Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in rakshasa_lsh's LiveJournal:

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Monday, February 7th, 2005
4:36 pm	James called me last night and informed me that I've been too quiet, so here's a quick entry for spilling my guts about what's been happening ;-) Right now, I'm in Hartford, CT. I've been here for a week or so, and it looks like I will be here until the 25th of February. Right now we're still just training here, so about 7-8 hours of working, 4 nights a week. After this Friday, when Hartford goes live with the new software, we'll be pretty much 12 hours a day, 7 days a week until we leave. Why did I not sign up for the LAN party on the 26th? I'll be exhausted :-P I still plan on showing up, I'm just not sure how functional I'll be. The Malden (Boston) conversion is completed, and went pretty well. They seem to be sufficiently staffed, and the training process and transition went smoothly. A few minor things here and there, naturally, but by Wednesday of the last week I was there (and I was the only SME, subject matter expert, still in Malden) I was feeling fairly useless, which, in this case, was a good feeling ;-) The site here in Hartford is, well, a big fucking mess. A few months ago, they shut down the Ridgefield, NJ site and moved the items that they were processing up here. They had originally planned to move about half the items here and half to Baltimore, but it was decided that the Baltimore site couldn't handle the couple million extra items a day. However, when the decision was made to move everything to Hartford, they didn't re-assign the number of employees that Hartford would need for the extra work, so they've been short several FTEs (Full-time employees) since the move. They've been working mandatory overtime, and 7 days a week (normal for a site of this size is Sunday-Friday) just to keep up with the work on the old system. Now we're coming in with the new system when they're tired, overworked, and short-handed. Ick. I can't imagine what this place is going to be like when the transition team leaves at the end of the month. Hartford itself is boring as hell. We have found a few pretty good restaurants (though still not even close to the ones in Boston), but there's really nothing else to do here. Despite being one of the major insurance centers of the country, according to a couple census websites I was looking at, Hartford is the 2nd poorest city of more than 100,000 people in the country. And it shows. There's a small downtown, with several insurance company skyscrapers (I'd say 40 stories or so), a couple Revolutionary War-era buildings (statehouse and 2 churches), and then surrounding them are a bunch of low-income housing and some outright ghetto. Boston was awesome, however. Lots to do and see. Tons of historical buildings, parks and such. Fabulous food. The T (their subway system) was great, and went pretty much anywhere a person would want to go. I went to the Museum of Fine Art; I was there for about 3 hours before they closed on a Sunday and never even saw a single painting. Supposedly they have the largest collection of Monets outside of France, but I was more interested in the historical type exhibits; artifacts and stuff from several Asian, African and early American cultures. They also had a huge Egyptian area (about a dozen rooms), that included some mummies, a facade from the entrance to a tomb (like, the entire facade, 20' high pillars, big-ass blocks of etched and painted sandstone, etc), several large wall paintings, and then the more normal stuff (pottery, clothing, jewelry, etc). Awesome stuff =) The New England Aquarium was right across the street from the first hotel I stayed at, so on the first icky, rainy day, I went there. They had a huge jellyfish exhibit, pretty uncommon at an aquarium, and very cool. Phosphorecent jellies and other weird little guys. In the middle of the aquarium was a big area filled with three different species of penguins... I happened to go during feeding time, which was cool ;-) They had a strange fish called a dragonfish that I'd never heard of, a type of seahorse that's particularly delicate and, well, dragon-looking. On the top of the Prudential Center, now the 2nd tallest building in Boston, is a skywalk. They've got a free audio tour (they hand you a little audio player, and you push the numbers as you walk around) and an awesome view of the city. I actually remembered to take my camera to this, so I've got a few pictures from here... I'm bad about taking pictures ;-) Of course I did the Freedom Trail, which hits all the major historical sites in the downtown area... USS Constitution, The Old Statehouse, Faneiul Hall, the North Church (one if by sea, two if by land), a couple cemetaries and some people's houses, the Bunker Hill monument. All kinds of cool places. I went down to NYC this weekend with another SME who was only going to be here this week. Took the Amtrak down early Saturday morning, and came back late Sat night. We took a bus tour (get on/get off wherever you want) on the downtown tour. Hit the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Times Square and Central Park. Saw the site where the WTC buildings were. Rode through a couple other areas we wanted to stop, but didn't really have time, but, all-in-all it was fun. She'd never been up to New England before, so she was out and about all the time, but liked the NYC trip best :-P Of course, I was here for the "Blizzard of 2005." A total of 43.1" of snow fell in Boston while I was there, that's the most they've ever gotten in a single month. It was crazy :-P Unlike Portland, however, they know how to clean up the streets. Walking from my hotel to the T-stop (about 2 blocks away), I had a 1 1/2' strip to walk in on the sidewalk, a huge, chest-high (or bigger in a few places) pile of snow to my side, then about a lane and a half of mostly-cleared road. Since I didn't have to drive in it, it was a good time =) Parking looked like it was a bitch though ;-) As far as other stuff goes, things aren't quite so good, it seems. The more I learn about the bank and converstion process and stuff, the less likely I think the Portland site is going to be around long. I suspect that when Seattle goes to Model (which isn't on any official schedule I've seen yet, but I'm guessing early next year some time), they'll shut down Portland and send all our work up there. That sucks :-/ I'm trying to make the Model conversion team here in Boston/Hartford. I got a mentor through the bank in December who's works in the NPS department (National Production Support), and he's on the team, so I'm hoping to work with him and learn more about NPS. That department has been my long-term goal with the bank since I started. Probably won't find out about that for another week or two, though. If I were to make it, I'd be here from probably March through July. I'd probably break my lease, store my stuff somewhere, and pack up my kitty and computer and move into corporate housing here for that time. Which would be a good opportunity to save some money... no rent bills, no utilities, no car insurance (I'm getting to that), and no food bills. Of course, if and when Portland's site gets shut down, I might need that money to move or help cover not being employed :-/ OK, the car. I got a call a couple weeks ago from David, a friend of mine in MO. He said that our former boss had called him asking for my phone number, so to expect a call or email or something. Sure enough, Scott calls me. He said that the bank (who is still on the title, even though it's paid off) had received a letter from A&B; towing in Portland that said they were going to sell my car on Feb 1 to cover the towing/storage fees. Naturally, I was all "WTF?" After waiting until places opened in Portland, I called A&B; and found out that they can towed my husk of a car from some street (I was too in shock to ask where it was) at the police's request. So I called the police. It had been stolen out of my apartment's parking, moved, stripped and parked on blocks. Why would someone want a completely stock, 7 year old Dodge Neon for parts? Anyway, I've been talking to my insurance company, filling out paperwork, etc... hopefully it'll be taken care of by the time I get back home. Thanks again James, for helping out with the stuff that needed to be done there =) I'm not too irritated by the situation yet, since I'm, what, 3000 miles away? However, I'm sure when I get back and need to get around, I'll be pissed. Geez. I wrote a lot, guess it has been a while :-P See you all at the LAN party, at least for a while! =) (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 23rd, 2005
12:08 pm	Let it Snow! Yeah, you see that blizzard that's making headlines on national news? I'm in the middle of it :-P We've got a blizzard warning that started at about 9pm last night and runs until 2pm this afternoon. They were expecting (depending on which channel you listen to) 1'-2' or 20"-30" with 30-35mph winds and drifts up to 6' here in Boston. This is supposed to be one of the top 3 snowstorms of all time in Boston history. Hahaha. Down on the Cape, they were expecting (and I quote) 24"++ inches of snow and "Hurricane force winds in excess of 75mph." Yeesh. I drove back to Boston last night, and fortunately beat the storm. Settled myself at the Onyx Hotel (just a block or two from my T-stop) and the snow started. To begin with, it was just a pleasant, light snow. After a couple hours, it was pretty much a white-out and has been until probably an hour or so ago. It's starting to settle down a bit, though it looks like snow is still falling (not just ground blizzard). I can't wait to go down and play in it until my face freezes :-P Then I'll come back up to my room and watch the games... it's a shame the Pat/Steelers game isn't in Foxborough. That'd've been a hoot :-P Pennsylvania got through the storm last night (and didn't get the ocean-effect additional snow we're getting), so they've had all night already to clean up the foot or so they got :-/ (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 5th, 2005
6:21 am	It's snowing =) So far, I haven't been able to do a whole lot this trip. Looks like I'm going to be working 1am-9am for two weeks... not sure what's up the week after MLK, and no idea whatsoever what I'm doing in Hartford for the next 3 weeks. I have, however, eaten good food regardless of the screwy hours =) I'll be able to get a free breakfast/dinner when I get back to the hotel, so I'll have most of my allotted $ for my one meal that I'll really have time for. So far I've gone back to Legal Seafood (Thai-style calamari, Steamed Maine Lobster, Mojito) and Sel de la Terre (Truffled Mushroom Soup, Potato Gnocchi with Porcini, Espresso Martini). Yum! Today, at work, I did absolutely nothing. I got there at 1am, talked to the 2 managers in the areas I can train people in to tell them I was there and available, and sat down in the training area and finished my book. Productive! (As I expected, they're pretty much as trained up as they're gonna get, so it looks like it'll be absurdly slow until Friday, conversion day.) Got a call-in meeting today in a couple hours... we'll see if I can stay awake for it :-P It's supposed to snow maybe 2" today, then ice up a bit, and possibly a little bit more snow tomorrow. Sounds like they're prepared for it though. It snowed quite a bit in the two weeks I was gone... there's big piles of snow at some intersections and stuff. I missed it =( Current Music: Readymade - Cold Lamping (Comment on this)
Monday, January 3rd, 2005
7:56 pm	1. Grab the nearest book. 2. Open the book to page 123. 3. Find the fifth full sentence. 4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions. 5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you. Well, I've got 4 books stacked up right next to me, so it's a tough call. I'll start with the one I'm currently reading and work my way down the stack... "No, really," our passenger would say. --Naked by David Sedaris "Clumsy." --The Luck of Relian Kru by Paula Volsky I looked closer. --Pulp by Charles Bukowski The chicken woman is wearing a jeweler's loupe in one eye. --Lullaby by Chuck Palahnuik Pretty short sentences. The last one is definitely the most interesting. :-P (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 11th, 2004
5:50 pm	With your tiara of Barbie-doll heads Been an interesting time here in Boston. So far I've wandered around in several parts of town, seeing the historical sites and such... including Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, Old State House, USS Constition & Cassin Young, Bunker Hill, Old North Church, and probably a few others I'm forgetting. I've also gone to Chinatown, which, excepting the food, was disappointing. Wandered through Boston Commons on a cold, rainy day; though it was still nice, all lit up for Christmas. Went to the New England Aquarium and saw the penguins being fed, lots of jellyfish, some sharks and rays, and a weird-ass fish called a dragonfish (related to a seahorse, I'd guess) that I'd never heard of before. I've even remembered to take a few pictures here and there, though probably not as many as most people :-P The food here is outstanding! So many wonderful restaurants within walking distance (a mile or so)... it's a good thing I've got an expense account, as I couldn't possibly afford to eat this well :-P Seafood, steak, "cuisine," even the sandwiches are extraordinary. Found a really nice Greek restaurant today that I think I'm going to order take-out (fancy restaurants doing take-out? awesome!) from this week sometime after work. It's a little to fancy for me to probably feel comfortable in, but the menu items looks wonderful (it won restaurant of the year this year). I'm leaning to spanakopita and kondra fileto, with dionysia for dessert. YUM! But it all sounds so good, so I'm not sure yet ;-) Oh, work, yeah, that's going well, too. I'm not needed at the site nearly as much as I expected, though, so I've had plenty of time to putter around ;-) All the people I've met/trained have been friendly, as have the few other trainers, which is definitely a plus. The people there seem pretty quick to (and willing to :-P ) learn, which makes thing much nicer than it could've been. The site is huge compared to our little Portland site. When we are happy to break 650,000 items on a busy Monday night, they get somewhere around 5,000,000! Yikes! They've got 19 sorters, compared to our 2. And... Hartford is even bigger. Geez. Unless I hear from a gaming friend that lives in the Boston area tomorrow, I'm planning on going up to the Copley Square/Back Bay area. Check out Fenway park and go up to the top of the Prudential Center (2nd tallest building in Boston, but has a viewing area at the top), as well as checking out a few more historic/architectural sites. James/Jess... pet Gilliam a bit for me =) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, December 6th, 2004
6:59 pm	Life is rough Lobster bisque Seared tuna w/4 types of peppercorn (rare, naturally), garlic mashed potatoes, and roasted tomatoes Creme Brulee w/ Malaysian vanilla and fresh strawberries A quick dip in the indoor pool, and a soak in the hot tub. Tomorrow I've got the grueling schedule of 6pm-8pm. Man, life sucks. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
5:04 am	Live, from Boston, it's... well, just me Made it to Boston... I'd like to say without incident, but that's all this trip's been so far :-P One incident after another. I still don't know what time I'm supposed to be at the site. I emailed last week, with a couple questions (including when I should show up) and got a one line response that was basically "I'll tell you later." Except that nobody's told me, and it's later. I suppose that if I don't hear anything in the next hour or so (I left Terry a voicemail just over an hour ago), I'll just head up that way and see what's going on. *shrug* I still don't have my corporate card, yet, though it's been sent out three times already. The first was way late, so, on Tuesday I called the issuers, and, after figuring out that it had been issued over two weeks earlier, we'd just cancel that one and Fedex a new one to me. Naturally, the card we cancelled arrived the next day. The new card that was Fedex'ed showed up two days later, but we have no idea where it showed up. It was signed for by a Jay Daulton. According to building security, there is not Jay Daulton in the building. So... that card got cancelled, too, and, the theory is that it'll be here, at the hotel, tomorrow morning. We'll see. Kim, my boss's boss, went in Saturday and deposited a cash advance from her corporate card into my account to hold me over until (IF!) the card shows up. The first leg of my flight was delayed just over an hour due to some mechanical issues (something about a fuel transfer circuit not working right... though the manual transfer worked fine - same plane, just a delay), so I missed my connecting flight in Minneapolis. Fortunately, NWA made that a pretty painless process... right next to the gate we were exiting they had a table set up for all the people who'd missed connecting flights, and had already made all the neccessary arrangements on other flights. I don't remember the 2nd leg of the flight at all, so apparantly I slept. It was fairly empty, and I had my whole row to myself, so it wasn't too terribly uncomfortable. The taxi at the airport wouldn't take a card, so I'll have to figure out how to expense that, but it got me here, and everything here at the hotel is peachy, so, hopefully, after figuring out when and what I'm doing here, things will go smoothly... but I'm not holding my breath :-P I've got a decent view, part Boston Harbor, part cityscape. The hotel beds are comfy. Internet works! Gotta figure out exactly where the orange line is so I can get to Malden, but I'll worry about that when I find out when I'm working (or in an hour or so, when I give up on Terry). Think I'll eat at the restaurant here in the hotel tonight, Oceana. Stick around close, get my sleep schedule adjusted (I woke up at 4 this morning), then hit the town mid-week. =) (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 4th, 2004
3:29 am	My Finest Hour I've Ever Known (was Finding a Pound in the Underground) Today was a good day, though it didn't seem like it when some asshat woke me up at 11:30 (about 2 1/2 hours before my normal wake-up time... I sleep, roughly, from 6am-2pm). As I was grumbling and rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I realized who it could only be - THE UPS GUY! Flashing him a quick handsign through the blinds, I fumbled for some shorts (though, it could be amusing in a bizarre way to answer the door nekkid). It was him. YAY! I got my new monitor! 20.1" and 1.92 million pixels of 16ms goodness. The thing is awesome! I considered briefly, going back to sleep, but yeah, right, I just got a new toy. Must. Play. So I hooked it up, marveled at how big the thing is, and then drooled a while (yeah, I was still tired, but it looks really good, too). Then, snapping out of my stupor, I messaged James at work, telling him the news and making arrangements to bring him my old monitor on Saturday. Turned on Jacob's Ladder to test out the response (very nice) and contrast/brightness (also muy bueno). Then James & I chatted a bit, and decided to meet at the Town Center for lunch. Yummy Philly Cheesesteak sammich. Mmmmm. Think I convinced James to look at plasmas instead of rear projections, in the long run, I think he'll be happier with a plasma (though they are a bit more expensive). Got home after lunch and played around with the kitty a while (he had been enjoying the additional boxes in the middle of the room, as well as the tie-wraps I'd flung around while unpackaging the new monitor), then got back to fiddling with the LCD. Did I mention that it's frickin' huge, yet? Yes? OK, good, because it is. Alas, 6 o'clock eventually rolled around and I had to head off to work. Got to work, and Debby was in a silly mood. Always a good sign. Got some stuff done (actually, despite chit-chatting a lot today, I got quite a bit done), then chatted with people, checked email, yadda yadda. Overheard Joe (NPS tech guy) telling Debby that Kim (her boss, so my boss's boss) had some exciting news, but he was forbidden to spill the beans. I hoped it was about the New England stuff, but didn't want to get my hopes up too much, yet. (It was! =) ) Kim called a couple hours later and chatted with Debby for a while, then we went into Sherri's office (Kim's boss's boss, Debby's boss's boss's boss, or my boss's boss's boss's boss) and conference chatted for a while. I'm leaving for Boston on or around (probably that weekend, actually) Dec 6 and will be there through that week and the next. Then I'm here in town for 2 weeks (through New Years, basically), I'm back in Boston on the 3rd and will be there for probably a couple weeks, then off-and-on to Hartford, CT through the end of February. Total time in New England is looking like 6-8 weeks over the three months. Woot! =) I'm excited! "Less rough" schedules should get worked out next week sometime, as well as getting me prepped on the particulars of traveling on the company's dime (expensing stuff, maybe a temporary corporate card, etc). I made a copy of the CLAS tome (the software I'll be training people on in Boston) to study up on, since I'm really not all that good with CLAS :-P Once I hit Hartford, I should be doing ORBS stuff, which I know very well (probably too well, actually, for my current standing and title - I've actually suggested activating user-flags and stuff to the management and explained how it'd be useful). We've started retooling the current schedules to make sure that people are trained on the stuff that I generally do. Louie is becoming fairly proficient at the control desk (as I expected, he's a good egg), now we just need to speed him up a little bit. Training Pandora and Joo is always a nightmare, but Pandora, at least, generally comes around eventually. I dunno about Joo (I like him and all, and he's by no means stupid or anything, but... well, I'm not sure how to put it... he's not lazy, exactly, but he's not at all motivated to do stuff), but I guess, when I'm gone, it's someone else's problem. Oh, and on the way home, I bought some ice cream. Mmmmm. (This is Lee Halverson, and I endorse this message) Current Music: Ambulance LTD - The Ocean (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 30th, 2004
4:01 am	Gone Savage for Teenagers with Automatic Weapons and Boundless Love First off, gimme a sec. WOOOOOOHOOOOO! FUCKING KICK ASS!AHAHAHHAA. phew ok Well, I got called into the office for a meeting with Kim and Debby (though, unlike James, I wasn't worried, these things have always been good things). They wanted to ask me if I was interested in going to Boston to help with the Fleet Bank standard platform conversion for a few weeks in December, and then, maybe again to, umm, Hartford? can't remember for sure, in January for a couple weeks. Let's see. Do I want to go on a cool-ass winter working vacation to putter around with the other project people until something unusual pops up, dining out on the bank, living in a nice hotel, etc? I think I managed to restrain myself to "YES! *cough* Yes. I'd be interested in doing that." when what I was thinking was something more like the above. Of course, nothing is final yet. They've got to tell the powers that be that I'm interested on Monday, and get approval and all that, but Kim said it's about 90% if I was interested, because December is the bank's busy month, so most sites can't spare someone (in fact, the email she had said something to the effect of "We're desperate for people to help in December"). Then in January I should be a shoo-in, since I've got prior experience. At the moment, it's no additional money (which is unfortunate), just a cool experience, but it'll definitely open some doors. Assuming this goes through as hoped, I'll need someone to watch the cat for a couple weeks in Dec and maybe Jan. But I'll get to that... well, when we get to that. The only "down side" to this is that this really should be Debby's thing, which makes me feel bad for her, she deserves this (and wants it - most of the reason she's done the training she'd done was to do these projects). She can't go now, though, because of her husband's condition due to his stroke earlier this year. It's really, really disheartening to see such a good person have life shit on her so much, but... those are her stories to tell, so I'll leave it at that. And I have no doubt that she doesn't want the pity anyway ;-) So, on that last, no pity for Debby note... WOOOOHOOO! =) Current Music: nothing, getting ready to watch the new Enterprise (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, October 29th, 2004
6:00 am	Blue Canary in the Outlet By the Lightswitch, Who Watches Over You? Well, I was going to do stuff tonight, but I'd forgotten that we were having a potluck at work tomorrow. So I spent the evening baking. My apartment smells like baklava now. Mmmmm. Maybe I'll get stuff done this weekend, haven't decided whether I want to try to go do stuff or just chill at home yet. ;-) Been thinking about getting rid of the couch and getting a table instead. Gilliam uses the couch far more than I, and that's mostly just to sharpen his already damn-near razor sharp claws. I'd mostly been thinking about it so as to have some room to start painting or something again, but after the dinner party thing this week... being able to host dinner or something would be cool, too :-P I mentioned the table at work tonight, and Debby's got a spare lying around she said I could have (3 chairs, too, though one of them is a "trick chair"). Hmm, maybe, if I do grab a table, I'll cook for a couple folks... kinda sounds like fun. Cooking for one sucks, so I rarely do it, but I kind of miss actual, real cooking every now and then. Current Music: Sofus Forsberg - Det Ser Vi På (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 27th, 2004
4:20 am	The DJ is dead, long live the DJ! =( RIP Mr. Peel. Been an interesting day, hopefully enough to help snap me out of my recent funk. I suppose it actually kinda started for me late last night (or, more accurately, I suppose, yesterday morning, whatever), when , just before going to bed, I found out that John Peel had a heart attack and died. Big bummer. Lots of famous people I kinda liked dying recently - weird how that seems to happen is spurts - but this one seems most significant to me. Went to sleep listening to Peel Sessions of varyious artists. After getting up, and deciding to listen to stuff I hadn't listened to before, I went out and checked the mail. Got some new CDs! Perfect! =) Lisa Dewey, Orange, and 2 Readymade albums. All new to me. Chatted with some people for a while, did a meager amount of cleaning, then decided I was going to get the haircut I'd been debating for a few days. So I went up to Supercuts, but they were full, so I had a yummy sandwich around the corner and came back to find a slightly smaller line. Waitied around for a bit, read a Rolling Stone (god, that mag is as bad as watching MTV), then had my hair hacked off. Donated it to Locks of Love (or whatever the hell the group is called) again. It's still itchy. Ran a couple other errands while I was out. Wanted to hit the used CD store, because they had something last time I was up there that I've decided I want, but they're gone. Empty building =( Got home and puttered for a while longer, emailed my sister thanking her for the cute dragon she sent me for my BD (that I got this weekend, but procrastinated writing). Went to work. Got lots of shocked looks about the hair, but most people like the change (or claimed they do ;-) ). Work was weird. Had several bizarre little issues that Kim and I had to figure out (Debby's still on vacation). My Archos was good today though, it kept picking out the new songs I'd recently added to the full playlist, despite just being on random (oh, I like paranthesis, if you hadn't noticed). Debby came in for a while to pick up her doggie (whom another co-worker had been dog-sitting), so we chatted a bit and played with Ms Piggy. We had more weird little issues (though mostly balancing, nothing as major as earlier). Then, as we were finishing up, everybody just left. With me still having 20-30 minutes of stuff to do. It was really weird being there alone. But kinda nice. Came home, played in the rain in the parking lot for a little while. Then came in a played with the cat - got him nice and wound up :-P Hmm, after re-reading that, it doesn't really sound like all that unusual or good of a day... maybe I'm just in a better mood :-P I'll take what I can get. Been a while since I've updated, I guess. A few things have happened. Mostly work related. They finally got rid of Nancy, the lead that I'd bitched about a couple times. I haven't seen her for a week, but I think her actual last day is tomorrow. No tears shed here, but I'm sure she's pissed about it. Debby's been on vacation for the past few days, so work's been... interesting. Kim, Debby's boss, has been coming in, though occasionally really late (like 11ish on Wed and Thurs). It's kinda nice having her around, she got all the contact info and stuff for programmers, etc... but she's really more of the "manager" type, and less of the "knows what the fuck happens on the shift" type. Pandora and I have mostly been in charge (since our lead was fired, too... interesting timing), and I've decided that Pandora's much less of a bitch when she knows she needs help from me to keep things going. Hopefully that'll last. Current Music: Lisa Dewey - Close to My Honeypot (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, October 18th, 2004
3:54 am	An emotional ricochet Apparantly, I was bored today. Made another comp. The idea was old, but I finally got around to mixing it. May I present: 01. Gourds - Gin and Juice 02. Radiohead - Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was 03. Concrete Blonde - God is a Bullet 04. Elvis Costello - Shot With His Own Gun 05. Tori Amos - Me and a Gun 06. They Might Be Giants - Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love 07. Beatles - Happiness is a Warm Gun 08. Soup Dragons - Kiss the Gun 09. Cure - Killing an Arab 10. Gomez - In Our Gun 11. Teenage Fanclub - Mad Dog 20/20 12. Violent Femmes - Don't Start Me on the Liquor 13. House of Love - Loneliness is a Gun 14. Tom Waits - A Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun 15. Michael Penn - Cupid's Got a Brand New Gun 16. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby) 17. Nine Inch Nails - Big Man with a Gun 18. James - Bring a Gun 19. Lou Reed - The Gun 20. Amy Correia - Gin 21. Jesus and Mary Chain - Blues from a Gun Got a little more of Taku's journal done. Only two entries left. The finale, which I don't have notes for beyond (-a, copy-and-paste from the txt file): "we pop into the pocket dimension little baby trees" Not exactly copious notes. Mr A. would be displeased. Oh well, I'll just make shit up. I remember descending into the sun, attempting to climb on the underside of the sky to rescue Asaka (well, no, actually it was more to kill the prick bastard who walled me out of the room, but I'll say it was to rescue Asaka if it gets me more healing), and John died first. This should be fun. The last entry will be the resolution and clean up, along with the stuff that James requested about what our characters want to do during their long-ass (and well-deserved) downtime. That one might be fun as well. As of yet, I'm still not getting anywhere with the Donian sorcerers :-( Been fiddling around in other areas though, so that's something, anyway... Current Music: Architecture in Helsinki - The Owls Go (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 17th, 2004
6:36 pm	Was it a millionaire who said, "Imagine no possessions"? Please watch one of the best things to have ever been on TV, and here's a mirror, if necessary. Either way, right-click and save-as, rather than streaming the video. Jon Stewart was invited to Crossfire, presumably to be, well, funny, and to promote his new book. He arrived, however, for some serious political discussion (something rarely seen on Crossfire) about crappy journalist/journalism, the media in general and the "political hackery" that goes on on shows like... wait for it, Crossfire. And then, perhaps losing his cool just a tad, he tells Tucker that he [Tucker] is "...as big a dick on your show as you are on any show." It was absolutely priceless. Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone for coming to the party, and for James & Jess for hosting it. I had a good time. =) I drank lots, listened some music, talked games, politics and general nonsense, laughed a lot, and was flashed more times than I care to count. :-P Quote of the moment: "The press has bravely and nobly eroded the public trust," he said. "What I'm advocating is the media come back and work for us again. ... The bias of the media is not liberal. It's lazy and sensationalist." --Jon Stewart Current Music: Concrete Blonde - Run Run Run (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 13th, 2004
6:47 am	You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows Feel free to ignore this entirely self-indulgent update. Looper - Impossible Things #2 (Track 2 of Up a Tree) [Spoken, with Stuart David's thick Scottish accent, over a trip-hoppish electronica] So there was this boy and this girl, and they'd never met. They'd never spoken to each other or even seen each other. But one day the girl wrote a letter to the boy. The boy was lying in bed one morning when the letter arrived. He heard the postman, and he hoped it might be one of the songs he'd sent off somewhere coming back with some good news. All that turned up though was a letter from his friend from school, who'd gone off to art-college in Dundee. But the letter had another letter inside it, in another envelope, and that was the letter from the girl. And they began to write to each other a lot, the boy and the girl. And for a long time one of them would get a letter everyday. They wrote about everything; about themselves and about the world. And they wrote their own world. And they lit the whole thing up. And after a while they began to meet up in the world where other people live. Quite nervously, and only about once a year. And they would walk around just watching things; laughing at stuff that happened. They didn't talk too much, they'd already said most of what they had to say in letters, and they were shy. And at the end of those rare days the would both go back to their own cities, and write about how good their day had been, and say some of the things they hadn't said at the time. And light the whole thing up. And then life began to happen to them; their separate lives in their separate cities. But although they wrote a little less often they wrote still just as long, about their lives, and how the world was coming into their world. And they kept going till they realized they'd been writing for seven years. And because they had once written themselves a beach, on which to dream themselves together, they decided that to celebrate they'd have another one of their rare days, and for it they would go to a beach. And in his last letter before they went the boy wrote, "It'll be good, and if you want you can take my bony hand along the shore." And so they went, and they could talk a little bit more by then. They could talk okay. And they spent some money in the arcade at one beach, and at another beach they built a town out of sand and shells. And the girl drew out a puzzle on the wet sand; a puzzle she'd been trying to solve in a dream the night before. And they walked out and stood on the edge of the sea there for a while, and when they turned around to walk back to the road the boy said, "Do you want to take my hand?" and the girl said, "Take it where?". And although he afterwards thought he should have said, "Everywhere", he only just mumbled. "My hand's very cold." the girl said as he took it. And as they walked up the beach the boy said, "We only have to do this until we reach the dry sand, then we can stop." And for a bit they walked in silence. And although in more than a thousand letters they had talked of the stars, and of rivers, and of love- and woven a hundred dreams, all they could think of to talk about was a tree in a garden on the other side of the road; how tall it was, and how out of place it looked. And when they came to the dry sand they didn't let go of each other's hand, they just walked on up the beach, still talking about the tree. And they stepped over the fence and onto the pavement, falling quiet again. And as they walked along the pavement they came to a pole, and walked one on either side. And they let go their hands... Looper - Dave the Moon Man (Track 6 of Up a Tree) [Again, spoken, with Stuart David's thick Scottish accent, over a trip-hoppish electronica] Drunk, and lying outside on the lawn- Dave the Moonman. He'd look up at the blurred stars, as the dew on the grass soaked through the back of his jacket and the back of his trousers, and then he'd look towards the moon. All that distance from the surface he was pinned down on to the surface glowing in the darkness, with nothing but space all the way in between. Nothing to hold onto. And yet, someone had managed to get there. Someone had managed to do that. A truly impossible thing. So he'd get up out of the grass, light-hearted again. It made everything else possible. Anything you could think of, anything you were stuck with, it could be done. Because that had been done. Someone had got up and gone to the moon. And nothing else was more impossible than that. Dave the Moonman. But sober and playing around on the internet he started to find bits and pieces, Dave the Moonman. Things about the Van-Allen Belt, and about Kodak film and dual light sources. And he talked to people who knew about similar stuff, and he read bits in magazines and books. The first time I met him was at a party. He was surrounded by a group of people and he was giving short lectures about all the stuff he had learned, going round the party one group at a time with all the energy of someone newly-born to a religion. You had to wait your turn if you wanted him to tell you about it, so I waited my turn. The first thing was the Van-Allen Belt, he said; an outer layer of the atmosphere that all the shuttle flights stay inside, that protects the earth from radiation. He raid somewhere that if the astronauts had really gone beyond that, and gone all the way to the moon, the radiation would have killed them soon afterwards. Then there were the photographs of the astronauts walking on the moon. He said you could tell from the shadows that the light sources were all wrong, which suggested studio lighting. And there was something about the photograph of the footprint too. If a moon boot could leave such a deep impression on the surface of the moon, then the thrust of the rocket when it was landing should have forced two big mounds up on either side of the rocket. But there are none in the pictures. There was a whole load of stuff. A whole load of stuff more than that. And so he was coming to believe it was a hoax, and that no one had ever been to the moon. I thought he had a mission, Dave the Moonman, to prove to everyone that no-one had ever landed on the moon. But that wasn't it at all. He was telling everyone all this stuff he'd learned cause he was hoping someone could prove to him it was wrong, and it wasn't just a hoax. Cause dreaming was so much harder otherwise. And it was so much harder to find the belief to get things done- lying out on the lawn at night, drunk, with the dew soaking through the back of your jacket. And all that distance between here and there. And he really wanted to believe that people had travelled to the moon in that crazy rocket, that looked as if it was made out of tin-foil and cardboard. He really wanted to believe that they'd managed to get it there, just by strapping enough fuel on, even though today you probably wouldn't trust it to get you down the shops. Dave the Moonman... Bright Eyes - Lover I Don't Have to Love (Track 5 of Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground) [Lo-fi. Almost annoyingly pretentious angst, with backing strings, drum machine, and what sounds like a cheap Casio] I picked you out of a crowd and talked to you. I said, "I like your shoes." You said, "Thanks can I follow you?" So it's up the stairs and out of view- No prying eyes I poured some wine I asked your name, you asked the time... Now it's two o'clock- the club is closed and we're up the block Your hands on me; pressing hard against your jeans Your tongue in my mouth, trying to keep the words from coming out You didn't care to know who else may have been you before I want a lover I don't have to love. I want a girl too sad to give a fuck. Where is the kid with the chemicals? I thought he said to meet him here, but I'm not sure I got the money if you've got the time You said, "It feels good." I said, "I'll give it a try." Then my mind went dark- we both forgot where your car was parked Let's just take the train I'll meet up with the band in the morning Bad actors with bad habits Some sad singers they just play tragic and the phone's ringing and the van's leaving Let's just keep touching; let's just keep, keep singing... I want a lover I don't have to love I want a boy so drunk he doesn't talk There is the kid with the chemicals I have a hunger and I can't seem to get full I need some meaning I can memorize The kind I have always seem to slip my mind But you.. But you... you write such pretty words But life's no storybook Love's an excuse to get hurt and to hurt Do you like to hurt? I do, I do then hurt me.. then hurt me... then hurt me... Art of Noise - The Holy Egoism of Genius (Track 8 of The Seduction of Claude Debussey) [Spoken over electronica] Debussey didn't believe in God. He didn't believe in the establishment. He didn't believe in bourgeois convention. He didn't believe in Beethoven or Wagner. He believed in Debussey. Debussey understood that a work of art or an effort to create beauty was always regarded by some people as a personal attack. He hated to appear in public, Hated to conduct, Hated to play the piano in concerts. He preferred cats to people. No one was ever sure whether the spikes that which Debussey armed his volatile sensibility were activated by a savage insensity or by the holy egoism of genius. Quote of the moment: "There will always be violence and suffering in the world, and Michael Moore will always be there to make a buck off of it." --Penn Jillette Current Music: The thrum of blood rushing through my temples (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 10th, 2004
3:27 am	September '75, I was 47" Inches High I guess I finished the second half of the comps (as I said before, they usually come in pairs). I'd thought it was about done early in this week, but, after re-listening to the first half and the new one, I decided that the second one wasn't nearly uptempo enough to counterbalance the excessive downtempo-ness of the first. So I ditched most of the slower songs on the second, and added more upbeat ones. It's almost now though (well, by my standards, anyway). Tracklisting: 01. Justified Ancients of Mu Mu - The Queen and I 02. Jalad - Toxshack (Britney Spears/B-52s mashup) 03. Prince - Pussy Control 04. James - Laid 05. Jellyfish - Now She Knows She's Wrong 06. Soul Coughing - Mr. Bitterness 07. Hooverphonic - Mad About You 08. Elvis Costello - (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes 09. La's - There She Goes 10. Love and Rockets - No New Tale to Tell 11. Dogs Die in Hot Cars - Godhopping 12. Eels - Mr. E's Beautiful Blues 13. Ben Folds Five - Angry Dwarf and Two Hundred Solemn Faces 14. Jesus and Mary Chain - Come On 15. Cyndi Lauper - She Bop 16. Gus Gus - Dance You Down 17. Cocteau Twins - Bluebeard 18. Brian Wilson - Heroes and Villians 19. Digable Planets - Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) 20. Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues Chinese gardens was a good time, thanks for the invite =) And, yes, James, she is cute. Now shut up. :-P Current Music: Jesus and Mary Chain - Reverence (Live) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
3:17 am	When You're Down it's a Long Way Up, When You're Up it's a Long Way Down Krista's new survey, and since it's long, I'll put real stuff in a separate post. Name: Lee Scott Halverson (well, unless you ask work, in which case it's Lee Sassypants Halverson) Date of Birth: 10/15/1974 Astrological Sign: Libra Chinese zodiac sign: This is the "year of the xxx" business? If so, tiger Do you feel your signs represent who you really are? I have no idea Religion/Beliefs: Atheist Really believe it, or just following your friends/family? Well, since my family is Christian (Methodist), and my friends are an assortment... Height: 5'8" or 5'9" Weight: 200ish Hair color: Dark brown Hair style: Washed and combed Style of dress: Shorts & T-shirt, generally. Though the rare "dress-up" is usually entertaining. Do you think you're attractive? Fairly, yes Why/why not? Why? That's a silly question, I'll just answer the next two, which are better. ;-) What do you like about your looks? Broad shoulders, dark hair and eyes, and, hmm, harder to describe... outwardly happy appearance What do you dislike about your looks? Flabby belly :-P Need to find some motivation to do my situps and stuff more regularly. Do you play any instruments? yes If yes, what? Though I'm rusty :-/ I took 16 years of piano, about 4 years of trumpet/french horn, and 10 years of choirs Are you athletic? no If yes, what sports/activities are you best at? well... I enjoy hiking, swimming and tennis Eye color: Brown Shoe size: 10 1/2 Are you skinny, fat, or average? Average Are you happy with that? Aside from the little bit of flabby belly, yes. Do you like yourself? Yes Why/why not? C'mon, what's not to like? =) *Family and its Cruelty* Father's name: Scott Mother's name: Trisha Sibling(s) name(s), if any: Tami and Kristy (both younger) Are your parents still together? No, mom died in June Do you get along with your parents? Yes How about your siblings? Yes Do you live with your family? Nope How would you describe your family situation? Typical Do you want to move out? Umm... Does your family love each other? Yes Any pets? Not sure, actually If yes, what kinds and what about their names? We had 2 Persians (cats) - Beau and Jack, but I think dad gave them to my aunt when mom died. Have any of your closest relatives died? durr If yes, how did you feel? shocked, sad, loved Do you hold the same political beliefs as your family? Hard question to answer... Dad's fairly conservative, Kristy's quite liberal, not really sure about Tami, but I'd guess conservative leanings (and I know her husband is conservative). I tend to be pretty libertarian (note, NOTE, the lower-case 'l') with fiscally conservative leanings. How about religious? No Same standards of morality? More-or-less *Friends* Sorry, you folks reading this part are probably gonna be neglected :-P Strangely, I don't feel I know any of you well enough to make most of these, yet. Who is the sweetest? Emily Who is the hottest? Beth Who is the cutest? tough one, I know lots of cuties... I think I'm going to say Keri (sorry, I'm not sure how to spell your name ;-) ) Who is the funniest? Debby Who knows all of your secrets? Me =) Probably Emily more than anyone else Who gives the best advice? David and Emily Who will never betray you? David Who do you dream the most about? I very rarely remember dreams. =( Who would you die for? Any of them Who will you always keep in contact with? David, Donnie, Emily Who is the smartest? David Who is the wealthiest? Not sure, really Who is the most mysterious/secretive? Who is the most sexual? Lance Who do you want to know more about? All of them Who is the most musically talented? David, that whole theory and composition major thing... Who is the best writer? David, undeniably. Who dresses the best? Define "best," I'm gonna say Paul and laugh and laugh... Who is the best singer? None, that I know of, really. Who are you fighting with right now? Nobody Who was the last friend you spoke with? Jess, online (I said all of g'nite :-P ) IRL, James and Jess *Past* Where were you born? Charleston, SC List all the places where you have lived. Charleston SC, Pocatello ID, Fulton/Columbia MO, Portland OR Which place was the best? Portland OR Worst? I don't remember much of SC and ID, just from going back to visit, and I miss the people from MO a lot, who made that miserable place great, so I'm not going to give a straight answer here ;-) Were you teased as a child? Not really If so, why? n/a Were you a bully? No What did you do for recess? SWING! Were you an early blossomer or late blossomer? Not 100% sure when normal is, but I'd say late (though, I was a year younger than my class, only went to 1/2 year of 1st and 2nd grade) Were you in scouts? Yes, I'm an Eagle Scout What kinds of things did you bring in for show-and-tell? I don't remember at all How old were you when you learned about sex? Umm, probably early teens What about when you started cussing (if you cuss)? About the same Did you ever betray a friend to make yourself more popular? No Were you popular or an outcast, or in-between? All three. Were you ever a cheerleader? No How about karate? No Ever been to a psyche hospital? Not as a patient If yes, for what? We had the state mental hospital in Fulton. Field trips, etc. And I delivered pizzas there. How about a regular hospital? Emergency room only (again, as a patient) If yes, why? Stitches in/near my eyebrow as a baby, Severe hay fever reaction a couple times as a teen Did you ever cut? Myself? No If yes, when did you start and why? n/a Did parents suck? Hahaha, who wrote this? No. Do they still suck? No. Were you spoiled? Yes. Of course, I believe the vast, vast majority of children were. And if I have kids, they'll be spoiled as well =) Did your daddy buy you a car for your 16th birthday? They went halfies on a $1500 car. Did you ever wreck your car? Define "wreck." Not in accidents, but I've thrown a rod three times :-P I suck at upkeep. Have any near-death experiences? No If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be? Hmm, I'd like to say nothing, but that's not really fair... so I'll say to get out of the relationship with Lori before it got to the point it did. *Love and Relationships* Are you straight, bi, or gay/lesbian? Straight Do you have a bf or gf? No What is his/her name? n/a How long have you been going out? n/a Do you love him/her? n/a Have you ever been heartbroken? Yes If yes, who hurt you? Lori Did you get revenge? No Did that help anything? How could it have? Have you ever REALLY been in love? Yes If yes, how does love feel? Comfortable Lust or Love? Both, thanks. Have you ever had sex? Yes How many times? Uhh, enough that this is a silly question =) Is sex necessary in a relationship? I don't suppose so, but intimacy is. What IS necessary in a relationship? Trust. Love, intimacy, trust, humor, understanding, trust, non-mutual interests & friends, happiness. And, again, Trust. Are you a whore/manwhore? No Ever considered being a porn star? Haha, No. "STUNT COCK!" *Describe your perfect Lover* Hair: Dark Eyes: Dark Height: Short, or at least shorter than me Weight: Normal Body structure: Curvy Piercings? No Tattoos? No What subculture does he/she belong to? Subculture? What? Does he/she drive? Yes Sweet? Yes Rebellious? A little Loud or Quiet? Neither Dominant or Submissive? Both Style? Silly Is he/she more independent or more clingy? Independent *Have you ever..* Stayed out all night long? Yes Drank alcohol? Yes Gotten drunk? Yes Played strip poker? Yes Was it mixed company? Yes Had a co-ed sleepover? Yes If yes, what happened? All sorts of silliness Wrestled anyone of the opposite sex? Yes Done acid? No Done shrooms? No Smoked marijuana? No Popped pills? No Done coke? No (note, however, that I've been in the same room as friends doing all of the above) Crystal meth? No Heroine? No Anything else? All kinds of things... oh, drugs... no. I've smoked a few cigarettes (but only a few) Given anyone oral sex? Yes Received oral sex? Yes Tried anal sex? No Willing to try anything above that you answered "no" to? Yes Ever gotten caught having sex? Yes Ever gotten caught stealing? Thankfully, no Ever been arrested? No Ever dyed your hair? Yes, green, once for a party or something. *Future* What grade are you in now? 'A' prime What is your GPA? Excluding the last semester at MU, damn near 4.0. I told my parents that 5 semesters was enough for now, they disagreed. I was right. Do you want to go to college? I'd like to take some classes, yes, but I'm, for the most part, not interested in a degree program. If yes, which one? Something small. Do you have an idea of your future career? Not really. What is it? n/a Where do you want to live when you are older? Victoria, Seychelles (No, Portland is nice, maybe I'll stay here instead :-P) Describe your dream house. My own apartment complex in a nice part of town, with large condos for all my friends and family (well, all those interested, anyway). An awesome, landscaped courtyard. Swimming pool. Tennis courts. What will you do for fun? Umm, hang out with friends, play games, hike, play tennis... and all the other stuff I do now. Do you want to get married? Yes Do you want kids? Undecided How old do you want to live to be? I intend to live forever Do you want to be famous? No If you do, famous for what? n/a Do you think you have a purpose in life? Yes What do you think YOUR purpose is? To Live Do you think people will remember you when you die? After attending Mom's funeral, absolutely What time is it? 3:00 am Current Music: Prince - Pussy Control (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 9th, 2004
3:00 am	Everybody Else is Doing it, So Why Can't We? I'd just like to state for the record that I didn't start this song lyrics circle-jerk. I realize I've probably mentioned this song several times in the past few weeks - since rediscovering it while looking for a downtempo Verve song to put on the comp. From memory, so it might not be 100% accurate (though it should be pretty close, I had the damn song on single repeat the entire 6 hours I was at work tonight). The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work (Track 4 of Urban Hymns) [I'll guess 2/4 time, about 80bpm, and key of G] [guitar, slide guitar, vocals] All this talk of getting old It's getting me down my love Like a cat in a bag Waiting to drown This time I'm coming down [add strings] And I hope you're thinking of me As you lay down on your side Now the drugs don't work They just make you worse But I know I'll see your face again Now the drugs don't work They just make you worse But I know I'll see your face again [add bass] But I know I'm on a losing streak As I pass down by your old street And if you want a show Then just let me know And I'll sing in your ear again Now the drugs don't work They just make you worse But I know I'll see your face again [add drums] Cause baby Ooooo-ooooo If heaven calls, I'm coming too Just like you say If you leave my life I'm better of dead All this talk of getting old It's getting me down my love Like a cat in a bag Waiting to drown This time I'm coming down Now the drugs don't work They just make you worse But I know I'll see your face again Cause baby Ooooo-ooooo If heaven calls, I'm coming too Just like you say If you leave my life I'm better of dead But if you want a show Then just let me know And I'll sing in your ear again Now the drugs don't work They just make you worse But I know I'll see your face again Yeah I know I'll see your face again Yeah I know I'll see your face again Yeah I know I'll see your face again (whoa) Yeah I know I'll see your face again (whoa) Never going down now Never coming down no more No more No more No more Never coming down now Never coming down no more No more No more No more (repeat and fade) Current Music: Jellyfish - That is Why (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 7th, 2004
4:46 am	I-I-I've got bad intentions... s o b o r e d I need someon^H^Hthing to do. (damn, that joke was OLD SKOOL) (and bad) Got a new video card. Radeon 9800 Pro 256/256. It's cool. Several friends both here and back in MO (and online friends from all over) are playing EQ2 when it comes out. My old card wouldn't play it - I think it lacked pixel shading, but I deliberately skimped on the card when I put my current machine together so I could get the cool monitor. I wasn't playing any games that needed a workhorse graphics card, so I went cheap for a while. Seems to have payed off pretty well, actually. Not 100% sure I'm even going to play the game, though I probably will at least for a while, but I'm ready now, anyways. Anyone want my old stereo?* It's just sitting here, getting dusty, on my couch. *As-is. No warranty. No purchase neccessary. Some terms and conditions may apply. Not much else going on. No more neat CDs coming in the mail, I ran out of money for those ;-) I do, however, have lots of catching up to do as far as listening goes. Whoa, I just, right now, had a flash of insight and got my S/PDIF working. Heh. Today was a fairly useless day at work. Spent 3 hours doing random training at the beginning of my shift (did a CBT (computer-based training) on... umm, CIW prep I think *shrug*, read the rest of the ORBS product/user manual, started reading the TCM product/user manual), then I went back to training the guy on the control desk I've been training all week. He's pretty much got the basics down, except for being a bit slow and occasional questions, so I didn't have much to do. I went back to my PC and played around with Excel trying to create a graph showing volume for the last three years around Columbus Day (we do a silly contest to guess the volume on Columbus Day - typically our busiest day of the year). Had never bothered to make a graph with Excel, so I guess that could qualify as more training. Looks pretty good now. =) Then I went back to doing nothing (e.g. watching Louie - the guy I'm training). Then I browsed the web a little. Then watched Louie. Then, with about an hour left in my night, Louie went home, and I did a little (very little) work. *yawn* I'm all worn out now. *shrug* I am kinda sleepy, actually. I got woken up several times today. Some lady looking for nurse something-or-other (or maybe it wasn't really a nurse she was looking for, and that part was dreamt?), I told her there were no nurses here and went back to bed. Then the video card arrived. I tried to go back to bed, but Gilliam was all spazzed out by two people knocking at the door that I don't think I ever succeeded. Think I'll make an attempt now ;-) Good night. Current Music: Stone Roses - I am the Resurrection (Comment on this)
Monday, October 4th, 2004
4:23 pm	Mt St Helens Been doing some interesting reading on Mt St Helens lately, for obvious reasons. It's really quite fascinating. Seismic activity in/near the caldera on a normal day (in this case 9/23, shortly before the recent surge of activity: (click to make big) A few little hits here and there, but generally fairly quiet. Current activity, from a slightly different location, but still on the mountain: (again, click to make big) Whoa. Just... whoa. Don't have time to put up more pics/info at the moment, gotta boogie off to work, but damn, this is cool stuff =) [edit]Added thumbnails so as not to break tables. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 3rd, 2004
7:55 am	deny me and be doomed Bucking the trend just a little bit ^there^ with the subject, not lyrics, but still music related... and I watched Hedwig tonight. :-P I'm wondering what Chris and James see in Fry's. I've been, what, probaby a half dozen times or more, and it's generally been wholly underwhelming. I very rarely find what I'm looking for - I find the area that what I'm looking for would be in, they just don't have the specific thing I want. Fry's isn't any cheaper than buying online, and often more expensive. I suppose you don't have the 3 day wait for shipping, but I'm the patient type. It's poorly designed, looks like a dump, generally over-crowded, useless salespeople... and way the hell out in Wilsonville. I'd rather just browse newegg.com at 4 in the morning in my hypothetical fuzzy slippers. I suppose I miss out on the Red Robin's and Cold Stone across the street that way, but so be it. My compilations almost always come in pairs, and, sure enough, I started working on the 2nd one tonight (actually, I started thinking about it Thursday at work). The 2nd tends to be a little more upbeat - either thematically or musically, or both. This one seems no different, so far. As I finished selecting the initial choice of tracks for this comp I came to a, well, not exactly surprising... we'll say interesting conclusion. I'd whipped up a list of songs from previous comps I've still got "lying around" (in a virtual sense), so as not to recycle tunes I've got on older comps. And I noticed that I'm definitely not making these compilations for myself, even when I may think that I am. Several of my favorite bands are in the comps, but in many cases, my favorite songs are missing in favor of songs I'm assuming I think whomever I'm consciously (or unconsciously) making the compilation for will prefer. Or maybe just stuff I somehow associated with the person/people they're "for." *shrug* I thought it was interesting, anyway. Been listening to Elvis Costello's first album tonight (picked it up, finally, at Fry's - it wasn't a completely worthless trip). Sometimes I'm amazed how well some albums age. Many, many albums start getting dated after a few years, but wow, not this one. 19-fucking-77! I turned 3. C'mon, disco and punk? Well, no, I have to admit, I suppose, that it really was a pretty good year for music - Talking Heads '77, My Aim is True, Animals, Rocket to Russia were all '77. But I could probably find music in any year in the last 30 or so that I really like ;-) Anyway, maybe I just countered my own arguement (usually that only happens in my head, but this time you all get to witness it in action), but My Aim is True is still a fine, fine album :-P Lots of energy, Costello's fun wordplay, and, well, just plain entertaining. Current Music: House of Love - Christine (Comment on this)