End of the World

Tomorrow is the 'End Of The World'(tm).

I find that the most amazing aspect of this (non) event is that when Saturday dawns and everything is basically the same, none of the true believers will alter their perspective. Just like when the world didn't end at the turn of the millennium (2001 not 2000 but that's a different rant), or any of the other innumerable 'last days', the bat-shit insane who truly follow this stuff will just seize on the next half-baked prediction and move on like nothing happened.

Seriously, the supposed Mayan doomsday prediction has been there for a thousand years but how many of us had even heard of it until the millennium end-times fizzled out?

It's been nice knowing you all.

Well it's the end of the world tomorrow, so I won't be seeing any of you again.

Actually it's just the rapture tomorrow, the end of the world (and universe) isn't until October 21st, so I guess I still have to go to work on Sunday.

Oh, well.

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Now playing: Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
via FoxyTunes

Dreams

I don't often remember my dreams. So it's particularly strange that I've remembered two over the last couple of nights.

1) I am at work trying to finish some very important task on our system, each time I try to log in to a position it locks up and reboots. For some reason I always move on to another position never checking back to see if any of the previous ones have finished their reboot. (in the dream this is normal) Meanwhile Leonard Nimoy is behind me talking to some of my co-workers and loudly impugning my ability to take out the trash. I proclaim that I take out the trash just fine.

Then it's time to wake up.

2) I am waiting in a gym with many other people, we are all military and are there to begin testing for some special forces type training. For some reason the first test is to run to the top of the bleachers without setting off a motion sensor hidden there. We never actually do this test. While we wait I amuse myself by sliding around on one foot without kicking off anything but by force of will. No one seems impressed. Then I step out of the room for a second and when I return everyone is eating. Then suddenly they are all outside running and I am left with the instructors. I privately talk to one of them and resign from the program as I'm getting out of the military in a few days...

Then it's time to wake up.

There is some pretty freaky stuff going on in my head. Anybody into dream interpretation?


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Now playing: Trevor Jones - Dark City
via FoxyTunes

Already, there are jokes...

Farrah Fawcett is standing before Saint Peter.

"You have brought much enjoyment to the people, through your acting, that it has been decided that you should be granted a wish before we bring you into heaven. What is it that you wish?"

Farrah thought for a moment and replied "My only wish would be if you could do something to protect the children..."

"Done!" Saint Peter writes a little note in his book and slams it shut!

BAM!

...and Michael Jackson is standing next to Farrah.

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Now playing: Holly Golightly - Without You Here
via FoxyTunes

Open Mindedness

This is a really well thought out argument on the subject of open mindedness and critical thinking.

Open-Mindedness

Now I have some good responses to people who are prejudiced against the scientific method and learning in general.



(I wish I could come up with original content for my blog, I seem to be linking to other stuff a lot...)

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Now playing: Gareth Williams - Escape from New York (Main Title) [Mix 1]
via FoxyTunes

Happy Easter

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Now playing: Foreigner - Head Games
via FoxyTunes

I Voted

And I hope you did too.

Even if there seems to be no one you wish to vote for, surely there is someone or something you wish to vote against!

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Now playing: Devo - Freedom of Choice
via FoxyTunes

Pain!

For a week now I have been in terrible pain. I have had back problems before, but this is truly a horror. What usually happens is that I sleep in an awkward position or spend too long playing video games/watching TV with my legs dangling over the edge of the bed, and my back gets compressed wrong or some such and all the muscles get tight and I get shooting pains down my right leg. Then after a couple of days of care and sleeping with my legs elevated everything is back to normal.

This time seems different. I have been going through Ben Gay and Ibuprofen like they're free, and it's more than a week now and I can just barely sit in a chair long enough to write this entry. Although I feel much better and the shooting pain is gone from my thigh, I still cannot sit very long without some pretty extreme pain when I try to stand.

At least I can function at work pretty well, I just have to be careful not to twist the wrong way or bend too far.

Your back is one to the worst things to loose the use of, right after your legs themselves and right before your teeth.

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Now playing: Ren & Stimpy - Log Song
via FoxyTunes

Get the H*LL out of my way!

I have long thought that people on the highway drive in a selfish manner. I'm sure I do some things that aren't all that nice, and even stupid. But at least I don't block traffic!

The left hand lanes are for passing! If you are not passing move to the right hand lanes! If someone moves up behind you change lanes toward the right. I hate when people are passing me on the right because some d*ckhead is poking along in the left lane. And if someone is trying to change lanes (and I mean using their signal) let them! Everyone will be better off for it.

Well, people, now there is hope. This article reports that State Troopers in Seattle have the right idea. Hopefully this will become a national trend.

There is also a problem of people passing, then pulling in front of me and slowing down. If you want to go slower than I am already going DON'T GET IN FRONT OF ME!

But one thing at a time.

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Now playing: Guns N' Roses - You're Crazy
via FoxyTunes

If it aint one thing it's another...

The last several weeks have been pretty hard on the machines around here.

First the air conditioner in the car went out, it was just blowing heat into the cabin. When we brought it into the dealer for repair it turned out it needed a lot more work done and the total bill was over two thousand dollars!

Then my X-Box 360 had a hardware failure, the dreaded 'red ring of death', luckily Microsoft has an extended warranty policy on this problem and fixed it for free. But I was still without it for several weeks.

Then my computer went on the fritz. In my ignorant attempts to fix it I made the problem worse and had to farm it out to my coworker Kevin to get it back in order. He was able to save most of my files and I am now, obviously, back online.

I hope that will be it for a while, I can't take much of this kind of excitement!

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Now playing: James Taylor Quartet - Mission Impossible
via FoxyTunes

Tax Season

I finally did my taxes last week. I usually do them very early in the tax season, but this year a strong sense of ennui took hold and I procrastinated until (nearly) the last minute.

I e-filed again this year, even though it costs money. I did it through H&R Block's online tax program and they charged me $19.95 each for my federal and state forms. I think this is way too much, but I just can't give up the convenience. If I let them deduct the fee from my refund amount the cost to me is somehow doubled... I successfully resisted that little bit of gouging.

Next year I may just mail my returns in, it takes longer but the price of a couple of stamps sure beats a $40 dollar price tag. I think I can wait the extra time to spend my tax refund.

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Now playing: The Beatles - Taxman
via FoxyTunes

Happy Easter

We're going all out decorating Easter Eggs...



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Now playing: Christoph von Dohnányi - Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral') Op. 125: Adagio molto e cantabile
via FoxyTunes

Oy!

There was an accident on Thursday night about 7:30pm or so...

No injuries, thank whoever, but there was some pretty serious damage to two of the four cars involved. And some less severe, but still somewhat serious damage to the third vehicle (mine). The fourth got away with a little dent and some paint exchange...

I was working at the time and the accident happened in the parking lot. The story, as it was related to me, was that a fifteen year old girl was trying to listen to the radio in a parked van and reaching to change the channel (or some such) inadvertently put the vehicle in gear and lurched forward in panic as she attempted to apply the brakes but instead hit the gas.

All I get out of it is that someone who should have known better was horsing around in a car and caused several thousand dollars worth of damage to three different cars.

The van ran into my co-worker Kevin's car and that car then slammed into mine, and mine was shoved into yet another. (see pics) The van and Kevin's vehicles were taken from the scene via wrecker. My car's wheel well was bent so that it scrapes the tire with only the slightest provocation, and the wheel itself is out of alignment. (I drove it home anyway, staying below 30mph and cringing every time I hit a dip in the road and heard the scraping of the car body against the tire.)

The girl responsible for the accident was an emotional wreck, Kevin was slightly less so (he has an excitable personality) I and the driver of the fourth car were basically calm throughout.

In the morning we speak to the insurance people!

Here are the pics(click for bigness):

Kevin's car will probably cost more to repair than replace.

You can see by the parking spaces how much the cars were moved around.

Doesn't look too bad until someone sits in the car and you get about a fingers width of clearance and realize the wheel wobbles now...

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Now playing: Holly Golightly - Walk a Mile
via FoxyTunes

More Album Covers that Never Existed

This one is by my friend Keith...



I think it came out well!

And here is my second attempt...




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Now playing: Garbage - Vow
via FoxyTunes

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm not bitter.

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Now playing: Shakespear's Sister - Stay
via FoxyTunes

Albums That Never Existed...

This seems to be a fun game.

1 - Go to Wikipedia's random article page
The first article you get is the name of your band

2 - Go to the Random Quotations page
The last four words of the last quote is the album title

3 - Go to Flickr's Interesting photo page
Third picture, no matter what it is, is your album cover

Put it all together to make your album. Either crop it to CD cover size, or just use the raw image itself... the only rule is you're only allowed to add the album title and artist title.

I found this here, but it seems to have originated elsewhere...

My first Album:




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Now playing: Ozzy Osbourne - Shot in the Dark
via FoxyTunes

New Post

Sorry, it's been two months since my last post.

I have no real reason for this, time just been getting away from me.
On the assumption that anyone is still reading this (if, indeed, anyone ever really was), I will try to bring you up to date.

I have a new job! I am a Radioshack Sales Associate. It sucks, but no more than any other retail job. And I get to watch TV when it gets slow. I just hate having to push the damn cellphones so much.

My friends and I haven't been doing any Role-playing games lately, you gotta budget time for those and we just can't seem to get together regularly. We have been substituting online sessions of HALO 3 late at night. (it's not the same.)

Sadly there is nothing else of note just now; I go to work, play video games, spend too much money on semi-frivolous things, eat, sleep... and wait for death.

(that sounds more morbid that I meant it to.)

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Now playing: Akira Ifukube - Godzilla's Rampage [From Godzilla 1954]
via FoxyTunes

What's the deal with hot water?

Everybody loves a nice glass of ice water. But I have never encountered a person who likes hot (or even warm) water.

Why does hot water taste bad? Is the taste actually different? (supposedly water has no taste) We drink it hot if it's flavored... Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, whatever...

But even in the winter cold, I wouldn't think of drinking a mug of plain hot water.

Is there a reason for this? I don't know.

Even tepid water is no good, unless you are really really hot... Maybe the water just needs to be significantly cooler than your current core temperature?

Aren't we supposed to be warm blooded creatures? Regulating our own body temperature tells me that we should have a preference for things that are our same temperature (to save on energy from fluctuations caused by significantly cooler or hotter foodstuffs)


And furthermore, why do I care about this stuff?

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Now playing: Origa - Rise
via FoxyTunes

Happy Easter

Shuttle Launch