to the stuff that really ticked me off in a while, so the righteous fury was absent. I still think those walkie-talkie cell phones are painfully annoying - but it's been too long since I've heard some bone-headed idiot use one that I couldn't devote an entire entry to them. I just wasn't cranky enough about it. If anyone has one and wants to stop over and demonstrate it for me I'm sure that will trigger my muse again. And maybe a hostile response, so maybe a demo isn't the best thing.

So, in other news...

Had a good visit with my mom - we went out for mexican. I had a tamale - it was pretty good. There was some green stuff mixed into the edge of the re-fried beans, but I was able to avoid that and the rest of the meal was good.

Over the weekend I went out to dinner with some friends and I had Hunan Tofu. My first tofu experience and it wasn't too bad. The actual chunks of tofu reminded me, at least as far as consistancy goes, of french toast sticks from Burger King - though chewier. They tasted like the sauce, which I understand is normal. Overall, okay - but I'm not sure I could eat it everyday.

I slept really badly last night - not sure what's going on there. Trouble going to sleep and trouble staying asleep. Woke up several times, but only once seemed justified (I had to pee). I was kinda cranky this morning - but work is actually improving my mood. Or at least it's not making it any worse and allowing my default personality to take over. Getting some stuff done and helping some people, so that's something.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Stop on over if you'd like to annoy me with one of those accursed walkie-talkie and are feeling brave.

Back to work...

weird vs tall - and a dream of DC

Over the weekend I went to a picnic/surprise birthday party for my friend's dad. While helping set things up, I made a comment of some kind to my friend's young niece. She replied -

"You're weird,"

I was busy with something, so I just tossed out a comment meant to slightly confuse and distract:

"Yes, but I'm also very tall,"

Which is true, at least in relation to how tall she was. She thought about it for a moment, then replied.

"You're more weird than you are tall,"

Her mother walked by at that point and told her that was rude and she shouldn't talk to people like that. I shook my head and said,

"No, she's right. I am more weird than I am tall. It's valid,"

And that was pretty much that.

In other news... weird dream last night. I dreamed I was in Washington, DC and had just stopped at a convenience store to get some groceries. As I was walking out of the store, three teenage kids ran up to me, knocked the bag out of my hands, and made off with my groceries.

Slightly upset by this and looking to balance the cosmic scales, I walked over to a nearby armored truck that was unlocked, unguarded, and ideling with the keys in the ignition. I got in and drove off. I was of course chased and since it was DC in an era of terrorism, they called out the military and various swat teams.

But, no one had gotten a good look at me. So, I got out of the van and walked around until I found a crowd of people watching various teams search a park. I watched them too, then started up a conversation with a young woman and her daughter in a stroller. We shared a couple of laughs and talked for a bit, then I told her I had to leave since I was pretty sure I was the one everyone was looking for. And then I just walked away.

I think, because I was so calm about things, she didn't believe me. So, I walked for a bit until I reached a street that was being blocked off by a soldier. I asked if I could cut through there and he said no and that I couldn't even turn my car around here. I told him that was okay since I was on foot - and that apparently was the wrong thing to say. The keywords of "restricted area" and "man on foot" must have triggered something in him and he told me to come with him - I guess he thought he'd found the culprit. While I was trying to think of something to say to get myself out of it - I woke up.

In still more news...my mom is in town for the day for work and she and I will be having dinner before she heads back home this evening. So, that should be fun - looking forward to seeing her.

And now it's time to get back to work...

sick (literally) from video games and misplaced mind

I fired up the video game Katamari Damacy last night - hadn't played it in a while. Essentially, you roll a giant ball around a house and eventually the planet, rolling stuff up. It's strangely fun and a fairly interesting head-trip, but the problem is in the rolling things around. You tend to roll in circles to pick things up, and this causes the camera to rotate around too. And then I started to get motion sick. Yes, motion sick from a video game.

Stop laughing now, okay?

Thank you.

So, I stopped playing and looked for some pepto. I had some, but it expired 2 years ago. Apparently, I don't get sick to my stomach that often. Instead, I did the dishes, took a shower, and went to bed really early.

And had some serious reality bending dreams. I think I was awake, or at least partly awake, for some of them - and had a lot of trouble waking up this morning. Or more accurately - had a lot of trouble getting out of bed.

I think I've addressed this before in a blog, but it felt like something got left behind in that seriously messed up hodge-podge of dreams. Not sure exactly where I ended up last night while I slept, but I'm not sure it's worth going back there to get whatever might have been lost.

It's already 11:00 in the morning and I'l still a little out of it. Which is scary since I was on the road coming to work around 7:00. Good thing I take the same route every morning - I think my car was on auto-pilot.

Well, not much of an entry, but I should get back to work...

the mythos of the comic book - plus, my grandmother kayaks

I'm 32 years old and I still read comics. Not ashamed of it either. Hey, it's one of the reasons I've got a job - to support my comic book habit. But why do I still read them when they are so easy to dismiss?

The stories. Every month - good vs evil. The age old struggle to protect the innocent from those who would harm them. While Superman is at the top of the heap, he's not my favorite - though there is a good discussion of Supes in Kill Bill vol.2 that I recommend. My fav is the Flash - an everyday dude that has been gifted with incredible powers and who stuggles every day to protect his community and at times the entire world from those that mean it harm. He does this by running fast - but that's a simplification.

Over the span of several issues, the Flash out-races Death itself beyond the boundaries of time to save himself and the woman he loves. He runs faster than an instantaneous signal to win a bet and save the earth. And in one issue - which all takes place over the span of a second - the Flash saves the entire Justice League.

His story is about doing the right thing - no matter the cost. And when he - or anyone in the Flash legacy - makes a mistake, he takes responsibility and tries to make it right.

Ultimately, even with all his power, he's still human - he's real, he's accessible. And he never gives up.

All that for a couple bucks a month - not bad, eh?


In other news...talked to my sister last night. She relayed to me that our 74 year old grandmother went kayaking recently - and loved it. She's thinking about getting her own and paddling up and down the river. Go grandma!

That's it for now - back to work...

escape from a parking lot - and the Flash on tv

I went to a festival over the weekend - the standard carnical rides and elephant ears sort of deal. Not normally my cup of tea, but I was helping out a friend who was part of the committee running it. I got there early evening on Friday and though I had a special pass, I wasn't sure where to park. So, I followed the signs that said additional parking was available at the school. So, I found a school - discovering that it was under construction as I pulled in - and parked there anyway. It's not like I had to go off-roading, but it still wasn't a finished lot by any means.

I enjoyed the festival for a bit, but didn't stay too long. I made the trek back over to my car, but as I tried to leave, a woman was pulling a baracade across the exit/entrance. I pulled up and waited a moment until she noticed me - then she came over to my car and asked me a deeply stupid question:

"Are you leaving?"

My instincive response was to say "duh" - but she still did have things blocked off. I don't think she would have tried to trap me there out of revenge, but you never can tell about crazy people. So, instead, I nodded and told her yes. She then proceeded to tell me that the lot wasn't supposed to be open - and that they had conducted a band event there which is why there were cars there since it was under construction.

I, of course, didn't give a rats posterior about the explaination - I just wanted to leave. After a couple of minutes of droning on, she finally realized what I had known all along. That being:

1. I was trying to leave - making me no longer part of the problem - but part of the solution.
2. I didn't care what she was saying and I really just wanted her to get out of my way so I could leave.

She moved the baraicade just slightly off to the side giving me barely enough room to pull out into traffic and let me get on my way.

I think she was blinded by the problem before her. It might have even been her fault that it wasn't blocked off to festival parking or that there weren't better signs. But she was so caught up in her own vision she couldn't see that the fastest way to resolve the problem was to get the cars out of there - and I was trying to help.

While I appreciated her problem I was still annoyed by her. Which is pretty much standard with me. I try to avoid being strongly angry about things since it rarely does any good - but I can't seem to help being annoyed.

Also this weekend I watched the latest episode of Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network. Only a small portion of the population of the planet might actually care about this part of the post - but that's better odds than what I usually have - so I'm going to write about it.

The Justice League faces off against the combo of Brainiac/Lex Luthor - and the JL gets their butts kicked. They make a little headway and Brainiac/Luthor makes alternate version robo-clones of the Justice Leagues - as based on an alternate version where the Flash dies. Since there's nothing to base the Flash clone on - they used the Reverse Flash: Professor Zoom from the comics! While everyone is battling their clones, the Flashes are racing around. The good Flash stops, begins to vibrate his hand at super-speed, and plunges it into the chest of his clone - causing it to explode (a power that works just like it did in the comics - and incidenatally, the same way that the comic reverse flash was taken out - though less messy).

The Flash is heard to say "I won't be trying that one again".

A little later in the fight, Brainiac/Luthor knocks out all of the Justice league - except for the Flash. Brainiac/Luthor tauts the Flash and he runs away. A moment passes and suddenly there's a blur and a piece of Brainiac/Luthor's armor is knocked away. Another blur and more is torn away. Then we see that it's the Flash - racing past B/L and tearing him apart piece by piece - far too fast to be stopped. We catch a view of the Flash in motion, running across the planet to build up tremendous speed. After several more hits, the Flash comes at B/L at near lightspeed and tears into B/L - fists hammering at the armor and lightning flashing. The rest of the Justice Leage is recovered by now and watches as an explosion obscures the area. When the smoke clears, Luthor is fully human and Brainiac is destroyed - but at a cost. The Flash is now translucent and fading fast - vibrating at incredible speed. He says,

"I think there's something wrong,"

Then he vibrates out of existance.

The Justice Leaguers' jaws drop (mine did too)- then Luthor starts posturing and has words with Superman. Suddenly, the Martain Manhunter shouts that the Flash isn't gone yet, that he's still nearby but fading fast. A portal open up and Hawkgirl reaches in. We hear the Flashes voice, describing where he is - "a force - made of speed - it's wonderful"

(Just like in the comics!)

The Justice Leaguers form a chain and together pull him back from the Speed Force. When he's finally rescued he says that "I can never go that fast again or I may never come back" - harkening to the comics where he used to have a mental speed limit based on his fears and how only his connection to his wife would be enough to pull him back from the Speed Force.

There's a bit more to the show, but it's mostly about Superman.

But, that's not important - the important part is that, once again, the Flash saves the day.
...

This is already a really long blog for me - so I'll wrap it up for now and next time I'll talk about why any of this matters.

another random day

A pretty ordinary day - and a fairly plain evening yesterday. I did purchase a paper-shreder, so that was kinda cool to fire up. Well planned and well executed destruction - gotta love it.

Also picked up the new Gorillaz CD - a little disappointing. What was even more disappointing was Target's music section - I had a list of 5 cds I was looking for and I was lucky to find even one of them. Not very organized.

My playstation 2 is still chugging away. I'm not sure if I should get a new one so that I can play all my games again - or if I should just wait until the PS3 comes out.

Read a new Buffy book - supposedly taking place after the end of the series. I really enjoyed it - right up until the end. If I read it right - they made a sacrifice that was too precious to have made. I may have to re-read the ending again.

Speaking of reading - I saw that the Pope doesn't like Harry Potter books. I'm thinking that maybe he should be focusing on more important issues, but that's just me.

Well, I've got a few things to work on before lunch and my meeting - so, it's back to work...

still sore and the squirrels

I took a look in the mirror last night and saw the underside of my tongue. It was still raw looking and sore. And it's still sore this morning. I'm considering trying to get a picture via my webcam, but a few things are making me re-think the notion:

1. Ewww...that's gonna be a gross picture.

2. What if someone walked into my office? How in the multiverse am I could to explain that one? "So, working hard today, Anthony?" they would ask.

3. The logistics and lighting issues are daunting.

4. What if I got eveything lined up for the shot and it's no longer a visible wound? How lame is that?

So, I think I may pass on the photo op.

Watched a clip of the Wonka movie - the squirrels are excellent. Very focused, very clever, and easily pissed off. And very decisisve. Just like I would imagine squirrels would be if suddenly gifted with substantital intelligence. Though, for all I know, they could be well along on their path to world conquest.

Hmmm...maybe I should buy some peanuts for the ones in my backyard. Just in case. But none for that one that broke into my apartment and peed on my laptop. No nuts for that one.

And that's it for now...time to get back to work.

food related injury and "wait animation"

Last night, while playing a fairly intense video game, I made the mistake of eating some pretzels. And I'm not talking about the tamed "Mr. Pretzel with his arms folded" variety. No, I'm talking about the harpoons of salty death. The kind that, if you grab a handful, there's no way you'll be able to get them anywhere near your mouth without puncturing your cheek.

With a little maneuvering and not a lot of sense (remember, I was distracted by a video game) I managed to get far too many pretzels in my mouth. And then something terrible happened. Through some quirk of fate, one of the aforementioned harpoons of salty death slid under my tongue and stabbed the underside of it. You know, that part that connects the underside of your tongue to the floor of your mouth? Yeah, that part.

Let's start with "ouch" and move on from there. My video game character nearly died, but fortunately she's feisty and runs away pretty well. I managed to retreat until the throbbing in my mouth died down to a dull ache (which is still there today).

And then, because I'm a guy and I had the muchies - I had another handful and got back to my game.

Yeah, I'm an idiot. In my defense, I was more careful - but a thinking and rational person would have thrown out the pretzels and opened up a container of yogurt.

And to add insult to injury (literally) - the game insulted me. See, way back in the day, there was a game called "Sonic the Hedgehog". And if you let the controller sit idle for too long, Sonic would turn slightly toward you, glare, and tap his foot impatiently.

Well, in Balder's Game: Dark Alliance 2 - the concept of an impatient character went a little too far. While I was recovering from the self-harpooning, my character on the screen thought I'd waited too long and said:

"If I have to wait here much longer, I'm going to strangle you with that controller cord"

And my response to that was: "Yikes! Okay, okay, give me a second".

Of course she didn't respond, but she did stop grumbling at me.

And that was pretty much my evening.

Back to work...

Gray hair and restricted access

So, last night I discovered a gray hair on my chest. The gray on my head, well, I started getting that when I was a teenager. The gray in my beard, that's been within the past couple of years. The gray on my chest - that ticked me off. I'm only 32. How is gray chest hair fair? Dang-it.

In other news... I was heading out to a meeting this morning and I headed out the back door of the building, since it lead to a more direct route. This is essentially a one way door and I would need to use my swipe-card to get back in the building via a differnt door. No prob.

As I was getting back to the building, I noticed one of my colleagues step out that one-way door to have a cigerette break, proping the door open behind her. I smiled and waved - then headed in that direction. I figured she could let me in that door and I'd get a short-cut back to my office.

No can do. Apparently, once the building went swipe card access only, a rule was put in place prohibiting anyone from being let in through that door. And if anyone was let in that door, then the "smoking dock" (since it's the door for the loading dock) would be taken away.

Theoretically, I could have gone around the building and out through that door and joined her for a smoke - if I was a smoker - and then gone back in through that door that was propped open. But I'm not and I just went back to my desk.

Rules are rules. I understand and appreciate that. But, according to the letter of the law - should she have been allowed to prop open the door? Technically, she went outside via that door and then re-entered via that same door.

And what if I hold the door open for another colleage if I'm entering via the card-swipe door and they have their hands full? Should I require them to use their card, even if I know them and sit not more than 5 feet away from them? Would I be in the wrong - or would they?

It's not a big deal either way and I'm not even sure it's worth an entry in the blog. But, I thought it was odd and I figured that what this blog is all about anyway - documenting the odd.

I guess that's the problem with having so many rules. They have to cover every situation and they have to be enforced. Maybe it would work better to change the rule so that you can only let in people that you know work there and are allowed in. Or maybe just put a card swipe on that door too and have people swipe to get back in after a break. The current set up just seems a little weird to me.

In other news...I need a nap. But, instead, it's back to work...

under the (radar) gun

So, I'm crusing down route 8, minding my own business and trying to get home - when, all of the sudden, everyone in front of me hits their brakes. So, I hit my brakes too - wondering for the billionth time what's going on up ahead. Accident? Idiot? Cosmic glitch in space/time?

Nope. It's a cop standing nex to his car, aiming his radar gun into traffic like a papparatzi tracking Jennifer Aniston. He's hunting speeders, so everyone slams on the brakes so as not to be a speeder. And nearly causes an accident.

Now, I've heard about this big push to get rid of the "speeding cushion" to "help save lives". Well, I've got news for you. It doesn't matter how fast you're going - the real danger is from idiots on the road that don't pay attention. Maybe they're talking on cell phones or yelling at their kids or putting on makeup - they're still under the general catagory of idiots and they're still a menace on the road.

So, everyone slows down to the speed limit for awhile - then once we're all past him, everyone speeds back up to about 5-7 miles over the speed limit.

Is this really the best use of this officer's time? Aren't there bigger problems out there that he could have helped with - or prevented?

Seemed like a waste to me - but hey, what do I know? I'm just one of the majority of people out there that think they are better than average drivers. :)

In other news...been working my posterior off with a file for work. The freaking thing is 9.7 mb and I'm trying to get it down to 2 or 3 mb. I've flattened the images, ripped out the fonts, and tried every compression option I can find. The best I've been able to do is 9.5 mb. I think I'm going to have to call in the experts - or maybe just delete a few sections. Think anyone would notice if I skipped pages 20-160?

I guess that's it for now...time to get back to work...

vacation blog part 4

Work on Friday was too busy for me to make an entry in teh blog, so, better late than never.

Over the course of the vacation week we:

1. Fought with the rain - getting things set up on the beach and retreating when the clouds took over.

2. Walked on the pier and the beach - and bravely laughed at talk of sharks from the safety of dry land.

3. Went out to eat several times - including a trip to the Hot Fish Club where I, ironically, got some fish that was mostly raw (kinda like sushi)

4. Did some touristy shopping and a very small degree of site-seeing.

And then we said our good-byes to the beach and ocean and headed back. We left very early on Saturday morning - and dealt with the overheating again, though it wasn't as bad since the position of the sun made it less intense.

Then finally home to unpack and relax before going back to work.

The massive sunburn put a damper on the trip and the weather could have been better - but as I said all along, "No email, no phone, no voicemail, no work - still a good vacation"

I learned several valuable lessons and had quite a bit fo fun anyway - so, it all balances out to a good vacation.

Next time... back to the usual entries of funky dreams and random rants.

Later.

vacation blog part 3

So, Tuesday night - instead of going out with my friend for his birthday - I went to the Doctor's Care office in Surfside. I folded paper like a madman to keep from scratching and made a couple of complex models while waiting to be called. I gave them away to a kid in the waiting room. The first nurse got my weight and other vitals, then the doctor came and was somewhat amazed at the degree of sunburn. He wrote a prescritption for a painkiller (though it was itching more than hurting), and sent in nurse #2 to slather on about a pound of heavy silver-something cream. I kept folding and the cream helped - though she felt bad when she had to add more to a sensitive area of my back 'cause I would gasp. She got some origami when she was done too. Heck, I gotta give the stuff away or I'd be buried in it.

They put a hospital gown on me - backwards, so it was like a vest - then sent me on my way. We got the perscriptions filled - then headed back to the condo for cake. I took off the "vest" and kept threatening to hug everyone.

The next couple of days were a bit of a blur - and though I kept seeping with the blisters, I was getting steadly better. Spent a little time on the beach - fulled dressed under an umbrella - and in the pool, which really seemed to help. Though, I felt a little bad about "shedding" flakes of skin into the pool. It was a little gross, but I did try to stay away from everyone else in the pool.

Next time: wrapping up the week and heading home.

Now, back to work...

vacation blog part 2

Sunday had some great weather - lots of sun and blue skies. I was on the beach building sandcastles or swimming in the ocean for most of the day. I was starting to get warm and knew I was sunburned, but didn't realize how sunburned until later.

We went out for dinner that evening and I got the shivers - which I thought was just a reaction to the really cold resturant. I only ate about half my dinner and took the rest back to the condo. That night, in an increasing amount of pain from the sunburn and ensuing blisters - I lost my dinner in a fairly spectacular fashion. And I had a sore throat the rest of the week as a result.

Monday was spent indoors, fully dressed, and watching TV. Still cold, but feeling ever so slightly better to be out of the harsh sun.

Tuesday - and the blisters are taking on a life of their own. But only on my back. My front is a bit sunburned as well, but not as bad. So, I put on some aloe on my chest to help forestall any problems. Turns out - big problem. I had a terrible reaction to the aloe and started itching like crazy. And when I say crazy - I mean full-blown-put-me-in-the-psych-ward kinda crazy.

Part of me wanted to scratch. Part of me knew better. My compromise was to rub the affected area - which still wasn't good, but was better than humping a tree.

Got the aloe washed off and tried a couple more anti-histmine flavored sprays - and it kept getting worse. I was in full freak-out mode. So, armed with a stack of paper to keep my hands occupied I was taken to the stat care down the street.

Next time: Lots of cream and a spiffy new vest.

vacation blog part 1

It's been a bit since I've blogged - I've been out of town on vacation. I'm back to work now and trying to get caught up, so I'm going to break down my vacation report into several days.

We headed out the Friday before last - driving south toward Myrtle Beach. The car was having some overheating issues, so for a good part of the trip we drove with windows down and heat turned on. I don't really mind the heat so I wasn't too bothered by it, but the hot air did tend to dry my contacts out.

Over the course of the drive we passed though:

Virginia's Technology Corridor - which appeared to be mostly trees.

Bland, NC - where we stopped to have to some white rice, plain backed potatoes, dry toast and water without ice. Just kidding - we didn't stop there.

Polymer Alliance Zone (WV). Not sure what that means, but I felt good about it since I work in Akron - Aka Polymer City.

We arrived at our waypoint for the trip a few hours later and stopped for the night. We were awakened at 12:30 that night with a loud pounding on the door, but when we finally answered it, no one was there. We're still puzzled about that one.

It was raining when we got to the condo the next day and it would rain on and off for much of the week. Saturday was for grocery shopping and settling in.

Sunday, the weather broke and we headed for the beach. I dutifully put on sun block, but apparently the ocean washed it off much sooner than I anticipated. The results of this situation were soon to become painfully obvious.

Next time - the beginning of the blisters.

Back to work...