Home again, Home again… and all that jiggety jazz.

Too tired to make leeks, though I took a leak as soon as I got in. It’s going to be a Nuke yourself somethin’ from the freezer night. Veggie riblets look pretty good to me. They seem remarkably similar to the ol’ McRib that came out a while back. Gotta admire any info about them that mentions that they’re Bone free (As free as the wind blows)

Kev is as sick as the proverbial dog, and will be staying home tomorrow. Chupa caused him no end of pointless stress over 40 miserable faulty records, stopping him from making any sort of escape today. Tomorrow, while the boss is away, the Scotto will play, actively seeking work, and deciding on what the final way to go is. Nordis-man just is invisible to me… No answers to my voice or e-mails. I wonder if he’s out sick or something, as Tuan even says that he can’t get through to him. (That’s reassuring, as I would not want to think that he’s just dodging me.) Either way, I’m not going to be where I am now in 2 weeks… that much is assured. Taught Sappho how to knife-fight, should she need to. The Flick/slash/stab maneuver. handy handy.

Know what makes my day? Getting Maryland state quarters in my change. Makes me smile, it does.

Got bored, wondered who invented the fork. Found this place: The History of Eating Utensils. Kitchen Forks go back to the time of the Greeks, and had two times to help the cutting and serving of meat. Spoons have been used as eating utensils since Paleolithic times. It is most likely that prehistoric peoples used shells or chips of wood as spoons. Knives are totally old school. Prehistoric. Chopsticks were developed about 5,000 years ago in China. It is likely that people cooked their food in large pots which held heat for a long time, and hasty eaters then broke twigs off trees to retrieve the food. Travel Cutlery History of the Spork is quite dubious at best…a descendant of the runcible spoon.

DNA pioneer James Watson says that stupidity is a genetic disease that can — and should — be cured.

The New Scientist has the story.

Personally, I really doubt if that’s the case, but it’s an interesting idea. I’d wonder what traits (if any) would be suppressed at the cost of intelligence.

I find myself craving a potpie for lunch. I can’t recall the last time that I had one… Boston Market had some really tasty veggie potpies that smelled far more palatable thank their chicken. By the way… Regarding their creamed spinach… Just say no. The Parmesan creamed spinach is one of the worst vegetable side dishes ever seen. It’s got two-thirds of a day’s fat. You’d have to eat an order of meatloaf & gravy plus an order of ham and cinnamon apples to do as much damage to your heart. I don’t foresee myself ever having even a veggie potpie again, knowing how evil they are, nutritionally. If I ever go to the big BM again…. (I can’t get enough of food places that sound like taking a poop or a disease) I’ll get the dill new potatoes and herbed sweet corn, with a side of BBq Beans, just for the confirmation of BM. With some cornbread. Yum, good ol’ cornbread.

P U L P – I T: modernized pulp fiction art – a most excellent website! Original and brilliant. I’m adding this to my daily round.

Hmm.. I lost a large entry last night, due to a spontaneous reboot. Well, if the fates don’t want me to post my deep insights about McMillan and Wife vs. Columbo, then so be it.

Ah well… it’s about that time of day again, Dear Journal. I’ll see you on the flipside. Don’t take any candy from strangers.

Is it morning again? I’m still snoozy even after the hot shower ‘o doom.

Crispin Glover as Willard.… Well, there’s a perfect creepy fit, as far as I’m concerned.

Hey, Neat! Someone else has subscribed to my site using bloglet! 🙂 I’m now ranked #889 on the system there. 🙂

Via Astronomy Picture of the Day – The Term that Cracks me up is “Mysterious Repulsive Energy“. That’s an easy one… He works in the laser department. I haven’t given him a nickname yet, but I shall, now. MRE. (or Just Murray for Ease of Use)

I was up quite late reading and relaxing… took me a while to unwind, and just enjoy the day.

Implemented a search engine to my public entries- on my bio page. reworked it a little… it was getting too cluttered, plus, nobody clicked on a few of the links I had posted there.

Yikes… where does the time go? 11… must fly. Until later, dear journal.

A legitimate new virus out and about – Lovegate I recommend that you take a peek at the Snopes or Symantec site for more information before opening any attachments.

From the site –

There is a new Computer Virus out called “Lovgate.c”. It affects users running Outlook, Outlook Express, and the following operating systems: Windows ’95, ’98, ‘NT Windows ‘2000, Windows ME, and Windows XP. It is a mass mailing virus which comes packaged in your e-mail with the subject “I’ll try to reply as soon as possible. Take a look to the attachment and send me your opinion!”. DO NOT OPEN THIS MESSAGE! PLEASE DELETE IT!.

In addition to it’s mass-mailing functionality, Lovgate spreads through Windows shares and can steal users’ passwords. This virus copies itself to your Hard Drive (C:) and Shares in folders and sub-folders – if they are password protected the virus will try a combination of usernames and passwords to gain access.

CNN reports that Pioneer 10, the first space craft to venture out of our solar system and the one that sent back all of the wonderful photos of Jupiter, has sent its last signal. It is more than 7.6 billion miles from Earth and its 21-month mission has continued for almost 31 years.

I guess the next time we’ll see it is in Star Trek V, being blown up by Captain Klaa for target practice.

That’s the shape I think of when I envision a satellite, not the little ball sputnik

Balloon v1.0. Jim Meehan built and launched a high altitude balloon running Linux with wireless (packet radio) connectivity, GPS, and a digital camera. The Tech info is great, and the aerial photos are pretty keeno, too.

lotr man quiz

Newt seems to be feeling much better. Hooray!

Noticing “Mass Action” functions for comments, now. Very interesting.

I’m digging the LJ toolbar (no scrolling friends ticker option) see more info at , here.

Newt at the vet a year ago

The only book which doesn’t take place in Narnia at all, per se, you’re the story of a voyage to find the end of the world and hopefully the Seven Lost Lords (remember Rhoop!). You contain some of the most unique people and places and beautiful descriptions of the whole series.

Find out which Chronicles of Narnia book you are.

Added 4 elements to the http://q20.net database. A superhero, a Minotaur, birkenstock sandals, noise pollution

What’ll be on Scotto’s TV tonight in the background (at least until 1:30 am, when I’ll actually pay attention rather than letting stuff filter in.) I plan on doing Kitty-snuggles and a little writing this evening.

Nice that I can program the VCR to just change channels for me, and not record.

A little worried about Newt. He seems a bit lethargic, and a little cranky. I called and left a message with the vet, and hope it’s only a very short term side effect of the shots he got this morning.

update, the vet called back, and said that being achy and a bit lethargic is normal sometimes, and that it might last until tomorrow. I’m to call him on Monday and let him know how things are going. Newt has seemed to be a bit better, and is willing to curl up next to me rather than hide out. Poor sick little guy… it’ll be worth it for him to be safe and healthy in the long run, though… I hope he works it out quickly. He Covered all of his waste up this last little sandbox visit, unlike the time previous. That makes me think he’s toughening up some.

I can be an overprotective parent… but it’s out of love, y’know. I do agree with the “better to be safe than sorry” credo most of the time.

AI 20 Questions
This site is kind of fun. It plays 20 questions to guess what you are thinking of. I was thinking of a statue and it got it after 29 questions. The site was a little slow, but fun. It got Catnip after 24 questions, a chicken after 25 and a postage stamp after 17.

how to play

Dorky-Newt picture explanation –

Cats have a scenting system that is independent of their noses. This system is at work when a cat curls back its upper lip and exposes its teeth, a look sometimes described as a sneer. A cat is displaying what has been described as a hybrid between taste and smell called flehmen, a German word for which there is no translation. It is a result of a cat’s second scenting system, the vomeronasal organ or Jacobson’s organ (named for its discoverer). This scent organ is independent of a cat’s nose. A cat inhales with its mouth partially open while holding its breath. The rush of air and the tongue combine to bring the scent to Jacobson’s organ and then to the brain.

Back from the vet, and Newt is the picture of Feline Health. Good Weight (Maintaining at 12.5 lbs), good teeth, ears and eyes.

Summary:

• Annual Physical – $25
• Fecal lab & Disposal $13

Vaccinations-

• Rabies – $22
• Feline distemper / Upper Respiratory -$21.50
• Bordatella Feline booster $15
• Annual Feline Leukemia Virus $20

Total – $116.50

New Doctor, Stephanie Johnston… she seemed nice and aware of what she’s about. Newt was a bit of a fussbudget, once we were there… I wonder if he remembered the spaniel he yelled at last time. He did snuggle down once we left the office. The girls there all love him to pieces, too, which I’m sure helped him out.

Newt was too snugglesome to be believed this morn. It was all I could do to tear myself away and head in to work.

Stressful day today… to much to do, not enough time to do it in. Still no answer from Brian. Turned down going out to see that Civil War movie once I found out the flippin’ thing is 4 hours long. (That can wait for DVD, and the small screen.)

Sappho had to come in, while on vacation to take care of bid’ness. I honestly don’t know why her part couldn’t wait until Monday, but it’s not for me to wonder.

Newt’s heading to the doc for his annual stuff tomorrow. I’ve got to find a clear zip-lock and raid his litter box for poo, else he’s going to have prison-trauma there tomorrow via the diamond-shaped bubble wand o’doom.

[update: the remote was on my keyboard drawer]

Dreamt I took my sweetheart to Beatlemania last night… we got kicked out for talking during the show. Had a nice time, regardless. Odd, because I don’t think either of us has been to see Beatlemania.

Dexter pics from Dex-day. Weirdly yellowed, for some lighting reason. The Glass in front?

another one

Eckerd’s is very irresponsible in regards to my ‘scrips… first they forgot that I had insurance, and wanted to charge me $400-some for my meds. I corrected them quickly on that. Next, I can’t refill Celebrex until 3/03/03… okay, I can wait… plenty left over until next week. Finally one of my scrips is 4x the mg its supposed to be. Bah. I have to bring that back tomorrow. Quality control is at a big big low.

In happier news, I colored in the octopus.

Fred Rogers has passed away, and I’m one of the many folks will miss him greatly.

His was the first sand table I’d ever seen. Got me into gaming, really.

Newton came close to being named Daniel.

Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister with a vast pulpit. His show became his ministry. His credo: “The ability to love and be loved is the most important thing in life.”

His teachings show how to deal with emotions such as anger or fear and how to tell the difference between make-believe and the real world. Other skills covered include self-esteem, self-control, imagination, creativity, cooperation, tolerance, patience and curiosity about the world. Even dealing with grief.

For what Mister Rogers has given us, (and through reruns and folks he’s taught passing things on, continue to do so) I am grateful. I honestly think that I’m a better person for having him as a teacher.

Thanks, Fred.

Children and adults who would like to share their messages, pictures, photographs, or drawings with the cast and staff of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood or with the Rogers family may send them to the office:

Family Communications, Inc.
4802 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

There’s also a place on the PBS Kids website where you or your children can share your thoughts about Fred Rogers at http://pbskids.org/rogers/all_ages/yourturn3.htm

The doctor went well. Not going to need surgery just this yet. Positive mending without it, going to work that angle some more. Note to self; keep the 9am appointments… no slow downs ahead of you. This morning was a beautiful one for a walk. I need to fall back into the habit of doing the morning crawl… it’s generally a pleasure to go roaming around and taking in the sights and sounds.

Newt was very pleased to see me return home so quickly… I think he was expecting a good 10-hour span without me here. But, I need to head out to the Pharmacy to get my ‘scrips refilled. Celebrex is a delight. No cotton-head, no bad back. Keeno

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