Ponderings and Musings

This afternoon when I arrived for lunch I heard a familiar, yet unwelcome sound coming from the kitchen. It was the gasping and wheezing of Tom’s water fountain. I forgot to fill it with water this morning before leaving for work.

Tom is the poster cat for “The Pampered Pet”. He gets his meals served two times a day in stunning stainless steel. He also has a water fountain that encourages more drinks of water by providing a playful water stream for him to sip from. His third such contraption, this one resembles a mushroom with water that slides down all sides so that he has a choice as to where to lick the water from. He usually opts for the back, closest to the wall. Apparently he is a private drinker.

The water fountain is relatively maintenance free; you have to clean it and change the filters periodically. You also have to keep the reservoir filled with water so it doesn’t run dry. It has the same type of motor found in a small aquarium pump.

I filled the water and found that it was still making that incessent slurping noise that was really getting on my nerves. So I had to take the whole thing apart and clean out the intake. Unfortunately Tom has a habit of chewing his kibble and then discarding it in the bowl part of his water fountain so there’s was some soggy Meow Mix obstructing the water flow. Once I had that under control everything was working fine.

Tom thanked me by making litter burying motions with his left paw towards the fountain. I guess he thinks that stuff is hot shit.

My work schedule is a little wonky this week as several group members are in training, leaving a skeleton crew behind. Naturally, I’m one of the bones. Because of this I really couldn’t get out and about for lunch today in case of a telecommunications tragedy, so I opted to sit in the lunch room at work, enjoy my serving of Progresso soup and do something I haven’t done in a long time.

I read the newspaper. I actually touched a newspaper, turned the pages and read the articles.

Normally I catch up with the day’s news online. I read the funnies, catch up on the latest world happenings and browse entertainment, all with a few clicks of the mouse on some strategically bookmarked web pages. It works well, I feel somewhat informed. But reading the newspaper was a fascinating exercise. For example, there’s a column where people write in with their medical concerns and a doctor responds, right there for all the world to see. Today’s medical problem had to do with a reader concerned with their ears turning red when they become embarassed. Apparently this affliction is causing them social distress and they want to know what they can do to prevent it. Instead of having the reader deal with the issue that is causing them embarassment, he opted for “better living through chemistry” and suggested she contact her family doctor for a beta blocking drug that she should take before she becomes embarassed. “Please wait before you insult my behavior, I need to take my Embarassax so my ears don’t turn red.”

Had I not read the newspaper today, I would not have known that 300 violent sex offenders are moving into one of the number of local prisons in this area. Now there’s something to look forward to, especially during my summer bike rides. (Earl and I use to live right down the street from this prison, and the prisoners would always yell and carry on while I rode by on my bike. The area where they air out the prisoners is right near the road.)

So while the news is not as immediate as the world wide web, it was a welcomed change of pace. I look forward to doing it again, maybe in a year or so.

Earl and I spending the night in the lovely city of Rochester, N.Y. We’re meeting up with our friends from Buffalo and heading to a local bar here for bear night. We’ve never been to bear night in Rochester before but it should prove to be a fun experience.

Beforehand we’re going to have dinner at the local P.F. Changs, the only one in Upstate New York. It’s the little things like this that make us happy.

I have my camera primed and ready to go for this evening. I hope to have lots of pictures to upload onto Flickr.

Sunshine

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

The sun brought me out of my hibernation mode today. For what it’s worth, I could see my shadow. I don’t know what happens when a bear sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, but it can’t be all bad. Not on a beautiful day like today!

All I know is that the bright sunshine today has done wonders for my mood, my outlook on life and my disposition. They say we are returning to winter starting this weekend. I don’t care.

I’m enjoying the sunshine today.

As an aside, I’ve gone from my “large” clothes to my “medium” clothes. I’m quite pumped about that.

O.k., so a couple of weeks ago, I ranted a little bit about why people should use revolving doors when the opportunity arises. Today we’re going to go a few steps further into the building and talk about the elevator.

As a kid I was absolutely fascinated with the elevator. You hopped in, pressed a button and faster than you can say “whoosh”, you were on your way to the selected floor. The elevator would bump around on the rails a little bit but you’d make it with the least amount of effort required. Since I grew up in a small town, the only time we really rode elevators is when we went to a hospital or office building in downtown Syracuse. It wasn’t very often.

Then when I was a sophomore in high school, we visited the local college to get a grip on what we wanted to do with the rest of our lives and 22 students piled into an elevator designed to hold less than that. The elevator got stuck between floors for 20 minutes or so and there was a burning smell coming from some place. We assumed the cables were burning through and we were going to plunge to our death. Needless to say, we got out of the situation unscathed but it freaked me out for the next five or ten years. I wouldn’t get on an elevator at all, opting to walk regardless of the number of stairs I had to climb. In fact, to this day I can’t get on a crowded elevator without thinking twice about it.

I eventually got over my fear of elevators for the most part. Prior to my current job, I worked on the top floor of a 16 story office building, and elevator etiquette fascinated me there as well. Quick side note: I did get stuck alone in the elevator in that building and being the brave soul that I am, I decided that the best way to get the elevator moving again was to jump. So I jumped up and down until it started moving. In fact everytime I jumped I chanted, “LET – ME – OUT”. But I never panicked.

Anyways, I find it amazing that some people just don’t “get” an elevator. At work, I’ll be going from our floor to the basement to work on some equipment and will almost always stop at the lobby to let others on the elevator off. About 75% of the time, those waiting for the elevator will either ask “Is this going up?” or will get on and then become annoyed because it’s heading down and not up. First of all, this is a standard elevator with colorful lights that indicate the direction of travel when the door is open. In fact, there are two sets of lights – one over the door in the lobby, and a second on the door frame inside the elevator. (I wonder what would happen if the two didn’t match?) There’s also a pleasing chime noise to keep people calm. Is it really that difficult to take note of the light flashing over the door to note which way the elevator is going?

Another thing that kind of intrigues me are these people that have no idea what floor they want to go to so they punch every button available to them, aside from STOP, and then look out from the door when the elevator stops at floor after floor. “No, this isn’t it.” “Nope, this isn’t it either.” They did that in the other building too, where several floors had been abandoned years ago and the only thing on those floors were cranky pigeons and lots of bird poop. “I guess this isn’t your floor, either.”

Then of course we have the people that are SO anxious to get to work that they refuse to let those on the arriving elevator out. They start jamming themselves in regardless of the fact that 1. the elevator is full and 2. the people on the elevator wish to get off. I would often see a similar situation on the subway, it was very popular on the Boston T at Government Center and at Alewife.

And what is it with people hogging the elevator buttons? They park themselves right in front of the control panel and then don’t say anything. Uh, how about a “what floor?” Instead you have to push them out of the way and select your floor. I’ve tried to set an example by standing in front of the buttons and asking the floor, but I’ve been ignored, glared at and shoved aside while the others select their own floor. Such bitterness in the world today.

And lastly, once in a while you’ll get some yo-yo that gets on the elevator apparently just to ride. (Must be they like the muzak or something). They don’t select a floor. They just get on and seemingly WILL the elevator to stop at their desired stop. Finally, they’ll croak out something like, “How do I get to the bank?” Since they walked by the bank to get on the elevator in the first place, I usually instruct them to press “B”.

I know, I’m mean.

You know, I find it a little humorous that I was sitting at home on Friday night thinking, “Gee, the entire weekend is stretched out in front of me and I’m sitting at home on call.” Next thing I know, it’s Sunday night and I’m in the midst of preparing for the work week.

I wish I could tell you what we did this weekend that made it fly by so quickly.

Looking back, I don’t really know what I’ve done that made the time pass. Laundry is caught up. I even washed the sheets for the second time this week. (Usually we wait until Tom makes burying motions with his paws, then we know the sheets are getting kind of gross.) I’ve sorted out the junk in the basement enough to know what computers are going to the dumpster and what computers are staying in my lab. I had eight computers down there. Only three are worth anything. The trash man is going to love me this week.

Last night we watched “Brother Bear” on DVD and then followed it up with an episode of the Superfriends, followed by the more cerebral but no less entertaining “SportsNight”.

I don’t feel like anything has been accomplished, but I do feel quite good about the weekend I guess. I just have no idea where it went.

I was just interviewed on the street for a segment on a local talk show.

Them: “What excuse do you like to use when you call in for work?”

Me: “I don’t want to work.” (Leave it to me to state the obvious).

Them: “So you tell your boss you don’t want to work.”

Me: “Yeah, I say ‘I’m not in the mood to work.'”

Them: “What if he’s not in the mood to pay you?”

Me: “Then I go to work.” (Again, leave it to me to state the obvious).

The interview then did one of those television chuckles. Ah ha ha ha ha ha. Where the mouth moves up and down abnormally. They then said thanks and moved on to their next victim.

I’m ready for my close up.

I am going to come absolutely clean right here in front of the world. I never thought I would ever say this to my partner Earl, let alone everyone that reads my blog or stumbles across this on a Google tangent, but the time has come and I must announce it.

I am totally infatuated with Paula Abdul with this season of American Idol.

There, I’ve said it.

She has entered the realm of diva-dom. And that’s a good thing.

Last year, Paula seemed a little bit off kilter. Well, let’s face facts, she seemed downright drugged and it was like she was in her own little euphoric haze and she didn’t share any with anyone else. Then the whole Corey what’s his name scandal started to bubble and she came out of the fog and into reality and it all eventually settled down. This season, it seems like Paula has pulled herself together and I think she is doing a great job on this seemingly mean run of American Idol auditions.

One thing about this season that is making me a little crazy is all this hoopla about Randy and Simon’s “anti-gay” comments, for example, that one guy that was named something like Brandy that looked and acted and sounded like a girl, which is perfectly fine, but Randy couldn’t tell what gender he was. I don’t know about you, but if I went out of my way to go to the hair salon and ask for my hair to be cut into a Dorothy Hammill haircut and had my eyebrows tweezed slimmer than the ladies’ from Abba’s, I wouldn’t be offended if someone made that mistake either. And now that I think about it, I’d probably still have a beard through all this, which wouldn’t help differentiate me from women in some parts of the country, so you can see the reason for some of the confusion. I mean come on, if you’re going to go out of your way to be as androgynous as possible, then don’t be upset if people guess ‘wrong’. I’m just saying.

But back to Paula. I found it very charming when the policeman last night wanted to dance with her and she responded with an “I’m not allowed” (I snickered). She was gratious and fully rooted into this dimension and reality. Eventually Randy and Simon dragged her up to the guy so she would dance but she was such a good sport about the whole thing.

She has gone out of her way to find something positive from some absolutely hideous auditions and I think that’s wonderful. She even tried to coach the boy with no teeth but he wasn’t having any.

Paula baby, you’re back on my playlist and cocked (no pun intended), locked and ready to rock in my CD player. I’m feeling the Vibology.

Earl and I have played it very low key today. We’ve basically done nothing, save for eating, getting laundry done and picking up the house. I’ve messed around with my computer, Earl has watched football and is now off to his weekly poker game. I haven’t even showered. I don’t think I smell bad.

Despite our laziness, we’re both in a great mood and ready for the work week. Sometimes you just need some down time.

I think I’m in a little bit of a mood today. Actually, I know I’m in a mood today. And it’s rather foul.

I try not to be foul. I try to be the happy, go-lucky, awwww shucks, swell type but sometimes there’s just a rant stirring inside of me that must be unleashed. For the first time ever I found work to be somewhat irritating and I’m sick of counting calories and fat grams so I’m going to let myself just enjoy my supper tonight and not obsess about what I am eating. Add the fact that Earl was out of town last night so I had to sleep without my favorite teddy bear and I’m finding myself rather snappish.

So BEAR with me but there’s some things going on in the world that I must get off my chest.

First of all, “ha ha ha ha ha Bush Lite!” Bin Laden made another tape and released it to the world, complete with threats of death and destruction. The man is a monster (Bin Laden, not Bush, the latter being somewhat debatable) and is damn near a perfect picture of Evil with a capital “E”, but the Bush administration wants us to forget about him and the fact that he’s still running loose in the world and concentrate on the people of Iraq instead as we introduce them to our (proper?) version of the Messiah. “Don’t look at the lunatic behind the curtain! He’s not important! It was Iraq! It was Iraq!”

Secondly, because of said activities in Iraq, there is a reporter from the Christian Science Monitor being held hostage with a mortal deadline of tomorrow. That just sickens me. I may not agree with the Christian Science Monitor, I don’t agree with the Iraqi war. I may think that it’s somewhat foolish to try to “get the scoop” in a war zone, but to hold someone’s life in the balance like that is very sickening. May the Universe save her.

Then we have municipalities here in Upstate New York looking to form their own utility companies, instead of relying on corporations like National Grid (which recently took over Niagara Mohawk), simply because utility bills are skyrocketing at an unprecedented rate this winter, and it’s not even cold outside! There are senior citizens living on their social security checks alone and finding that their energy bills are more than their entire monthly income! Now that’s showing respect to our elders if I’ve ever seen it before. Big corporations = big profits for corporations = begging and starving elderly! Beautiful.

While I’m on the topic of energy, I am officially boycotting a local oil company because they are artificially inflating the prices in the local market. They routinely raise their prices 3 or 4 cents above surrounding gas stations. The dumb folks around here still go to them, because after all, they are the most prevalent in the area, and then the other gas stations say “if they can raise the price 3 or 4 cents and still get business, them I’m going to also!” so then the price of gas goes higher for everyone involved. You can drive 20 miles in any direction from here and find the price of gas drop 10 to 20 cents per gallon. It’s horrible.

And lastly, it has been reported that the government wants access to logs of user’s searches on Google, in an effort to curb pornography on the internet away from children. HELLO! I don’t know about you, but I do not want Condocranky Rice browsing through logs of what I searched for on the internet, even if all I do is find answers to my Unix questions. (That’s what we all use Google for, right? Pornography? Why, I never even thought of that!) When did it become the responsibility of our government to raise our children? Funny, I always thought that it was the responsibility of the parents to raise the children. If you don’t know what your children are doing on the internet, you can’t figure out to know what your children are doing and you can’t do anything about it, then you shouldn’t have a computer in your house in the first place. If you can’t run the damn thing, then stay the hell away from it or learn how to surf responsibly and safely. This scenario is like expecting the government to keep track of the fact that you subscribe to Cinesleaze on the cable network, ignore the parental controls built into your cable box and then have a fit when your kid stumbles across a man, two women and a collection of bare breasts on the screen. Rumor has it that they’d also like to track how much anti-Bush Administration stuff there’s out there on the internet, but as I say, that’s just a rumor.

I feel a little better after getting all that off my chest. Thanks for listening.