Not so much Better Late...

Rehab today, almost at 50 minutes of exercise. Only gained one pound from the weekend when I weighed in, and I was only up .5 pounds when I checked at the end of the session.

Came home and got ready for work. The detour is still up, I hope they get that fixed this week. It's getting very old.

Tomorrow is my last day in the letter cases. Then it's back to my regular job. So I figured today would be relatively painless.

Wrong.

We have a PTF as a 204b today. Thats postalese for a relatively new employee being a temporary supervisor. These people are easily manipulated. Do you remember last week when I told you about the black woman that was sticking her nose into stuff. Well, she's been going thru my case when I go to break. Isn't that special. She's got somebody now that she can tell what to do and she runs and does it. So this woman gives me a 5 minute training speech on where this mail goes. I let her babble, then I said, "This is really great, thank you, this will come in real handy for the rest of the day and tomorrow.....and after that I'm back to my regular job, real handy, thanks a lot". These people really annoy me.

Tomorrow I'm going to sort stuff the way it is supposed to be. Then, when I go to break, I'm gonna stuff the mail back into the other slot. Just so she has something to bitch about. I like to please people, ya know. :)

Then later on, somebody had to point out something about another type of mail. And little miss important had to give me another 3 minute talk. What a mess that place is.

So I head home, make a salad and blog, blog, blog.

Music at work...Velvet Revolver's "Contraband" / The Living End's "Roll On"

I've figured out a way to tell the weather at work when I look out the window.

If people are smoking, it's sunny.
If people are smoking and wearing a coat, it's cold.
If people are smoking and wet, it's raining.
If people can't get their cigarette lit, it's windy.
If I can't see anyone smoking, it's dark.

:)

cya

Don't Fear the Reapers

No exercising today. I just got up and went to work. It was really light.

I left late and realized that I didn't have time to get gas, so I risked it. Made it to work, came back and pulled into the gas station with "2 miles left" showing on the computer.

I'm making a tape for the nutritionist, a copy of the video I made last week.

My XP machine downstairs seems to be behaving.

I had to do a quick proposal for Deb's boss to hook up a streaming netcam.

And I'm going to try to write an episode of Dead Like Me. I have an ending that will be perfect if they can get the music rights. And I came up with a basic story tonight. Hell, the least they can do is say "get lost".

cya

Bacchus and Neptune

Got up and walked for 30 minutes. While I was walking Mike pulled in. My inlaws got here and we went down and looked at the old van. It’s been slipping out of gear. Now, we had it looked at recently. We told them specifically that there was a transmission problem. So I thought that everything was cool in the fluid area. Mike pulled the tranny fluid dipstick and it was bone dry. We put one quart in and it ran fine. So the kids headed up the road to get some fluid and we started throwing stuff out in the garage.

We did it for a long time. Roughly 5 hours. Burning trash and moving stuff around.

We wrapped it up around 7. Everybody wanted pizza so we called into the local shop. It turns out that they won’t deliver here because of the construction on the bridge. So, since the geniuses that drive for them can’t follow two orange signs, we had to drive in and pick it up.

Yes, I blew my diet again. But I’m back on it tomorrow. I told everybody tonight that I only want 1 night of “naughtyness”. So I’m saving up for next Saturday. That’s the church festival.

Well, after we ate we hung out and watched some movies. Most notably “Under the Tuscan Sun”.

I've been catching up on some tv lately. One of my favorites is "Dead Like Me". Two characters are having an exchange in a waffle house. One, Rube, is probably hundreds of years older than the other, very literate, in charge, and doesn't suffer fools kindly. The other, Mason, is younger, British, an alcoholic, and as he was called in a recent episode "A fuck up".


Rube..."Well you know, They say that Bacchus has killed more men than Neptune."

Mason..."Uhh...Ahh...Bacchus???"

Rube..."Well, Bacchus is the Greek god of readafuckinbook."


And then I started this, and now I’ve finished it.

This Just In...

We're Googleized!!!

Finally!!!!

If somebody wants to find the site, just tell 'em to Google "fitzlandia"

...Finally!!!

Whoopsie

Set the alarm nice and early for today. The furnace guy came. I think we’ll be getting one in the next few weeks and then get the central air hooked up in the spring.

I went up to rehab and did my thing. I had an appointment with the nutritionist today after the workout. I called earlier in the week and she said it was ok to bring my vidcam to tape it. I took my still camera as well.

So I get on the treadmill and, genius that I am, I take the camera with me. I’m doing ok, but then I try to line up a tight shot.. I have taken pics while walking before, but I forgot something. Usually when you’re walking, you slow down just a hair to take the bounce out of your step. So I do that…and go right off the treadmill.

Well…the nurses started to FREAK out. “Are you alright? Are you alright?” They both run over toward me and I’m saying “I’m ok, I’m ok”. Actually, a small strawberry burn on my left ring finger and a slightly larger one on my right middle knuckle. You see, the roadie/gear instinct kicked in and my mind just started going “camera, Camera, CAMERA!!!!”. I cradled it like a newborn and my hands rubbed against the moving belt before I could push myself back up.

The guy on the treadmill in front of me said, “They don’t understand that it’s more embarassment than pain.” And he’s absolutely right. I told them, “Please don’t make any signs that say ‘No picture taking on the treadmill’. That would just be too much.” They assured me they wouldn’t.

So I finally finished up and went across the hall to the nutritionist. Very informational meeting. She wants a copy of the video. They may do something like that for people.

I came down here and stopped at The Little Store to get some food and water. Then I headed into one of my clients to fix a network problem. I wish they were all like this. He moved his computer and, for some reason, when he moved it back, he put the network cable into one of the routers we have as a spare. Took me 5 minutes to move the cable and reboot. It’s fine.

I went over to see Margaret then. We’re gonna hook up for lunch next week at the restaurant I was to yesterday. (I will get the name, I promise)

I headed home and hung out for a bit. Deb and Chrissy came home and we headed down to Harrisburg to eat. After dinner we went across the road to the CD Warehouse. I picked up Velvet Revolver and an older The Living End cd. Chrissy picked up a couple of New Age cd’s. We headed home. Deb is having a lot of tension in her back and shoulders. Chrissy was trying to work on her shoulders on the way home. I want her to set up an appointment with a masseur. She’s gotta lose some of this tension. For my sake, if you know what I mean.

So, we watched Stargate Atlantis and we’re watching Stargate SG1.

And I’m blogging this to you.

cya

Lunchin' with Bill

Got up and walked 30 minutes. I got ready to take a shower and, of course, the doorbell rang. I looked out and thought it was Chrissy at first. It was a green Jeep. Then I looked closer and saw that it was a newer vehicle. It was Deb’s cousin Dave. He returned a radio that they used when everybody went up to 1000 islands.

I finally got the shower and headed down to meet Bill Magill. He’s an old friend from forever. We went to this new restaurant in Newport. It’s a very nice coffeehouse with really great food. All natural and organic stuff. I got a salad with chicken and homemade raspberry vinigrette. Yum.

We shot the shit about a lot of stuff. I’m not gonna go into great detail, but it was a great conversation. The owner of the place graduated 3 years ahead of us. Her sister, Heidi, was a few years behind us. Heidi came in and joined us. It turns out that she does aerobics training. She asked me if I needed a personal trainer and I may just take her up on it. One of her sons is an aspiring musician, so I gave her some info in that area too.

Another classmate, Jeanette Clegg, and her sister Teresa stopped by our table on the way out. She filled us in on her life and told us that Shiffer Bros.is closing this Saturday. The place has been around almost 60 years, selling and repairing appliances. One of the brothers is the father of yet another classmate, Robin Leidy.

I finally had to head down to work. It had started to rain, so that’s always fun. I got almost to work and it hit me. I forgot to pay. We had such a good time I just completely forgot. I’ll give Magil a call tomorrow morning and see if I owe him one, if not, I’ll take Deb down on Saturday and settle up.

Work was ok, but one thing really cheezed me off. I was getting stuff out of my locker and overheard a conversation started up between a black guy and a white guy.

BG…Ya know, up here the graffiti on the bridges is “F this” and “screw that”….but you go down south and it’s “God Loves You” and “Jesus saves”.

WG…Yeah….that’s because all the conservatives are down there….

BG…Yeah….(I start walking away)

WG….Yeah….I’m tired of all this Liberal Fag shit up here.

BG…(silence)

Liberal Fag….

Real nice…

Here, ladies and gentlemen, is a perfect example of the conservative core voter. I’d also like to thank the Republican party in their obviously successful effort to turn the word Liberal into a dirty word. I bet the guy was upset that he was talking to a black guy because he couldn’t work the word Nigger into the conversation.

I hate redneck assholes, and there are a LOT of them that work at the P.O. I hope he gets to go back with all his redneck buddies so we know EXACTLY where they all are. Ya know, I never worry about a Liberal using a gun to make his point, but with Conservatives your never quite sure.

Anyway, I came home and started this. I jotted some notes at work, but I left them in the car and it’s raining. So maybe tomorrow.

I did find it interesting that the California supreme court nullified over 4000 marriages of gays and lesbians. And on the very same day, the Governor of NJ came out of the closet. Resigning from office because he cheated on his wife with a guy.

The music at work was MP3’s. Too many bands to mention.

cya

Perseid Tonight

I couldn’t post this when I wanted to because the net is down. Looks like we had a lot of storms here.

Headed up to Lewistown this morning and went to the cardiac doctor. Gave them the continuing FLMA paperwork. They said he won’t be back to the 23rd. I headed over to the rehab and did my thing. Finally under 300. It’s getting a little depressing, I wish it would go faster. But I didn’t put it on in one day, so I won’t be taking it off in one day either.

Work was ok. I guess yesterday was a double dose of bullshit, so today could be an off day.

I wanna talk about whiney farmers. Aren’t you just sick of whiney farmers? Whine, whine, whine. A few years ago it was…”It’s so dry, we can’t grow anything when it’s dry, we need rain, please let it rain.” This year?….”It’s too wet, it’s drowning the crops, it needs to dry off, please let it dry off.” Get the picture? It’s amazing we have any food at all. So your heard it here first folks. Rain or lack of it doesn’t grow crops. Massive whining does. :)

I got home tonight and Mike’s car was here, but Chrissy’s Jeep wasn’t. So I headed into the house and the door was locked. I go around front and finally wake up Deb and she let’s me in. It turns out that someone was found murdered in McAlisterville along the road. No other information yet, but remember, you heard it here first.

Chrissy, Mike and their friend Joann pulled in right after I got home. They went out to Mt. Pisgah Altar to watch the meteor shower. I guess it was too cloudy, so they came here to watch it. I hung out for awhile and told them the story about the rock star that’s in love with Chrissy…she loves that story.

Bush’s minions “The Swift Boats for Bush” are being employed by the pres for a hate attack in the weeks before Bunnypants loses his personal money. Don’t believe the hate. Listen to the guys that were actually on the boat with him.

Gotta go, lunch with Bill Magill tomorrow.

Cya

I must not think bad thoughts.

This extremely venting, very good post just disappeared on me. I am switching to Microsoft Word to do my editing from now on.

I was brilliant. I tied everything together. I am now almost as pissed as I was when I wrote it.

I will attempt to recapture the magic. Later. Let's just say for now that it was not the greatest of days.

Here's the thing...hope you like.

Remember when I said it’s been too quiet at work? Remember when I said it’s been creepin’ me out? Remember when I said it’s only a matter of time before there’s some bullshit directed my way? Remember when I said it’s been like waiting for the other shoe to drop?

I go up to the mail casing area that I have to work in for the next week or so. There are two sections that we work in, 030 and 043. Every case in 043 is full, except for two. One has a pile of somebody’s crap on a chair. The other is completely empty. No chair, the light is off, no personal effects. So I take a seat.

This woman, who is not a boss, takes it upon herself to come over and tell me that “(so and so) is sitting there, you can’t sit there.” I think “Excuse the FUCK outta me?” But I say, “Well, there’s nothing here, I’m gonna sit here.” She says “No, (so and so) is sitting there, you can’t sit there.” We go back and forth, I vent a little to Cindy who usually sit’s next to me. But to no avail. So, steaming, I swallow my anger (as usual) and go to the 030.

Less than 10 minutes later, supervisor Joyce comes up to me. Supervisor Joyce is one of several “non-confrontational” supervisors that we have. She says “I need you in 043.” I say, “Well, one of you boss wannabe’s over there told me that I couldn’t sit at the empty case”. She goes away and comes back in a minute or two. “Oh”, she says, “the two that were sitting at the end moved when they came back from break. There’s 4 cases open now.” In a “Ha-ha, isn’t that funny, please move…” sort of tone.

Most people wouldn’t have, but not me. I go back. Set on simmer and left to stew for the remainder of the day.

Before my last break I have another supervisor. This one comes up to me and says, “Uh, you have to get your badge out so it’s visible”. I pull my time badge out and he says “And THAT’s supposed to be in the rack.” So I do this mundane little idiocy. You see, I understand the guy has a job to do. The point of this is, everytime he’s talked to me, he’s told me that I’m fucking up in some way. (Can you say harrassment? Sure you can!) And that wouldn’t be so bad, but I don’t even know the guys name. I mean, the first time could have been something like, “Hi, I’m (I have no idea), sorry to bother you but…” Just a little common decency, is that too much to ask?

The facts we hate…
We’ll never meet walking down the road
everybody yelling "hurry up, hurry up!"
But I’m waiting for you
I must go slow
I must not think bad thoughts
When is this world coming to?
Both sides are right but both sides murdered
I give up why cant they
I must not think bad thoughts
(X’s “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts”)

And this whole badge thing takes me to another point. President Bunnypants is running around saying….”We don’t know when it’s going to happen, we don’t know where it’s going to happen, we don’t know what’s going to happen. But something is…so BE REALLY SCARED…at least until I get re-elected (or, in his case, elected the first time).

Here’s a news flash for the Harrisburg P&DC. Terrorists are NOT going to attack the Harrisburg Post Office intentionally. If we do get a package bomb or ricin, it won’t be intended for us. It will probably be something on it’s way to DC. Quit overreacting.

And here’s another thing. With all due respect to those 3000 or so who lost their lives on 9/11, 15,000 people died in France because of a heat wave. I saw no outpouring of sympathy here. Primarily because some people are pissed at them because they had a little more sense when it came to Iraq.

What happened the moment the second airplane hit the WTC is that the terrorist’s DID win. With all this bullshit that’s being done now in the name of security, it’s time to stop. Yes, we need to be alert. Yes, we need to teach our kids to be alert. Welcome to what the rest of the world, especially Isreal and Ireland, have been dealing with for decades. So George, WE’RE PAYING ATTENTION, stop scaring us to death.

The civil wars and the uncivilized wars
Conflagrations leap out of every poor furnace
The food cooks poorly and everyone goes hungry
From then on its dog eat dog dog eat body & body eat dog
I cant go down there
I cant understand it
I’m a no good coward & an American too
A North American that is not a South of a Central or a Native American
Oh I must not think bad thoughts
I’m guilty of murder of innocent men
Innocent women innocent children
Thousands of them
My planes
My guns
My money
My soul
My blood on my hands
It’s all my fault
I must not think bad thoughts
(X’s “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts”)

Music at work…Sheryl Crow’s “Tuesday Night Music Club”/ X’s “Unclogged” (Thanks to X for our little theme today.

The facts we hate…
You’ll never hear us
I hear the radio its finally gonna play new music you know
The British Invasion
But what about The Minutemen
Flesheaters
D.O.A.
Big Boys and the Black Flag
Will the last american band to get played on the radio please bring the flag?
please bring the flag!
glitter-disco-synthesizer night school
All the noble savage drum drum drum
Astronauts go back in time to hang out with the cave people
It’s about time
It’s about space
It’s about some people in the strangest places
Woody Guthrie sang about
b-e-e-t-s
not b-e-a-t-s
I must not think bad thoughts
(X’s “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts”)

I did 25 minutes walking and I’ve been sticking to the diet, my weight now has a 2 in front of it…in clothing. Yaaaaa!!!!!


Thanks for lettin’ me rant people….BTW….Word works a hell of a lot better.

We're Number 1!!!

The rollover data for SUV's came out today and my little Chrysler Pacifica is numero uno! I feel so much safer.

I had rehab today. Afterward, I went over and picked up my FMLA paperwork (finally!) The doctor is on vacation AGAIN. Christ, I wish I got a month off. I went to the union to fill out the papers and found out that I need to put in ANOTHER FMLA form.

I paid some bills at work and generally had a good day. It's creepin' me out man.

Music at work...Alice Cooper's "Brutal Planet"/Alice Cooper's "Dragontown"/Alice Cooper's "The Eyes of Alice Cooper" I sense a theme. :)

I wanted to tell you about a tv show I happened onto last night. There is a channel on the 'ol satellite called Trio. It's a Canadian arts and entertainment channel. I see the title of the show is "Good Clean Porn". The movie they're showing is "Debbie Does Dallas". Being a fan of the Porno oeuvre, I just had to take a look.

They keep all of the scenes with dialogue ("Best Children's Announcer's Voice"...Yes children, back in the old days, porn films actually had dialogue!) and when it gets to the good stuff they put in a still frame with text, like an old silent film. The writing for those was very funny. It's a very clever idea. I hope to see more.

Not much news today. I have a client to see early tomorrow, so this is another short one.

Talk to ya!

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday

Pretty boring day. The weather's been great. It's supposed to go down to the 50's tonight. But it looks like it will be up in the 80's tomorrow.

It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop at work. No bullshit for over a week. This does not bode well. That means it's gonna be REAL stupid when it finally happens.

When I hit 250 pounds I want to jump out of an airplane. I asked my buddy Boogaloo tonight if he wanted to join me. His woman (his term, not mine) is against it. But I'll keep working on him.

Just a little to let you know I'm still here. Lots of stuff to do tomorrow. Phone calls and the like.

Cya

Leave me a Lawn...

I got up and took a walk today. I did 25 minutes. Came in and stretched and we went out and mowed. It goes a lot faster when both of us use a mower. Deb ran the small one and I had the tractor. We moved some of her greenhouse parts into one of the sheds in back of the barn.

Then, Joe Outdoor Guy that I am, I cut up some of the tree limbs with the chainsaw. We may have a halfway decent looking yard by the time there's snow covering it. :)

Got a shower, put the gas cans in the van and headed into town. Before we started in, I measured my little walking track I've been using. It's a 1.2 mile loop, and that's exactly what I did today. Stopped at a local coffee shop and ate, then headed to Sheetz to fill up the gas cans. Deb mentioned something about going to one of the local carnivals, but she was having some back problems when we got home. So we bagged it.

At the coffee shop we overheard 4 oldtimers talking behind us. We're pretty sure that they were democrats. Which is a pretty amazing thing to find here.

Anyway, we came home and I worked on my XP machine downstairs. I took some software off and it might have helped it a little. But, I found an article that gives me some steps to take to fix the device driver problem. I'll try that before I throw in the towel and call Dell.

Came upstairs while the machine was doing a chkdsk. It did finally complete it check. I know because I heard the boot up sound up here.

There's no tv on, Deb's reading, and I'm leaning back on the recliner. I was very achy and the next thing to sleeping. It's so quiet with the A/C off. The doors are open and you can hear the crickets. Very relaxing, but I couldn't nod off. Must be because I had to get on here and do the blog thing.

So I did.

BTW...I watched "Dinner for Five" last night. It was the one with Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith. It was very funny so, in their honor, I watched "Clerks". Affleck's not in that, but Smith directed it. My favorite part was a little exchange about the Death Star's destruction in two of the Star Wars movies. Very funny.
Cya

Photoblog

Just when I thought I was out....

Headed out from the house and the sky was beautiful. It reminded me of someone taking big hunks of cotton and placing them on a bright blue lake. It was very cool last night (no A/C) and today was cool as well. It really reminded me of what we call "Football Weather" around here.

I did rehab today and it went really well. I talked to Louise afterward and she gave me a bunch of handouts, as well as helping me make sense of the food diary.

So I head home. I get on the highway and pass a few cars right before the construction. I get into the single lane and head around the corner and BAM...Mr. State Police. He told me that he had me at 72 in a 40 with an Active Work Zone added. That's an automatic 15 day suspension. I pleaded with the guy a little. Told him that I recently had a heart attack (workin' on the sympathy) and was just coming home from cardiac rehab. I still had the adhesive contacts on for the heart monitor, that was a nice touch.

He gave me the ticket and said that he reduced it to 65 in a 40 and dropped the work zone. Well, it's still points and I don't need points. So, I have a call in to my attorney that usually handles this stuff. I tell you people, even if you're guilty as sin, talk to an attorney.

I stopped at the bank and then I went to meet Deb at the local chinese place. I called her and she said she couldn't make it, so I picked up some food and took it to her. I got her a cup of the free tea that they have, she really likes it. I thought that would make the ticket a little more palatable. It actually did. She needed the checkbook to take care of our Penn State tickets. I hung out and ate. I'll say this, she really earns the money. I was there maybe a half hour and she didn't have a moments peace to choke down lunch.

I headed out, picked up some prescriptions and went home. I gave the baby a bath. Looked really good too. Used the chamois and everything. And, just as I was finishing, it rained. I have really shitty luck some days. People think I make this up, but I don't. :)

So everybody came home. Chrissy is finally talking to me again. YAAAA!!!!! We headed up to Lewistown to see if I could get another ticket. Actually, we went into town to get some stuff for Deb. She hits the big 50 this year and has been invited to join the Red Hat Society. We headed out from there to J.P. Edwards to eat. I'm sure I had too much, but it was good. Pepper Salmon...a little fishy, but ok. Chrissy had an incredible looking BBQ sub and potato salad. Deb had Filet Mignon. I snuck a little bite of both, but I did write them down.

We went grocery shopping and had a lot of fun looking for lo carb stuff. I hate that I have to do it, but they want my intake at a certain level. I really have to pay attention to that stuff. Just a hundred or so pounds to go. :)

Came home, put stuff away, and started this missive.

Newswise...Rick James died. Some woman has had a towel inside her for 7 years. Terrorist chatter has dropped, which they think means they're gonna attack. (I'll wait and see) Kansas has banned 1600 CD's from public libraries because they don't think people can think for themselves. And the President is still and idiot.

I have to add this. The job report came out today. 32,000 new jobs were created. Sound good? Not really. It was projected that there would be 214,000 created this month. The same thing happened last month. George has lost us too many good jobs that are being replaced with lower paying one's. He's got to go.

On his stump speech he tells the crowd that Kerry wants to "raise your taxes". Not true. He plans on rolling back taxes on the wealthiest 2% to their "pre-Bush" levels. And that income figure is $200,000 and above. If you're making more than that, you probably should vote for him. Selfish bastard that you are. :)

And the final slap in the face from George. He's READING his stump speech. The man can't think on his feet, so he's got a paper script right in front of him. I heard John Kerry talk for 45 minutes plus. No notes, just a hand held mic, and he was great. Let's pick the president that can think people.

Back to you Dan....

later

It's the Death that's Worse than Fate

Definitely had a tornado here yesterday. There were several sightings, but it was just one cloud. Came down in Newville, went back up and came down in Lemoyne (two miles from where I work) skipped across the river and into Harrisburg. At least 250 trees down in Harrisburg. On to Hummelstown, back up into the sky, then back down in Elizabethtown and on to Manheim in Lancaster County. One more of these and they're gonna start calling us Tornado Alley.

What saved the city is that the twister came through at treetop level. So it knocked the trees down into houses. Thus sparing the houses themselves. Apparently, we average about 5 tornados a year.

A new craft is entered for the X Prize. That's the one where a private concern launches 3 people into space and does it again in 14 days. It's called the Wildfire. We'll see what happens.

I talked about the Walter Cronkite report on the Gulf of Tonkin a few days ago. It's going to be on "Morning Edition" tomorrow on NPR. It's definitely worth a listen. Very compelling and very contemporary.

It sounds like the Army is going to start buying their recruits. You can get a $10,000 signing bonus, $15,000 if you sign up for a specialty.

There was a comment on NPR that really got my hackles up. (Whatever hackles are?) They had a quote by a guy named Wendell Berry about computer's. This is it...

"...when somebody has used a computer to write work that is demonstrably better than Dante's, and when this better is demonstrably attributable to the use of a computer, then I will speak of computers with a more respectful tone of voice, though I still will not buy one."

WHAT......AN......ASS!!!

Oh, I see Mr. Berry. I guess your a charcoal and cavewall man. Although you look more like a stick in the dirt guy. Oh wait, I'm being facetious, of course you must use a pen. So, what type of quill do you prefer. What's that? A little more modern? It must be a calligraphic style pen, with the reservoir? No? A ballpoint? What a forward thinking modernist you are!

It's like saying a painters work is less inspired because he chooses to use acrylics instead of oils. Luddite's shouldn't be allowed any sharp objects, let alone a pen. Someone will write a work "demostrably" better than Dante's someday. They will probably use a computer. Get over it.

Now...onto my day.

I did 20 minutes walking today, up to 25 on saturday. Went in and picked up a prescription and headed into work.

Work was painless once again (I could get used to this, but I know it won't last). Headed home and got gas and some food at Sheetz. I've been getting wraps and I found out tonite that they have their nutrition info on their website. So I was able to dial in other ingredients that will be even better.

I pulled into the house and Chrissy was right in front of me. I don't know where she was because she hasn't talked to me since Tuesday. I would just like to know why a woman can torpedo you and you're just supposed to let it go. But if you do it back, you deserve the silent treatment.

I heard the new Velvet Revolver song on the radio today. They are really good and you should check them out. It's members of Guns & Roses and Stone Temple Pilots. So my question is, shouldn't they be called Guns & Pilots? :)

I felt pretty good today. I think there might be something to this exercise reducing stress thing. If I can just get my feet to stop hurting from last Friday, I'd be in pretty good shape.

Music at work....Elvis Costello and the Attractions, "Armed Forces" / Josie and the Pussycats Soundtrack / Nina Gordon, "Tonight and the Rest of My Life"

Photobloggin' (gonna try to get the Ben Affleck pic up tonight)

later

Well Dorothy...

Very good possibility that 2 more tornado's touched down in Harrisburg. Storm damage from Carlisle to Lancaster. As of 11:00 there were roughly 30,000 people without power.

My wonderful employer, The United States Postal Service, when tornado warnings we're being issued. When a report of a funnel cloud was made less than 2 miles away did....NOTHING. I called my wife later on and told her that if I ever die at work she better get an attorney. Because I can guarantee that somebody fucked up somewhere.

Missouri took us a step back toward the stone age today. 72% of voters passed a referendum to amend their constitution to ban gay marriage. Nice move.

No work music tonight. I was to busy listening to the radio to see if I'd have an ass.

Watching Bill Maher and taping it for some folks at work

I gotta post some more rally pics, http://fitzlandiapics.blogspot.com

cya

And so it goes.

Moved the walking up to 20 minutes. It's in the 80's today, so at least I'm not dead. I think that's a good thing.

Headed to work. Work has been pretty benign lately. That's a good thing, but don't worry, some asshole will fuck it up soon. I got to have a decent conversation with Jean today, talking about the rally and the convention. Talked to Bonnee a little too.

Headed home.

I'm watching the last half of "Real Time with Bill Maher". Michael Moore and Bill Maher just (literally) got down on their knees and begged Ralph Nader not to run.

Quick one tonight. You gotta love it.

No use in letting some Prophet of Doom...

...get reelected.

Photoblog

Bush accepted most of the 9/11 commission's report today, 11 days after he said it would need a lot of study and take time to implement. Is that a flip, or a flop? :)

Kerry is releasing a book length detailed plan of what he intends to do after being elected. Hey, Kerry and Edwards wrote a book and George dreams about reading one. :)

The Reps were quick to jump on the fact that Kerry has gotten minimum poll bounce in the first polls since the convention. A Newsweek poll has him bouncing 4 or 5 percent. I told you it wouldn't be much. They commented that it's the lowest bounce of any candidate. Well spinmeisters, it's the earliest that a VP has ever been picked as well. It actually seems to show that the convention bounce is really the bounce from picking the VP.

Another day of rehab...they up the requirements every Monday. A little faster, a little longer. So far it's been the best exercise experience I've ever had. I'll be up to walking 20 minutes a day tomorrow. My weight is hovering just above 300, I'm down 45 pounds from my peak (there, I said it). In fact, the other day I weighed myself naked (you're welcome for the mental picture) and I was under 300. I've got some private and public goals. the next number is 275, at 250 I want to go skydiving. The next memorable weight is 230, that's what I was in the 80's. Then it's 210. If I hit that and I'm a little "flappy", I'm gonna get the tummy tuck. I think I'll probably be a little flappy, but if I can get down that far I want to LOOK like I got down that far. I haven't weighed below 200 since 9th grade, except for a brief time in college.

Work was nominal.

Music today: Me First and the Gimme Gimme's "Are A Drag" / Garrison Starr's "Eighteen Over Me" / The Sharks' "Live at the Empire Rock Club"

Happy "Gulf of Tonkin" anniversary everybody. I'm sure there's lots of parties today. :) NPR had a great report with Walter Cronkite that had original White House tapes of conversations between Johnson and Robert McNamara. Turns out the "torpedo" that was fired by the Cong was never really confirmed. So it looks like a whale may have been the catalyst for the Vietnam war.

Another comment on NPR about deceased Philosophy professor Sidney Morgenbesser. Attending a speech on language, the speaker says (paraphrasing) "In language, two wrongs can make a right, but never have two rights made a wrong". Sydney, in the back, mumbles "...yeah, yeah". You can search NPR, use keyword obituary.

And finally, a little thing that hit me tonight called.....

The Aeronautic Design Theory of Musician Interaction

Airplanes...gotta love 'em. Most old designs made them fly real safe and real steady. Some manuverability, I mean, they could turn pretty quick but not on a dime. Then they got fancy. They started, after computers came into the mix, doing something called fly-by-wire. A lot more control, very fast and precise. To take advantage of the control, they started making the airplanes more UNstable. Theory being that the more unstable something is, the quicker they can control it. Balance a pencil on the end of your index finger and look how fast you have to move to keep it on there.

I believe that most creative bands are essentially unstable, or have an element (member) that is unstable. They can still function without that X factor, but for true high performance there is usually that unstable element. I was thinking about the lead singer for my former employer The Sharks. Sam had talent and charisma with a capital K. That "It" factor they talk about, he's got it and he knows how to use it. But he's MIA right now. The band would still like to go out occasionally, but Sam's off the map somewhere. I hope that whatever's up with him, he comes back and we can see those guys together again. They're a lot of fun. Every other band I've ever been involved with that's had any success at all has had this element. I don't mean to pick on Sammy, he's just the one I was listening to tonight when this popped into my head.

Later dudes

Rally Update

I reported the other day that the estimated crowd size was 18 to 20,000. That has been updated to 25,000. I get more and more impressed by this event with each passing day.

I found out that they stayed in town and hit the bar at the hotel for a late dinner. The guy playing the lounge says "I understand we have the next President of the United States here tonight. Leave him alone everyone. Just go out and vote". There was a sizeable crowd waiting outside the hotel when he left in the morning. If he comes to town again, I'll try to check it out and get some closeup pics.

We had a family get together at Deb's cousin's cabin. I stopped out for some lunch and headed to work.

It was a pretty benign day. I did walk for 15 minutes at lunch. I don't want to do that anymore because they want me to do cool down stretching. Only one person walked by, thank god. It looks pretty gay doing leg stretches in the middle of a parking lot.

I keep getting these ideas for blog stuff at work and keep forgetting to write it down. I gotta start taking some notes.

Gotta post a few pics for the masses.

Talk to ya later.

A Soggy Saturday

Still reeling from yesterday's huge Democratic rally in Harrisburg. My feet are still hurting too.

Maureen came over this morning. I moved her time back to 11 am from 9 am because I was really diggin' the bed. She got here and promptly gave me hell for bad directions. I don't blame her, I hate to give bad directions. But, she comes from the opposite direction that I direct most people from. I'm not very specific from there and I should write some up so I can give specific ones.

We went over all the stuff on her laptop and new printer. Spent several hours, but I think she's gonna do just fine.

Deb and I ate a bit, then headed over to Selinsgrove for some badly needed sneakers on my part. Did I mention how much fun it is to try on sneakers with aching feet? :) We wandered around looking at grills and treadmills and refrigerators and the like. Then we headed up to DQ for my weekly treat, over to WallyWorld for a birthday card and then back home.

It's a quick one tonight. I'm gonna put some more photos of the rally up later.

Have fun.

Photoblog

Wow!!! (Kerry/Edwards Rally in Harrisburg)

Come for the Photoblog, stay for the story.

Please leave comments folks, either here or on the picblog. Let me know how I'm doin.

The Kerry rally in Harrisburg. Incredible. This is gonna be a long one, folks. But let's start at the beginning.

I went to cardiac rehab this morning. Came home and got ready to go to the rally, but I had to stop at Margaret's studio first. She needs a font that I couldn't get to install. But I got her virus definitions up to date and headed out for the rally.

I called Chrissy. She wasn't going to be able to make it. They were short at work. Deb wanted to come down too, but they're shorthanded in her department as well. Oh well, today went so well that I'm sure John will be back again. I had to go in and pick up the ticket for the rally. You needed a ticket to get in. The tickets were red, white and blue. This is important people.

I head down to Harrisburg and park at the 2nd street parking garage. It's about 4 blocks from the Capitol. I walk down 2nd street, up to the Capitol and up the steps. I went around the corner and down the steps and, lo and behold, there's the line. And it's relatively short. It's about 4:15. Some volunteers come up and say. "This is the Blue and Red ticket line, the White ticket line is across the street". So I walk up past the entrance and down maybe a fourth of a block to the end of the White line. It's 4:20.

Lots of nice people around. Everybody is very friendly. In fact, this was kind of bizzare. It was in the 80's and very humid. People had a right to be grouchy. If you bumped into some one, it was "Excuse me, I'm sorry, etc." I was very proud to be from Central Pa. as well as being a Democrat the entire evening.

Volunteers did a great job of keeping people hydrated too. I must have been offered water at least a dozen times.

There was a news truck from ABC 27 about 50 feet further away from the entrance. Dennis Owens and Valerie Pritchart were covering the event. They kept walking by all afternoon. Owens comes up and is chatting to the volunteer standing right beside us. I notice the cameraman is set up on top of the van. It's a little after five, the line now extends to the end of the block and around the corner. People are 3 and 4 deep on the sidewalk.

Just before 5:30, Owens says "We're going to go live in one minute". The guy is literally 6 feet away from me. "I'm gonna be on TV...COOL" Then I think..."Not so cool, damn...I won't get to see it". I talked to my wife earlier and she said that we lost our local channels. DirecTV was doing a one month thing where you got the locals for free. She said that they weren't on today. Anyway, people start chanting Ker-ry, Ker-ry...and peter out in about 15 seconds. Then he says, when I start talking, we're on live!

Now, just to show that all the idiots are not in the Republican party. A guy right behind me (who's been reading "Dude, Where's My Country" out loud a lot) says..."So, when is this going to be on?" As one, everyone goes, "IT'S LIVE".

Doors we're supposed to open at 5. At 5:40 ish our line "the white line" starts to move. The red and blue line started about 15 minutes earlier. I was really surprised, we walked right in. No search, no screening. Then we get in and I realize why. We are across the street from the Capitol, about 250 feet from the street. I did have a view of the opening under the dome, another 250 feet from the street, and I figured that that's where they're going to speak from. I was wrong.

There is a very bad acoustic player/singer on stage, over enunciating away. That's when I figure out where the stage is. The news phalanx is set up across the street from the Capitol. On the other side of the street, on the street, at the base of the steps is where the stage is. I have to peer between railings to see the top of someone's head. Oh well, I get to hear the speeches and maybe get one good headshot. There was a woman about 5 people down from me who had one of those massive lenses on a monopod. I really wished I had that at that point. I had "Lens Envy". :)

Our "passionate" singer leaves the stage and says "there'll be some more good players out here soon". He should have dropped the more. There were two other bands, both uncompelling.

So, here I am, getting to know my neighbors. There was a guy behind me that sounded the only negative note I heard all day. "Cmon...we're democrats...there's gotta be some anarchy at some point". He was screwing around with the orange snow fence and managed to bust it. We were picking out the spotters and security on the roofs. I was hoping they wouldn't blow him away. They had a bunch of crew guys come over and take care of the fence.

There was a girl in front of me named Dawn (I hope that's right). She was very nice and we chatted about my "Cheers" shirt. She asked me if I went to the convention, I said I didn't. Anyway, fast forward a little. A friend of hers is walking about 75 feet in front of us, and she's yelling "Christine, Christine" (I hope that's right too). A couple of us help her yell and her friend comes up. I think nothing of it. The next thing I know she says, "Come On...You're coming with me". I'm dumbstruck. She says "Blue Ticket" and takes off.

I'm thinking COOL. While I'm thinking cool, she disappears, then I commit and take off, losing my spot. Then I'm thinking, SHIT. What if I can't find her. I do finally catch up. She got tickets for two ladies that helped her yell too. So we walk back out, against the wave of people coming in and I'm thinking, "Great, we'll just go to the security tent and get right in". WRONG. We get out and start walking down the street. And walking. And walking. The red and blue line was 3/4 of the way down the street. Dawn was a little upset. The two women that went with us we're going to leave. She went and talked them into staying. The event was supposed to start at 7. It was 7:40. As we were walking down the street we could hear cheering and speakers. A very depressing moment. We found out that they had pushed back the start time to 7:45. I tried to be optimistic. "Hey, the line will move fast, we'll be in there by ten after 8". For once I was right. We we're being searched before 8:10.

To backtrack just a hair, I saw an old friend from high school while we were in line. Actually, I saw this massive dog being walked by this woman down the street. Took a picture, then said "That looks like..." I yelled, but she walked behind a van. I asked Dawn and her finace to save my place and went after her yelling "Jeri, Jeri". We had a quick chat and I hopped back in line. Running after people and yelling is important, you'll see why later.

So, back to the story, we get in and move up. We were roughly 200 feet from the stage. There were three girls around me that work at the Capitol. I gave them the blog address and they told me later that "A lot of people will want to see these pictures".

I also saw some of the Union folks from work. They had the same spot that I did. I did pretty well for no connectivity, huh?

Then the blur started. Literally and figuratively. I couldn't get my camera adjusted for Ben Affleck's and Governor Rendell's entrance. Ben spoke briefly, then the Governor. Then he introduced Teresa Heinz Kerry. Of course the place went nuts. But this might have been a mistake. EVERYBODY came out. Kerry, Edwards and his wife as well. Rendell recovered nicely and the event continue.

Everyone spoke wonderfully. The atmosphere was electric and powerful. My first national rally and an incredible experience.

John Kerry spoke for about 45 minutes. He was articulate, self-effacing and funny. And the crowd ate it up.

At the end, they started "It's a Beautiful Day" by U2 and, on cue, fired up and lit up the beautiful fountain in the courtyard. For me, it was incredible.

So, a little after 10 it's over. My feet hurt, my back hurts, I got maybe 30 images left and I feel fantastic. So I start walking. Now, the street where we stood in the Blue line is cordoned off with a phalanx (there's that word again) of cops standing in front of motorcycles and blue "Kerry/Edwards" buses. I think, "Great...that's the shortest distance to my car and I have to go around...Wonderful". So I keep walking.

My feet REALLY hurt, and my legs. I see two women sitting down, then I start getting Wil Wheaton's mantra going in my head from the marathon he just did. "Just Keep Going, Just Keep Going". And I did. I go around the corner and head down toward the "Monolith" at the state museum. I get in the courtyard there and finally do sit down, but not really because of my feet. I need to get my cell phone out and call my niece. I had to drop some CD's off and I wanted to let her know I was still coming. This was probably the best decision I made all night.

I get up and start the plod. There's a guy in front of me talking to his friends. He says, "Ya know, I didn't really need Ben Affleck there...he didn't do a lot for me". I'm thinking, "Buddy, He wasn't there for you, he was there for the LADIES".

So I walk up to the steps that go down the street and look back up toward where I WANTED to come down the street. A few of the buses are there. I want a shot for the blog and start getting my camera out of the bag. There's a cop there who sees me getting my camera. He says...

"Hey, Ben Affleck is over there."

"Where?" I said.

"Right over there."

He points down the street, away from where I was looking and there, in the middle of the street he stands. Signing autographs.

"Well," I say..."I'm gonna go over and talk to him, because I haven't talked to him for a long time."

Now, you might expect a few (not a phalanx) beefy guys hanging around him. But this was just him, alone, talking to the crowd (of mostly teenage girls). :)

So I hover around the crowd getting pics. He starts walking away and I go Ben...Ben...BEN. I think at this point he's going to do the prick actor trick and just pretend he doesn't hear me. But, to my amazement, he turns around.

Me..."Are you guys going to do Greenlight this year?"

Him..."Yeah, we're in the middle of the third season now."

How cool is that.

I mean, he kept walking, but made eye contact and didn't totally blow me off. I was impressed.

To backtrack a bit, what also impressed me was his taking time to go over to a woman in a wheelchair to give her an autograph. But what impressed me the most was, and this was weird at the moment, that he took a long time to sign a paper for a woman. I mean, like a minute. In these situations, with a growing crowd making demands, a minute is a looong time. He didn't break concentration, but the woman he was signing for turned toward us and said "It's for my brother...in Iraq".

So I head off into the night. Past the buses. (BTW...Ben's is the really nice bus that doesn't have Kerry/Edwards written all over it) Down to 2nd street. Past the Coyote girls dressed like hookers. Showing everybody who cares to look that I took a picture of Ben Affleck.

I picked up a lemonade, got the car and headed up the street. Windows down, blasting the local X station and feeling pretty damn good about the world. I think we can do this people, I really do.

Stopped at my niece's, gave her the CD's and headed home. Then I started this.

I almost forgot. The crowd was estimated at 18 to 20,000. The news said it was the largest crowd for a political rally there that "anyone can remember". We did good.

I know this is long, but it was "A Beautiful Day".

...Reporting for Duty.

John Kerry, next President of the United States, DNC speech.

Final night of the convention.  The pundits all seem to agree that the Dems hit this one out of the park.  A well organized and unified week.  I think we can actually pull this one off.

Speeches.  General Wesley Clark gave an excellent speech.  One of the wags said that he was hitting the wrong emotional points.  High when he should be low, etc.  I don't think it came across that way.  Another guy that would have made a great president, and may in the future.  The real surprise of the evening was the Kerry daughters.  Very articulate and very good speakers.  I think people will be talking about the "hampster" for awhile.  And, of course, the man himself.  He spoke about 45 minutes.  I thought he got his points across and had a lot of energy.  And...I get to hear him again in less than 24 hours, LIVE.  Chrissy says that Ben Afleck will be there, maybe I can give him my Project Greenlight script...A simple tale of a boy and his blog.

A point.  GOP pundits are saying Kerry will get a double digit bounce from the convention.  15 points or more.  I don't look for it.  I think they're making a setup to say.  Well, he didn't do that well, not very good, blah, blah, blah.  I think a 5 percent bounce would be great.  It's going to be a very close election folks, stay tuned.

I heard a woman on the radio tonight that really scared me though.  It's scary that this type of thinking is still around.  (Very whiny voice)..."Well, I just think that George Bush has his convictions and he stands by them, right or wrong."  Do you believe this crap?  I mean, right is good, right is wonderful.  Wrong is ok too, initially.  But if it's continuous in the face of the truth, it's absurd.  When you screw up, admit you screwed up, fix it and move on.  George won't admit he screwed up.  That will contribute greatly to his downfall.

I started walking today.  Did 15 minutes.  It wasn't too bad.  It was really humid and around 82.  It was kinda funny, I did more sweating in that 15 minutes than I have the whole time at rehab.  Felt a little weird toward the end, but everytime I start doing anything anymore I feel a little weird.

Reasonable night at work.  This week has gone really fast because of the convention.  Something interesting to look forward to.  And don't worry, I'll be listening to the Repubs as well and giving you my two cents about that.

The convention is coming on again.  I'd really like to see the speech.  I may Tivo it so I can get some sleep.

Kerry tomorrow.  They'll be blog pics.

Cya

Hope is on the Way.

Future Vice President John Edwards, DNC speech.

Some great speeches again tonight.  Al Sharpton had some great zingers, but he went off teleprompter and threw them off schedule.  They were able to get it back together though.  John Edwards gave a great speech as well.  It's sounding like these guys will be able to pull it off.  I'm really looking forward to Friday.  I've never had an opportunity to actually touch history before.

Had rehab today.  After I was done they went over my food diary.  Told me that I have to eat more.  Never thought i'd hear that.  :)  They want me to start walking.  Fifteen minutes to start, working up to an hour a day.  They said I could do the bicycle thing too.  I need a seat that doesn't make me feel like I'm being butt raped, though.

Another reasonable night at work.  I'm not used to it.  It's throwing me off.

Mike was up tonight and showed Chrissy how to change the oil in the Jeep.  I offered to show her before, but I guess I'm not cute enough.

Gotta go.  Vote, people.

The Only Thing We Have to Fear...

...is four more years of George Bush as President.  (Ted Kennedy, DNC speech)

More convention tonight.  They say that Tuesday is usually a wash, but some of the speakers were very good.  Barack Obama, the new guy, was a standout.  Howard (Everybody wants to call him John) Dean and Ted Kennedy spoke to the heart of the party.  Ted was having some voice problems and blew a few lines.  I got a chuckle out of "The shirt heard round the world".  Gephart didn't do much for me.  Carol Mosely Braun was having throat problems as well.

I wanted to hear Ron Reagan's speech, but a friend at work kept talking to me and I missed it.  I don't think I'm going to be up long enough to hear it.  That is what we need though.  More Republicans coming to their senses.

All in all a good night.  Not much at work.  Always good when there's minimal bullshit.

I need to be on alert tomorrow.  I taught my friend Lori how to maintain a website for the Port Royal Speedway.  They are racing tomorrow, but she's not going to be home and it may rain.  They have a little warning system for folks in case they call the race because of rain.  So, I get to make the changes if they decide to change.

I'm gonna hang it up here.  Talk to you tomorrow.

Photoblog

The Kids want a Saviour and don't need a Fake.

I headed up a little early (finally) to get to the doctors.  They were supposed to have my paperwork ready for me.  They didn't.  So I do the rehab thing and head home.  Then I go to work.

The day was pretty uneventful.  Almost asshole free.  Notice I say almost.

I'm working in the manual cases now.  The case is about 4 feet wide and there are cross supports about 1 foot up.  Great place to prop your feet every now and then.  It helps to move around alot to relieve the pressure in my chest.  Now, you have to understand that they switch supervisors in the middle of my shift.  I'm about 20 minutes from wrapping up for the evening and this "genius" says to me, "You have to put your feet on the floor".  I look at him with my best "You've got to be kidding me." face.  He says "You have to keep one foot on the floor."  I'm still looking at him with my dumbstruck face.  He says "Please don't do that." in probably the most condecending way imaginable.

So, one of two things are going to happen.  One, I will have the doctor write me a note that says I can prop both of my feet up.  The idea behind this is that, when I see him, I'll put both feet up.  Then when he comes over to give me shit, I'll just hand him the note without looking at him and keep working.

Two, if the doc won't give me the note.  I'll just disappear every time I have discomfort from this shit.  I CAN get a note for that.  God I hate useless bullshit.

Anyway, just radio tonight.  Listened to the DNC tonight.  Some really good speeches tonight.  I was pleasantly surprised with Al Gore's speech.  Self depricating, funny, powerful.  A few more of those four years ago and we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today.  Bill Clinton was electric.  Like there was any doubt.  The reason for tonight's blog title is hearing a two second clip of "Elected" by Alice Cooper, just in case you didn't get it.

Photoblog

I Love Playin' with...

I'm still not pain free at work.  I had a hell of a headache tonight, even after the Tylenol.  But, we march on.

Radio at work tonight.  I heard "Bohemian Rhapsody" twice within two hours.  Dontcha just love originality in programming??  Which brings us to our next paragraph...

I found out that a local pair of disc jockeys have "left" the air.  Coffey and the Jammer are no longer on the local classic rock station.  They've got Bob and Tom now, who are funny, but so were the other guys.  More homogenizing of radio.  That's how we put the suck in it!

John Kerry this friday in Harrisburg.  Big convention this week too.

Burnt my index finger making eggs tonight after I got home.  And I screwed up the omelet too.

This is gonna be a quick one.    Got to pick up notes at the Dr. and hit the rehab in the morning.

Have fun people.

Photoblog

Belted

Got up late this morning (afternoon).  It was nice to sleep in.

I went out to mow the lawn with the tractor.  Well, guess what?  The blade drive belt was so slack that it just won't engage anymore.  So I checked out the adjustment and it was never moved when the belt was put on, so the belt stretched out faster than it should.  I didn't put it on, so you can't blame me.

The inlaws called and wanted to take us out for our anniversary.  We missed it cause Deb was on vacation.  So we headed over to Ruby Tuesday's on the strip.

This was my last day of writing down everything I eat, which is lots of fun in a restaurant.

We came back home and pretty much vegged out and watched tv.  Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Last Comic Standing.

Then I decided to talk to you fine people.  So there you are.

Doors of Perception

Photoblog

Another rehab day.  Up to Lewistown a little late again, and of course, the construction decides to slow me up.  I do the exercise thing and come back home.

I get my act together here and get ready to go to Harrisburg.  I did get a cool little program for the wife's XP machine (which she doesn't like, because "stuff is always changed on my machine, leave it alone").  It's called Kapsules and it puts widgets on your desktop.  Widgets are little applets that Mac users are familiar with.  They're free and there is a development community making all sorts of stuff.  There is a weather widget, a calendar, a photo album.  If you have XP or 2000, check it out.

The "Wellness Co-ordinator" from Blue Cross called and wanted to know how I was doing.  I filled her on what a wonderful guy I am and she's doing her cheerleading thing.  "You're doing so goood....isn't he a good boy.....yes he is......yes he is.....mmmmm".  My tail was wagging furiously.

I head to the Burg and hit some rain on the way down.  They had a lot of flooding, roadsides washed out, etc.  I head to pick up some printers and find out that my local supplier raised the price.  So Maureen's gonna get hers from where she works.  It sort of cheeses me off because I think I could have sold 3 at the old price.  The client may still buy them, but I was almost positive they would get them at the old price.  I head over to Target and pick up a grill brush and a little key chain light.  I love Target.  The thing I had to walk by was a Lava Lamp on steroids.  Very cool

Then to Circuit City.  I got a mini USB port multiplier for my self, but the buy of the day was a Dazzle multi-card reader.  Some are 4 in one, a few are 8 in one, this one was.....wait for it......10 in one.....TEN IN ONE.  AND...a 20 dollar rebate.  I also got a cheapo webcam to hook up to my laptop.

Maureen showed up late.  With all the flooding and rerouting and everything however, it's no wonder.  She decides to finance through them and gets a massive line of credit.  I wanted her to get me a couple of Laptops, the salesman had his eye on a plasma screen tv.  No dice in either direction.  :)  We pick out her new machine and head out to the vehicles.  As we walk down the parking lot, her son pulls up beside us.  Kinda spooky, huh?  She talked to him and his wife and the two (adorable) little ones.  We hang out and shoot the shit in the parking lot and then head for home.

I call home and see what Deb wants to do for dinner.  She said to call her back at Newport and she'd order some Chinese.  Not to get into the specifics, but there was something I wanted to tell Maureen.  I was pretty sure she was behind me, so I pulled off just before Newport and figured I'd wait 5 minutes.  If she didn't come by, I'd head on home.  I hop out and then figure I'll get my cell and THE DAMN DOOR IS LOCKED.  Of course, I said a few kind words and, thank god, Maureen pulled in.  She went up and stopped at the State Police barracks for me.  It took them almost 45 minutes to get there.  Actually, the Newport cop was the one that opened it up for me.  So now I have a nice scratch on my door.  It was kinda funny.  He's got that long wire in and I'm thinking "How in the hell is he gonna get to the door lock like that?"  He keeps going lower and I say, "Those are the window switches.."  And the window opens on my side.  Hell, I thought, that'll work too.  :)

But what I failed to mention above is that THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING.  Ya see, If the engine was off and the key was in the ignition, the door will not lock.  However, if the car is running....  Well, we learn something everyday, don't we.  :)

Headed toward home and called the wife, who wanted to know where the hell I was.  I told her I saw her call every time.  Geez, even the cops called to say they were coming, I saw the phone ringing that time too.

Got the food, went home, ate and broke out Maureen's new machine.  It's a Toshiba Satellite A65-S1064.  Very nice.  Very peppy.  Lots of bloatware, I got rid of most of that.  First thing off was the damn Norton.  It's a real shame about Norton, they used to be the best and now they pretty much suck.  Besides, AVG is much better, and FREE.

The only complaint about her machine so far is that the built in speakers SUCK.  I mean, hardly any volume at all.  I'm gonna look for an updated driver tomorrow, but I don't hold out much hope.  If it was mine it would go back.  But she will only need them for system alerts.  Not a big deal for her.

I put on AdAware, ZoneAlarm, MyIE2 and set up a Yahoo account for her too.  I had to switch back to old faithful here for this entry though.  Just a little more comfortable.

Something I forgot.  I was watching one of my Tivo'ed "Screen Savers" shows and they had this guy on showing how you can do all this hacking stuff on Google.  Very interesting indeed.

Gonna hit it soon.  Have fun people...and remember...Lock your car...Take your keys.  Now lets be careful out there.  :)

When the Rains Came...

When I was heading to work I called my buddy Margaret (see photoblog).  She need some fonts transferred to her office machine, so I may run down and do that tomorrow.  Anyway, send her all your good mojo.  She's got a thing in the works that I can't talk about, but it will be very good for her if all of her ducks line up.

Got to talk to Boogaloo at work.  Found out that he's been reading the blog, so it was hard to fill him in on anything new.  But he told me that their local rugrat has been playing Lineage II.  A lot.  Like, going on 33+ hours straight.  I saw a review on the game and it looks great.

It was raining during my lunch.  And when I say raining I mean torrential.  It was funny to watch all the smokers (addicts) run outside to hack away.  I went out to the patio before I left and it looked like a rainforest.  Very foggy, damp, etc.

So, I finally finish a semi full week at work (4 days).  Things are getting better slowly, but I still have pain when I sit too long.  Hopefully this will get better.  It's gonna be a real pain in the ass if it keeps up.

Some thing I forgot yesterday.  It looks like John Kerry will be in Harrisburg next friday.  Our preliminary plan is for Chrissy and I to go down and check it out.  I've never been to a political rally before, so it ought to be pretty cool.  Plus, it's the day after the end of the DNC, so everybody ought to be pumped.

I'm starting another fun thing.  I get to write down everything I eat for the next 3 days.  They have a preparation column.  It was fun to write in the preparation for water.

Music at work....Veruca Salt's, "Eight Arms to Hold You" / Everclear's "Sparkle and Fade"

Just saw an interesting segment on "Unscrewed".  A website called TickleKitty that carries, among other things, covert vibrators.  Now all you older girls go run and look.  :)

Going to the burg tomorrow.  Getting Maureen her laptop and I get to go to my favorite French store...Target.

cya

 

Drunk Web Surfing

Lots of stuff today too...

I got up late and went to rehab.  I wanted to head up early so I could go to the doctor and get some forms filled out, but it didn't happen.  When I'm finishing, an older lady asks me..."So, what do you plan on doing after you finish rehab?"  I say..."Eating an entire cheesecake."  I finish rehab around noon and have to wait till 12:45 when the doctors office opens.  I head up to the Weis store for some pasta salad and a huge bottle of Evian.  I get in the car and eat, put on the sunglasses and they break.  Great.  There's a CVS store next to the Weis.  I go in and a woman I went to High School with is working there, Peg Luck.  Actually, she's the manager.  I knew that she worked there before and I had been in a few times, but she's never been there.  We caught up a little and I got my sunglasses and headed to the doctors.

I go in and hand my forms over and I tell the nurse I've been having a lot of pain since I've been back to work.  They say a nurse will come out and talk to me.  Next thing I know, they're doing an EKG.  The doc sees me and says that this is probably just normal pain from getting back to work.  He wants me to monitor it and if it gets worse, come back.

Well, this scene takes longer than I thought it would, so I'm pushing it to get to work.  I figured I'd go home and get my Palm and then head to the pharmacy.  This doesn't happen.  Chrissy covers me and picks up my prescription.  Since it's the pain pills, I'm very glad that she does.

Since I don't have the palm, I don't have the stuff in the wallet it's in.  No plastic, so I had to pay cash for the sunglasses.  No key for my locker at work, so no music, no gum, etc.

I couldn't get a steward at the beginning of the night, when he wanted me, so I had to wait until around 7.  He seems to think the MDO will capitulate and he may not even have to grieve it.  That would be cool.

BUT, the coolest thing of the whole day was my cell phone.  The only piece of tech I had with me.  Before, I would have to go out of the cafeteria and across the courtyard to get any signal.  Well, I just happen to turn the phone on at my usual table in the cafeteria and, lo and behold, SIGNAL!!!  So I wander around the building a bit.  Practically everywhere in the building has coverage.  AT&T has finally added the Cingular service to their network.  Thanks AT&T, your soulless, monopolistic dominance is working for me.  :)

Tomorrow will be the conclusion of my (almost) first full week back.  So far so good.

Photoblog

Simply Amazing

I don't believe it.  I actually got my CD's back!  I walked up to the area that I'm working in now and there they were.  (I still think the guy oughta retire though.)

It's a little weird talking to everybody now.  I mean, I'd really like to talk to them, but I feel like I'm blowing a lot of people off because there just isn't time to explain the gory details of what happened.  I'm sure that's just my insecurity though.

Another strange thing happened at work tonite.  I was talking to my friend Paulette (Hi Paulette!!!).  I was talking about some mundane detail of what's been going on with me the past month or so, and she says "Oh yeah, I remember you said...".  I keep talking and then it hits me.  I didn't say it to her face to face, I said it on here.  It was a little weird, but very cool at the same time.  So I guess this isn't as boring as I thought?  :)

I'm filing a grievance to get my Sunday pay.  This whole nurse fiasco is a mess, but the steward thinks I have a chance of winning.  So what the hell.

Music at work...Derringer's "Derringer", The Presidents of the United States of America's "II", and The Living End's "Modern ARTillery".

Random at work thought...Todd Rundgren, in the 70's, used to put streaks of color in his hair.  I remember one time in particular he had a bright blue streak on the left.  If you walked up to him, put your mouth at the base of that color and said "fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck" as you moved your mouth toward the top of his head, you'd be.....

...wait for it...

Cussing up a blue streak.  :)

This is why your mail is late people.

I talked to my niece Darlene (see Photoblog)on the way home.  She's in the process of breaking up with her boyfriend and was having a rough time of it tonight.  I called her earlier in the evening because I wanted to find out how much the KISS cd's are.  One of my friends at work is going to see them at Montage.  KISS is doing a thing at their shows where they record the show that you're watching and then selling the cd's afterward.  Twenty-Five bucks for a 2 cd set doesn't sound too bad.  She said my brother went nuts at the show buying stuff.  This is the brother on the Photoblog about halfway down.

BTW...if you do happen to read this stuff.  Leave a comment with your name.  I don't think there's too many folks looking in, but I'd appreciate a shout.  I will do some promotion at some point, so you don't have to be alone.

So, another day, another blog entry.  Dontcha just love it.

Surrounded by Idiots

I didn't post this last night because I was too mad. 
 
I went back to work yesterday.  They finally let me in and it was just like I said in yesterday's post.  The nurse sent an email to the mucky-mucks quoting the doctor's excuse.  She didn't see me or anything.  What a joke.  So I will go to see the union today and see if I can get a little satisfaction.
 
I was put in the letter cases, which is the easiest job in there on the floor.  You grab a letter, look at it and put it in the slot.  It was not easy.  I was sore a lot and wound up taking nitro on the way home.  But there were other reasons involved.
 
I put 3 cd cases in one of the letter slots.  Unbeknownst to me, this guy comes through and taps (takes) the mail.  The idiot took my cd cases and SENT THEM  OUT.  Now, this guy is the oldest guy in the building.  I am absolutely serious when I say this.  I KNOW that he started working there 6 months after I was born.  I couldn't say anything to the guy because he would probably crap out on the spot.  So I held it in as usual, thinking that I was gonna crap out on the spot.  On top of this I had to make 2 trips to the truck terminal to look for my stuff.  This is an extremely long walk when I'm feeling good, let alone in some pain.
 
What pisses me off is that this guy shouldn't even be there.  Hell, a 47 year pension from anywhere ought to provide a good living.  So some young guy just starting out, building a family, can't get a decent job because this geezer "just has to work".  Quit and work at McDonalds for Christ's sake.  That's where all the old people are SUPPOSED to work.
 
They make you use these "Stand/Sit devices" which have you at an angle.  They're hard to describe because you don't really stand or sit.  The put a lot of pressure on the back of your calves, and I made sure I worked the back of my calves at Rehab earlier in the day.  Yes Virginia, Rehab continues and is just fine.  So I had to change it to a seat, which supervisors have given me hell for before.  That, for some odd reason, applied pressure to the abdomen area, just under the heart.  Then I figured "fuck it" and started standing.  The floor is concrete.  So that started working on my ankles.  My right ankle felt like it swelled up and was still giving me problems today.  I got several twinges at the stint site too.  All in all, It was a really, really sucky day.
 
I wanted to make it through though.  I figured if I could, the next day would be easier, etc.
 
I got home and just collapsed on the couch.  I looked at the laptop long enough to make sure the XP machine downstairs was working.  (It is ...yaaa!!!!) and crapped out on the couch.  The cat missed me very much and was very vocal when I got home, so we got into a little heavy petting. :)
 
On the music front, I listened to Shonen Knife "Let's Knife" and XTC "Oranges and Lemons" last night.  I always forget what a great, great album "Oranges" is.  If you've never heard it, you should definitely check it out.
 
So today I will go to work and shove my CD's up my ass and do as absolutely little as possible.  By the way, there was a woman sitting next to me and I swear, everytime I glanced at her she wasn't doing a damn thing.  Guess I have to get with the program.  :) 
 
Photoblog

....an Infinite Haystack (of stupidity)

Yesterday I met with Maureen to discuss her laptop.  Looks like she's gonna check prices at work and we'll get her set up this week.  I took a bunch of pics of her and I'll post a few later this week.
 
Everybody came home a little after 5.  We hung out for a little and then the kids took off down to Harrisburg.  Deb and I caught up on Stargate.  I've been working on my machine for the last several days.  Major blue screen problems.  Chris and Mike came back and Mike stayed here last nite.  We started talking about the machine and he offered his help.  He used to do tech support at Earthlink.  It was a big help because my XP skills are lacking.  Everything is ALMOST the same, but you really have to dig for it.
 
Anyway...I've got it back about 90%...the last little bit looks like it's gonna be a lot of fun (insert sarcasm here).
 
So it's Sunday.  I go to work.  I head out early, because I'm sure there's gonna be a little bullshit involved in going back.  Someone, usually a MDO (Manager of Daily Operations) has to approve you to come back.  Well...I find him.  He's a "Sunday" guy, so he's not really sure.  But it turns out if you're gone for more than 21 days a nurse has to approve you.  I didn't even know we had a medical unit at the facility anymore.
 
So I come home.  Now tomorrow, I'll call the nurse, who'll look at the paper I have from the doctor and she'll say "OK, you can come back".  More PBS (Postal BullShit)
 
So we had a little cookout here this evening.  Our power dropped a few times and the net went out.  It just came back, so here we are!!!
 
Photoblog

Up and Down and Up and....

Had to go to rehab today....afterward I went to the Cardio doc to get my back to work excuse.  Got there at 12 and , of course, they were closed until 12:45.  So I went down to Ollie's to kill some time.  They were having a book blowout, but I passed.  I do want to pick up "Drumming for Idiots".  I wonder if Bobby Rondinelli would be pissed if I put it on stage at a BOC concert?
 
So...back down to the doc's.  I gave them my stuff and they were like "well...he's not here and I don't know if he can do it today...maybe Monday?"  No good.  I want to go back to work on Sunday.  So she says to call back in a few hours and we'll see.  So I go home and hang out.
 
Fast Forward...I call.."OK, it's ready".  So I drive back up.  Now, you have to understand that they are doing major construction for all of about 5 miles of the trip.  Plus, I have a detour to deal with right by my house.
 
Anyway, I get the excuse.  She has to take it back to him so he can indicate light duty for the next month.  So I head back home...more construction.
 
I put in a DVD I got from Netflix.  It's very cool.  They're going to send me all 39 episodes of "Stingray" from the mid 60's.  It was one of the "Super Marionation" shows.  That means puppets, which is kinda lame.  But the miniatures that they use are incredible.  Anyway, watched all 8 today and put the disc in the mail so I can get the next one.  I have "Supercar" coming and "Fireball XL5" too.  I actually own the first "Thunderbirds" DVD, and I will get all of those as well.
 
The live action "Thunderbirds" will be out the end of the month.  Directed by Jonathan Frakes.  The previews look like a lot of fun.  I think we'll be checking out "I Robot" and then "Thunderbirds".
 
Been helping Darlene online tonite.  Watchin' the tube and enjoying my final day of freedom.  Deb and Chrissy come back tomorrow.
 
Photoblog

Tornado

We had an F3 tornado just east of Harrisburg yesterday.  Winds around 200 mph.  About 30 people hurt, one is critical.  Fortunately, so far, no deaths.  Just amazing pictures.  A house on the corner looks untouched and the next two down the street are flattened.  And I mean COMPLETELY flattened.
 
This happened around 3 in the afternoon.  I went to my rehab in the morning.  Then headed to Betsy's to finish up her trojan cleaning.  Then down to Harrisburg to help Maureen shop for her laptop.  On the way down I was hitting rain with the sun shining.  Ususally this happens maybe once a year.  It happened to me 3 or 4 times that day. 
 
We were in Circuit City around 5 or so.  Probably 100 feet or so from the front.  All of the sudden this noise came, just a loud drone.  I thought it was the train sound that they always talk about.  Turns out it was just really, really heavy rain, but it had me really concerned for a few seconds.
 
Anyway, we ran around town and got prices.  It looks like we're gonna pick stuff up Saturday.
 
Today I had to pick up Deb's check and deposit it, then head down to the burg again to make the payments on our loans.  I killed a little time, then headed over to Darlene's to work on her machine.
 
I'm gonna post a pic of Maureen and Darlene on the photo blog.

Tuesday afternoon...

Well, lets digress. Yesterday I had a rehab appointment. Everything went real well. Headed out to WalMart to exchange a set of seat covers that didn't fit. Then I came back down to work on Betsy's computer. She managed to get 15 virus files as well as one of those browser hijackers. I'll do the research today and go work on it tomorrow.

I was supposed to help Maureen get her laptop, but she cancelled. We'll have to go do that Wednesday. I hung around the house for awhile. I put in the new drive on my new machine, it was pretty painless. Deb called, they were in Alex Bay and wanted to see if I could see them on the web cam up there. It didn't happen. I went into town and shot the shit with Margaret for awhile, then headed out to Sheetz for a Chef Salad. Not too bad.

Today I had to go in to pick up my prescriptions. Holy Shit!!! Let me put it this way. If I didn't have a good prescription plan I'd be shelling out over $250.00 a month. Not good. Looks like they want me to take this stuff for awhile too.

Anyway, me and the cat are sitting here looking to get into trouble...any suggestions???

Go to Pics

Sunday, my I don't have to run day.

Hung out and watched some tv today. Toby and Amy came over and we had a very cool visit. Watched a little of "Dinner For Five" on IFC. They didn't want to go home so I offered to drive and get up dinner. We went up to their new A frame and took a look at it, getting ideas on design.

Then headed to subway for some subs and back home. Watched a \couple of my Netflix rentals "L.A. Confidential & Stuck on You. Both pretty good films. I hope to check out "In America" tomorrow.

Gotta go work out tomorrow, then down to the burg to help my friend get her laptop.

pics here

Free at last, free at last....

Photo's here...

Well, everybody left. Came and said a blurry goodbye to me around 4:30am. I got up and called around 1 and they were at the 1000 Islands Bait Shop, getting their fishing licenses. I headed down to Newport to clean up my brother's machine. Needed about 20 Microsoft critical updates. I don't miss dialup at all. Took about 2.5 hours to get everything downloaded. I installed myie2 on his system as well.

We went down to Duncannon to see Darlene where she works. She bought me dinner, Pork tips. Way too much food, and very good food as well. We ate and headed up to Darlene's apartment. Took about 2.5 hours to put her desk together and about an hour or so to hook up her computer. She got the "A Focus and A Dell" deal. Very nice. 2.4mhz processor, 40 gig HD, VERY nice scanner/printer/fax/copier, 15 in. flat screen. She is stylin'.

Anyway, we stopped back at the bar to tell her everything was done and headed back up the road.

That was my day.

Valhalla, they are coming...

Yesterday we got stuff ready for the beeg vacation up north. I've been tweaking my one machine downstairs, getting it ready for a new HD. It will then be a .2 terabyte machine. Internet was out last night, I think it was because of the construction on the narrows. Anyway, it was on this morning and I was able to get everything up and running by mid afternoon.

Today was the first day of cardiac rehab. They had to stop me about half way thru, I was having neck pains that they think may be heart related. The cardiac staff at the hospital does an excellent job and I feel very relieved to be in their hands. They are going to come up with an assessment for me to return to work. Deb went shopping for some last minute trip items while I was in working out. We came back to town and picked up some contacts for her, then headed home.

Mike, Chrissy's boyfriend, came up and lent a hand to the yard work. That was great, Deb was freed up to do some things, she had to run into work for a bit. We got the pacifica loaded up and took it over to Bill and Betty's to stuff everything in the van. This oughta be good, a full conversion van carrying 5 people, full of crap, towing a boat that's also full of crap. Can't wait to see that gas mileage.

Hope for some visits and to do some visiting this week. A few clients to see. Praying for moderate temps and blue skies

Let's get Physical...almost...

Yesterday was a trip to the pharmacy, which is turning into my second home. Then, on the return, I stopped by the inlaws to hook up the tv in their van. Ya see, they bought this used custom conversion van and there's a 10" color set that came with it that wasn't hooked up. They tried it and it only flashed for a second, so it was my turn. We finally got power to the back of the tv, but no action. I figured it was the jack on the back. Took off the cover and everything looked good, so we put it back together and hooked it up. Finally got it to come on, but it was just static and none of the controls worked in front. Oh well, they can get a 9" with a vcr built in and front a/v jacks for nintendo or whatever. The balls in their court.

Today I started cardiac rehab. Of course, I overslept, but they were nice and took me when I got there. Had a class covering angina and some other stuff. Looks like it won't be too bad.

I'm not going up to 1000 islands with the rest of the family. It's considered that, in order to get in shape for work next week, it would be best for me to have my butt at the rehab. Oh well.

Then I headed over to Walmart for some fuses and stuff for the trip. And back home I now am.

That's the Night that the Lights went out in.....

...my little corner of the world. Did some posting last night. I was chatting with my stepson in the army. He WAS scheduled to get out later this year. They told him this week that they're 99% sure that they will be deployed to Iraq under stopgap. We kept chatting and then...THUD.

No power.

We lose power a lot out here, so I thought..."Ok, give it a few seconds, it'll come back." It didn't. I found all the candles and shut down the machines on battery backup and hung out. Finally I called PPL. They had an estimate of 4 am, it finally came back close to 5.

Deb came back from camp today. Chrissy headed down to Mechanicsburg to work on her armor. We headed up to do a little shopping. Picked up a few things at Ollie's and Wally World. Came home and that's where I am now.

Lots of holiday weekend pics here.

Yesterday, Today and....

My brother FINALLY came up to visit me yesterday. We hung out and talked from noon till 3, then we went down to the inlaws cabin and dropped some stuff off. Then we went up to Sue and Dale's cabin. Lots of food that I'm not supposed to have and lots of family hanging out. When it got dark, I had the kids write their names in the air with sparklers and tried to take pics of them. Then they set off some ground fireworks and we all split. I left Deb at the inlaws cabin and came back home.

Today was a different story. We had chicken and ribs at the inlaws cabin. Lots of the family showed up and we had a nice lunch. I think I made the mistake of drinking some iced tea. I got a splitting headache around 3 in the afternoon that kept coming and going all day. I laid down around 7 and that didn't help very much. So, I left at 9 and came home. I missed the kids playing with the fireworks tonite tho, and that's the best part of the 4th. The waiting for a major skin burn. :)

The neighbors across the road were setting off the "Good" fireworks. Some of these were going 80 to 100 feet in the air. They had a good amount of cool ones...I don't know how many I missed tho.

So, I took some pain pills and more Tylenol and sat down and wrote this.

I've got a lot of pics from yesterday and today and I'm going to post them now. Go check them out by clicking here.

Earth below us...drifting...falling...

I was watching "Robot Wars" today. A team from England had built a robot called "Major Tom". I always wondered about the origin of that term. Is it derogatory? Is it from a comic book? Anyway, I did a google search and found this little essay.

Here's a brief snippet...

I was then, as I am now, a horrific smart-alec know-it-all, ready to hold forth at a moment's notice on topics I barely grasp, chaining facts and half-facts, embellishments, and outright lies together with such casual assurance that I hardly smell the bullshit I'm shoveling.

My kinda guy. :) Here's the full story.

Boogiepop Phantom

Check the pics

Crazy busy day today. Up to Lewistown for a visit to the heart doctor, complete with a stress test. Then down to Harrisburg. A stop at the bank and Best Buy, then over to Sam's for some picnic/vacation stuff.

Deb and Chrissy got tix for Spiderman 2 online. The only show available was the 7 o'clock show. When we got there, the guy told us that was sold out too. So, got there at 20 after...enjoyed 20 minutes of commercials, then 10 minutes of previews. Then, a REALLY great movie that made it all worthwhile. Sam Raimi is a genius, and I don't throw that word around too often.

Rant Mode ON

During the commercials at the movie (which were bad enough) one of the employee's came in and made a little speech about how they were doing some donation thing for cancer. How you could buy this thing for a dollar and they would have a giveaway, blah, blah, blah.

I gotta get there early to see the movie and get a good seat. They are completely taking advantage and I am literally a "captive audience". I think it really sucks and we all should complain or they're gonna start doing this shit all the time.

....I feel.....better. :)

Rant Mode OFF

Also...I noticed that that theater is showing Farenheit 911. May make a trip down next week to see it. Maybe Cat will go with me. :)

I watch The Screen Savers on what is now G4/Tech tv. Leo Laporte, who I really like (and drove to York to meet) left the show a few months ago when the merger/sale went through. Yesterday, Patrick Norton announced that he won't be making the move to Los Angeles. This is 3 hosts that i've liked that have gone and I'm a little upset. There is some buzz that Wil Wheaton may be the new co-host, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that.

"Dead Like Me" is coming on, so I'm outta here.

Big weekend coming up....don't blow your face off.

Pluggin' Away....

Photoblog here...

Had to go back to Paula's today to finish cleaning up the mess. If you do nothing I tell you, do this. Click on your Windows Update and download all of the critical updates. There were 13 gigs...GIGS...of system restore files. Completely chokeing the system every time you tried to do anything. Anyway, got the viruses off and everything looks good.

I have to go to the business tomorrow and look at their machine. Two Sisters is their website that I maintain, check it out.

Watched the new Peter Pan tonite. Very cool. Excellent effect work. I hope we get to see the new Spidey movie this weekend too.

Hope everybody has a good weekend. I'll probably post a couple of time. Don't forget to check.

My Alcohorrorscope

GEMINI

Drinking style
Geminis can drink without changing their behavior much -- they're so naturally chatty and short-attention-spanned that it's just hard to tell sometimes. They can amaze you by conversing with finesse and allusion, then doing something to belie an extremely advanced state of intoxication, like puking in your shoe. Geminis possess the magic ability to flirt successfully (and uninfuriatingly, which is very tricky) with several people at once. They like to order different cocktails every round -- repetition is boring -- and may create a theme (like yellow drinks: beer, sauvignon blanc and limoncello) for their own amusement.

Trademark cocktails
Easily bored Geminis need some stimulation in their drinks -- those with two parts, like a black and tan (or just a double), are particularly appealing. Otherwise, they'll drink all over the map, ordering frou-frou drinks to add to their collection of cocktail monkeys or going for whiskey rocks because they're feeling rather noir. Gemini rules the herb anise -- make some home-infused anise vodka as a gift.

Drinking buddies
George Bush Sr., Johnny Depp, Rupert Everett, Boy George, Allen Ginsberg, Angelina Jolie, John Kennedy, Ian McKellen, Kylie Minogue, Morrissey

Frighteningly accurate. I usually wouldn't "show" until it was too late. Not much on mixing drinks during the night, just because I couldn't handle it. The anise thing was scary...I loved Ouzo.

Anyway...I'd love to do ANYTHING with Angelina Jolie. Funny thing is, she worked next door to where I work. Girl, Interrupted was shot at the old PA State Hospital, which is right next to the main postal facility in Harrisburg.

Check out the photoblog.