I’m Not Really That Cranky Today.

I just reread the previous two entries from today and found that they made me sound quite cranky today. I don’t feel cranky at all, just full of opinions I guess. I’ve been busying myself about the house while covering on-call for a couple of hours for a co-worker, Earl is parked on the sofa (or in old English, Davenport), watching the Eagles game on Monday Night Football. I occasionally hear a loud “YES” or “GO” in a very authorative football fan voice.

Go Eagles!

So while it may seem that I’ve been a little cranky and/or spacey today, rest assured that I was my usual jovial self. And thank goodness tomorrow isn’t Monday.

2 October 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Law of Rant.

Over the weekend our Fine Folks in Washington tacked an amendment banning online gambling onto a Port Security bill. Can someone please take a moment and explain to me what the hell online gambling has to do with securing the ports of the country? Who does the government think they are in banning online gambling anyway? How dare they decide that they’re my babysitter and tell me what to do with my hard earned money. If you’ve got a problem with my gambling habits, well, quite frankly its none of your business. You mind your business and I’ll mind mine. You don’t like gambling? Don’t do it! And don’t come crowing to me about I’ll end up on welfare, blah, blah, blah. If a person loses all their money gambling then they deserve to be out on the street.

By the way, has the entire country lost their mind? School children were killed at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pa. today. That has to be one of the more tragic things I’ve heard in quite a while. What the hell? The Amish are probably one of the most peaceful people left in these parts and their children are gunned down.

Then we have this whole constant fear thing going on. My sister can’t take a tube of toothpaste on a flight to Russia because she might build a bomb with it. Are you kidding me? They blue chemicals in the airplane toilet are probably more dangerous than a tube of Crest. She’s flying 12 hours and can’t brush her friggin’ teeth. Unbelievable. But I bet you they’re still serving alcohol in first class, never mind that alcohol can be quite ignitable. As long as they have bad breath, I suppose the world is safe.

I am so sick and tired of all this fear mongering going around. Be afraid of the terrorists, they could get us at any moment. You know what? Someone please tell the current administration to shut the fuck up and go stand in the corner and don’t open your mouth until someone asks for your opinion. I’m sick of all this chatter about how something bad is going to happen. When is something good going to happen? Why doesn’t anyone tell us that? By the way, as it stands right now, the *American* death toll in Iraq is higher than the number of Americans killed on 9/11. This number does not take into consideration the thousands of Iraqi civilians killed. You know what they say about “two wrongs”.

Everyone has flipped their lid? The news media is jumping for joy because gas is at $2.50 a gallon. “Oh look, gas is so cheap now.” Are you kidding me? Two years ago it was half of that. What in the world are these people thinking? Has everyone turned into a mindless zombie?

I just had to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening.

2 October 2006 by Political BS. 0

In Too Deep.

During a particularly agitating phone call with a customer today I decided to let my mind escape for a few moments while the customer ranted and raved about something quite trivial in the great scheme of things. What I find insane, quite frankly, is I daydreamed about singing a cover version of Dead Or Alive’s “In Too Deep”, complete with cowboy hat and chaps with my ass hanging out for the video.

Thank the Universe I’m not trapped in an episode of Ally McBeal or I would have found myself sitting at my desk in that very outfit.

Oy. Where the hell did that come from? Shockingly, it’s just another Monday in my book.

Maybe I need my own theme song or something.

2 October 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Adaptive.




Dj PiperCub.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Since I’m DJing in Buffalo two weeks from tonight, I thought I should get some practice in using nothing but the PowerBook to spin up the tunes. Notice in the picture that the dual deck CD player does nothing more than provide a stand for the computer. My, how technology changes.

When I first started out I used nothing but vinyl, since compact disks were a very young technology at the time. I’m quite proud of my mixing skills when it comes to vinyl but I’m not happy with how I do with CDs. I’m finding that I can adapt to using the computer and USB DJ console much more because it gives me that “vinyl feeling”.

Ah, the good old days. But here’s to the good new days!

30 September 2006 by DJ 0

In And Out.




Obligatory cat picture.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

I’ve mentioned before that Tom likes to play a game with me during lunch. There’s two parts to this game. Part one is to see what brand new, never heard before obscene, shrieking, loud, deafening noise an eleven year old cat can make while standing in front of the door. This is a subtle request for immediate egress, and if not answered promptly is accompanied by claws on the door casing.

Part two is to do exactly two 360 degree rotations just outside the door, sniff the air a couple of times and then stand in front of the door waiting to be let back in. He will not start part two until the door has been closed and I have been seated back at the kitchen table. Then it’s show time.

So here’s a picture I took as part two comes to an end. He’s waiting for a bite or two of kibble (I usually wish him a ‘bon appetit mon chat’ as he walks over to the bowl), then he’ll race around the house like his tail is on fire and then park in front of the door again to make another heinous noise.

I sometimes wonder who has the more rigid schedule.

29 September 2006 by Le Chat. 0

Pizza Day.

When I arrived at work this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see two apple pies sitting on the community table in our work area. My friend (and co-worker) Shirley had made apple pie for everyone on her day off yesterday and was kind enough to share with our little group at work.

Strike one on eating healthy today.

Around 10 a.m., the director of our group announced that he was buying everyone lunch today and to decide what we wanted. We all agreed on the tried and true in our group – pizza and wings.

Strike two on eating healthy today.

So I had a piece of pizza, well, four small squares of pizza, for lunch at 11:30 a.m., while I continued to work at my desk. I’m trying really hard not to eat something now while I’m at home doing my usual hour routine.

I don’t know what it is about Fridays and pizza. In elementary and high school, we either had pizza/green beans/peanuts/apple crisp or fishburgers(?)/french fries/cole slaw/peaches for lunch on Friday. The peanuts were due to the fact that Jimmy Carter was president at the time, they were replaced by something else during the Reagan administration. I don’t know where we came up with the term “fishburgers” but it sounds a little odd now that I think about it all these years later.

I’m not a huge fan of pizza. I never have been. I suppose it’s alright to enjoy from time to time, but I’d rather dive into something else like Chinese food or something if I’m going to waste some calories away. The one form of pizza that I really do enjoy is “tomato pie”, which is tomato sauce on a doughish crust with cheese sprinkled on top. It’s usually enjoyed cold. I think it’s only found in this area, but I could be wrong on that.

Earl thinks I’m nuts (which I usually am), but there are two varieties of pizza that I do enjoy – Hawaiian Pizza (pineapple, cheese, ham) and BLT pizza (bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese and mayo). Now those are tasty.

Let’s see if I can at least eat healthy tonight!

Happy Friday!

29 September 2006 by Food. 0

How To Blog.

While at work today I stumbled across this article that gives ten tips on how to be a good blogger. I found it quite interesting and thought you would too. Maybe I’ll even take some of the advice and incorporate these points into “Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.”

29 September 2006 by Geek 0

Overload.

This work and school thing simultaneously has me feeling a little overloaded in the technology department. I mean it’s point and click at work, point and click at school and then point and click at home. Point. Click. Point. Click. Point. Click.

Gosh I miss the DOS prompt.

So I haven’t been as chatty as usual here in cyberspace. It’s all good, even the most devoted of geeks needs a break now and then.

School is going well and I am *loving* the experience. I’m ready to take more on come spring semester. Work is going well in that it isn’t on my nerves and the social calendar is filling up quickly, as always. Earl and I are continuing our year long 10-year anniversary celebration by planning a special weekend beginning October 13, the anniversary of the day I proposed to him. Part of that weekend will be spent in Buffalo as I assume the guise of “DJ PiperCub”, but the rest of the weekend is in Earl’s capable hands. I heard something about a train, a plane and an automobile but I guess I’ll just have to wait until I can be surprised.

At least on September 13, the anniversary of the day we moved in together, we didn’t pitch any plates or glasses at each other. We’ve never done that. We don’t do that. I don’t know why the thought even crossed my mind.

So after work tonight at 5:00 p.m., I get to zoom home, gulp down some chow and head off to school to be in class by 6. Hopefully in stylish jeans. Tuesday night it was mentioned that we are not allowed to turn on the computers until the instructor is present. Guess I can’t buck for some brownie points tonight by doing that again.

28 September 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 1

Popcorn.

I love popcorn. I love the smell of it. I love the taste of it. I love making it. There’s nothing about popcorn I don’t like. In fact, since Earl is out of town tonight, I’m eating my second bowl of it right now as a snack before bedtime. Nothing like a little bit of Orville Reddenbacher to get one interested in bed, that’s what I always say.

As a kid I was fed popcorn on a regular basis. Thank the Universe for the invention of the Radarange, because my mother used it to pop some corn for just about ever meal of the week. Soup? Side of popcorn. Sandwiches? Side of popcorn. Prime Rib? Side of popcorn. It was the only vegetable I ate. When we went to my grandparents on Sunday for “Family Day”, there was a bowl of popcorn on the table. The bowl was bigger than the bathtub and the popcorn was leftover from Friday night, but who cares, Grams made it with some wickedly delicious lard thing, real butter and lots of salt.

These are the things that harden arteries the right way!

As an adult I used popcorn as one of the two* major criteria for evaluating men. Wannabe suitors could take me to the finest restaurants in Boston, shower me with the most lavish gifts from Lechmere and Jordan Marsh and take me for rides in the sheets to places that would make a porn star blush, but if they didn’t like popcorn, they were gone. Quickly. No questions asked.

“I don’t think we were meant to be together. You don’t like popcorn.”

I’ve gone to the movie theatre, bribed my way past the ticket taker for access to the lobby and have purchased a large popcorn then left, large corn in hand and a big smile on my face. Why watch a movie when you can eat popcorn? Back in the early 1990s we used to go to the local speedway to watch the races on Saturday night. The fumes from the fuel used in the cars would make everyone’s eyes water, dust and dirt would be flying all over the place, but there I was sitting next to my cousin Becky, large popcorn in hand when she would yell to me “Corn?” That meant she wanted to share. The noise in the speedway was so loud your ears would ring for days afterward, but I heard that magic word.

So now I’m contemplating making another batch of popcorn for a snack and to share with the birds. I might as well spread the love.

*For those that are curious, you’ll have to e-mail me for the details on the second criteria. I can’t give away all my trade secrets.

26 September 2006 by Food. 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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