Monthly Archives: March 2004

Command-shift-BLAMMO

Posted on March 31, 2004 by Katie

I just caught myself repeatedly pressing control-V and wondering why nothing was pasting. As I’m a lifelong Mac user, this is a personal sign of the plural of apocalypse. Somebody shoot me before I attract any horsemen.

Posted in Annoyances, Apple | Leave a comment

No hablo nada

Posted on March 31, 2004 by Katie

I swear, I cannot win with people anymore. I used to have a good, unloseable Spanish accent when saying people’s names. I started losing it on purpose when I royally frelled up speaking to someone who outranked me at the Dungeons & Demons job, and it’s pretty much gone. I wince when I hear myself say “manual” for “Manuel,” but at least I don’t confuse the person on the other end of the line.

Like today. I called a place for info on the file of someone whose last name I’ll say is Rivera. Like a good little white girl, I said it rih-VAIR-a.

“Oh, Mr. ree-VEH-ra?” asked the receptionist, and I conceded. The place called me back later and asked for a return call, and when I got the receptionist again I asked for the person who’d called, on the file of Mr. ree-VEH-ra.

“Sorry, what was the last name?”

*sigh* “rih-VAIR-a.”

“Oh, ree-VEH-ra. Let me transfer you.”

Like I said. No winning.

Posted in Annoyances | 1 Comment

Pitchers of Choo-Choo

Posted on March 31, 2004 by Katie

On the trip to Ikea to get the patio furniture, we had a Choo-Choo Bear sighting in the parking lot–an auspicious beginning to any shopping spree, if you ask me.

pitcher of a sign

Me: “For $1.99, you want to get one and paint eyes on it?”

Kelson: “For $1.99, why not?!”

altered pitcher

Murr!

Posted in Comics, Strange World | Tagged | Leave a comment

Apocalyptic Timing

Posted on March 31, 2004 by Kelson

While surfing around, I stumbled across a March 6 post on the rompe blog linking to Ghost Town, a truly fascinating account of a Russian(?) woman who likes to ride her motorcycle through the Chernobyl dead zone. The site is full of photographs of the wilderness, of abandoned buildings, and the few people who still live in the area. Apparently radiation levels have fallen enough that it’s safe if you stick to the roadways and avoid dust – and of course bring a radiation meter along! At one point she goes into the town nearest the power plant, and looks at a dilapidated park, looted shops (people didn’t bother with banks or jewelry stores in the evacuation, but the motorcycle shop was ransacked!), and apartments with family photos still sitting on the shelves. She likens it to Pompeii, in terms of how the whole town is frozen in time. In some ways it’s more like Roanoke, with the exception that we know where the people of Chernobyl went.

A bit later, I started on my usual rounds, and discovered that Neil Gaiman remarked on the same site just a few hours ago.

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Get Folked?

Posted on March 31, 2004 by Kelson

On the way home tonight, we saw this billboard advertising Queer as Folk:

Billboard proclaiming 'Get Folked'

(Sorry about the image quality – there’s not much time to compose a shot when you’re trying to pull out the camera while driving by at 40 mph!)

Posted in Signs of the Times | 2 Comments

Silver lining

Posted on March 30, 2004 by Kelson

Sometimes you just get lucky.

On Saturday, I took the car in for maintenance. There was a snafu involving a mislabeled box from a parts supplier that closed earlier than the shop, and I was left with a complimentary rental car for the weekend.

On Sunday, an Ikea catalog arrived with the paper, and Katie spotted some nice, reasonably-priced patio furniture. So we descended upon the tiny rental car (a Hyundai Accent) with a tape measure, and a few hours later our balcony actually looked like someone lived in the apartment.

After I got the car back on Monday, I lowered the back seats to see just how big the opening to the trunk was. And despite the fact that it’s a larger car (a Nissan Sentra), there’s no way we could ever have fit the box in there.

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A nice day for a swim

Posted on March 28, 2004 by Kelson

Today it was bright, sunny and warm – the perfect day to go swimming.

Photo of an empty pool.

Well, so much for that idea.

Posted in Photos, Strange World | Tagged | Leave a comment

I just don’t get it

Posted on March 26, 2004 by Kelson

OK, one of my pet peeves is people who refuse to walk 50 feet out of their way to a crosswalk, instead dashing across a busy street where cars are more likely to hit them (or swerve and hit other cars, buildings, etc.)

But the number of people who jaywalk from the courthouse to the Starbucks across the street just amazes me. Especially since the courthouse is at the corner. The point where people cross the street is close enough to the intersection that the left turn lane has already opened up.

I mean, talk about a triumph of laziness over self-preservation. Saving ten seconds vs. risking life and limb? And flagrantly violating traffic laws in front of the courthouse?

I just don’t get it.

Posted in Annoyances, Strange World | 1 Comment

Things we’re not registering for

Posted on March 24, 2004 by Katie

I got this ad a few years ago in my Science Fiction Book Club mailer and kept it for the fall-on-your-ass-laughing value. What with the picking out of china patterns that goes along with modern weddings, it seemed perfect to trot out now.

full salad plate armor

I’ve tried to find out if it’s possible to get just a set of mugs, which it wasn’t at the time. Maybe I should start hunting around on eBay……

Posted in Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Strange World, Wedding | 2 Comments

Meditations for dirty minds

Posted on March 24, 2004 by Katie

Ever feel like the universe is screwing you over?

that's meditation, baby

Posted in Signs of the Times | 2 Comments