Should one-legged people take as much offense when something is referred to as “That’s so lame” as homosexuals often do when “That’s so gay” is used?
I don’t use either term, unless it really applies (and especially not “retarded”, a fave when I was a kid). The closest I usually come is to use the slang “weak”.
Oh, I take that back. I also use queer in the proper context. (Odd / non-standard) That whole “4 hurricanes in a month” thing was mighty queer.
Today is my bro’s 32nd birthday. I’ll be getting together with him after work tonight for supper and presents. No giving him cash or easily swapped out items this year… I’m going to help him fix up his truck so he can make some money doing post-hurricane cleanup around the tri-county area. Help him to help himself.
Samples of the courtyard before and after Jeanne came through. Who knew so many leaves were left after the first two ‘canes? All the old leaves were just raked out, too. Ah well!
Ack. Pen blew up in the laundry, and wrecked a sheet-set and a couple of shirts.
I was looking for an excuse to get some new gear, anyhow.
Best quote heard so far this morning –
“No supernatural transformations on the bus.”
| Solar X-rays:
Geomagnetic Field: |
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My eyes go “gutter-sniping” when I walk after a rain, and before the street sweepers catch up with things. it’s amazing what little things get washed into the corners… glass, cigarette butts, and assorted trash. The thing that surprises me the most is bones. I can’t say that see creature bits every day, but it happens more often than I would have expected.
I just don’t see bones that often, since I stopped eating meat. The people I dine out with seldom seem to go in for fried chicken or rib eye steaks, so even secondhand food bone-sightings on a plate are exceedingly rare.
They’re not always in the water-flow.. sometimes along the beach things are left in the reeds. When I see sun-bleached, dry bones out on my travels, I sometimes forget that it might remnants of a human’s meal unless there’s a some sort of context clue like fire traces or greasy foam tray nearby. I don’t have the greatest grip on biology. I can tell a bird bone from the remains of something a bit more earthbound, but that’s about it. I’ve stumbled upon whole skeletons of what I assume to be seagulls.. I wonder what killed them? Did they drop out of the sky, dead of old age? I have no idea.
I think it’s cool that some tennis shoe commercial is using “He needs me” from Popeye as theme music. I don’t know which one it is, but it’s nice to hear the song in the background. Here’s a wmv file of Olive singing the song to Popeye. (7.2 meg)
A *lot* of people disliked that movie, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Why do I have an urge to visit Portugal?
Target’s sandalwood incense is excellent. I’ll buy it again… good gamble.
Dan and I playing Heroclix 2 years ago… it always surprises me when I see us next to one another for scale.
I would love to have the whole Honey, I Shrunk the Kids TV series on DVD.
I just heard the following quote:
“If we had paid no more attention to our plants than we have to our children, we would now be living in a jungle of weed.”
–Luther Burbank, (1849-1926), American Naturalist
I’m curious about charities, and how people help one another lately.
My thing is giving blood, and doing the job I do… that’s where I get the majority of my fulfillment from doing good works.
I’m curious… what do people who read my journal do to make the world a better place?
I know I have a few really nice folks that stop by. Its fun to interact with everyone, and I’ve learned quite a lot from people that are (amongst other things) parents, naturalists, social workers and teachers.
If you see this, and you’re of a mind, let me know about what you might’ve done to help make the world a better place. Do you volunteer your time? Give money to an organization? If you’re shy about that sort of stuff, feel free to post anonymously (I’ll unscreen anony entries, once I’m sure they’re not spam). I’m looking to see what manner of bases are typically covered.
Some of the big ones in my immediate vicinity seem to be:
Hurricane Relief
The Homeless
AIDS
Cancer
Missing Kids
Battered / Abused Women & Children
The Environment
Animal Welfare
The Hungry people overseas
Planned Parenthood
Something I rarely hear about anymore is Zero Population growth… is that viewed as selfish, these days?
I’m trying to cast back the last time that I had true silence. It seems that there’s always some sort of din happening. Fingers clacking on keys and tiny fans whirring inside my computer, off in the distance. People talking in the office right next to mine. Street Traffic. Rain. The Air conditioner. Birds. Chairs and doors creaking. Wind Chimes, and a stray branch rubbing against the screen of my window. Telephones bells, and the faint buzz of picture tubes and electric lights. The clack and smack of bare feet on tile floors. The compressor of the fridge. Cat clucking at the window to the squirrels outside, or the scratching of paws at work in the litter box’s sand. Thunder in the distance.
I’m trying to recall the last time I heard the sounds of my body doing its job. The rush of blood pumping through the veins in my ears, or the slight click of tendon against muscle inside my neck as I turn my head. I can’t be sure of the last time I heard my stomach rumble, or my knuckles crack. The internal “squinch” of saliva production, right before opening my mouth wide enough to brush my teeth, and the “chooching” sounds that follow afterwards. The faint thunk of a seal formed when you close your eyes.
Maybe it’s because I’m craving a nap, or maybe it’s because there’s a good amount of noise and hubbub these days. I just want to hear the sounds of myself, and of loved ones nearby as I rest. There’s a very real comfort in the loud rumble of Newt’s purr while he lays at my throat or listening to breaths taken in a home that’s otherwise silent.
I can’t remember the last time that things were so quiet that my ears rung.
Called in sick today- I’m totally wiped out.
If they need anything urgent, I can launch it remotely… the rest of my time is going to be spent in or around bed.
Some evil Aztec sorcerer is messing with my digestive tract, and is drying out my skin. Or maybe it’s a side effect of Disney World’s weather control device used to relocate Charley.
I wonder if it’s true that prehistoric burial involved putting a corpse in the ground so that it could be reborn, like a plant, or if it was just a method of cleanup… having bodies just laying around can’t be terribly sanitary.
Called in sick today- I’m totally wiped out.
If they need anything urgent, I can launch it remotely… the rest of my time is going to be spent in or around bed.
Some evil Aztec sorcerer is messing with my digestive tract, and is drying out my skin. Or maybe it’s a side effect of Disney World’s weather control device used to relocate Charley.
I wonder if it’s true that prehistoric burial involved putting a corpse in the ground so that it could be reborn, like a plant, or if it was just a method of cleanup… having bodies just laying around can’t be terribly sanitary.
Just ran a case from Davie, and am now too awake to sleep, but too sleepy to do anything productive. I’ll type here until I’m ready to flop back into bed.
Recent events, thoughts –
Apparently, I’m the designated health care surrogate for my brother, should it turn out that he’s unable to take care of himself due to mental illness, or whatever. Not sure how I feel about that. I don’t foresee it being a problem, really, but I’d have preferred to be asked first, not just notified in passing after the fact.
The thing about keeping a journal online is that I can’t safely post publicly about how I feel about *everything*. If it steps on someone else’s toes, or might be found by someone who shouldn’t see it, or if it’s just none of anyone’s business but my own, I’ll post things privately, my eyes only. Only on very rare of occasions do I post friend’s only stuff (at least these days). I’m pretty much an open book except about things that might hurt someone else’s privacy or my employment.
Things have happened in my family in recent times that try to chip away at my “gentle giant” sense of self. I come back to myself every now and then, and do a bit of a case study. I think I’m still a friendly, nice guy who is pretty approachable if you’re not afraid of giant hippie-looking types.
I have some fundamental flaws that probably will never be repaired. I’m a messy housekeeper. I procrastinate with a lot of things. I have a low tolerance for grossly incompetent people in any service industry. I hate to teach the same person the same thing more than twice. I think that most people are basically nasty, selfish children barely underneath a veneer of slightly more polite behavior and laws enforced by society.
Some good things about me. I do think that everyone is entitled to a little kindness. I feel that some people are able to grow past that selfish child aspect into a kind and giving person. (a lot of people are in the in-between stages.) I think that I set a good example for kids and grownups who are still looking to learn how to behave. I can love unconditionally. I’m more helpful than I am unhelpful. I don’t procrastinate on the important stuff. (Newt’s always well fed, and given lots of love, for example.) I have a job where I don’t have to eat my soul to feed my belly.
Neutral stuff : I’m a social creature, but can function well in a solitary lifestyle. I like to read. I’ve had people tell me that they’re envious of how grounded I am… that I’ve got things together, no matter what happens. Well, I vent regularly, and try not to lose hope. To screech, and flail and grit my teeth… that’s not my style. That’s not to say I’ve never been panicked… but I’ve usually found that it was a result of a false sense of urgency, or misunderstanding, plus panic rarely helps matters in cases where it might be created.
Is it wrong that since the Toronto Star opened up free, searchable archives of 1945 and put them online, that my first beeline was for the comics pages? Popeye, Little Orphan Annie & Invisible Scarlet O’Neil. Pretty spiffy!
Jack Black is *not* currently going to be in a Green Lantern movie. via
Fun with Google searches -Too lazy to search peer to peer? See what’s being hosted and was spidered! via Of course, don’t come crying to me if something breaks your machine or gets you arrested.
METHOD 1
put this string in google search:
Notice only the word after the parent directory varies – change it to what you want and you will get a lot of stuff.
METHOD 2
put this string in google search:
You only need add the name of the song/artist/singer.
Example: ?intitle:index.of? mp3 jackson
METHOD 3
put this string in google search:
You can vary the string; ex. microsoft to adobe, iso to zip
When I vanity search Icerocket, it uses a thumbnail of my homepage form about 4 years ago. I also found my old photobucket account still has pictures in it.
Deep Sea Images – Some pretty nifty stock stuff of wrecks and undersea life. (including manatees, for Kell.) You can also search by keyword… helps when sniffing for locations. Lots happening in Pompano, for example. Manta Rays!
The Phone Safe is a work-through phone-sheath that you wear on your forearm. Worn with a jacket, it can also act as a concealment device.
Evil Keylogging gizmo. – (plugs between keyboard and computer, small as a quarter.) To access the recorded data, you simply type your password in a text editor and the Key Katcher comes to life. A menu is displayed with options to erase data, view data, search data for keywords, change password, or disable the device.
The Chipmunk Song (slowed down) v
Justice League did a good job on “For The Man Who Has Everything“… I’d like to see them do “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?” too. The Teen titans had a guest star from two doors over from Bat-Mite and Mxyzptlk’s dimension… too many japanimation nods, not enough story. More fun ideas can be had at the Superman Online Comics site.
In the house above the world, the over-people sit.
There is a man with wings like a bird.
There is a man whose eyes can see through the planet,
and whose fists can wring diamonds from its anthracite.There is a man who moves so fast that his life is an endless gallery of statues.
In the house above the world, the over-people sit.
And watch.
-Alan Moore
Rain rain rain.
Splash splash splash
fun fun fun
*nyerrroowwwwws like an airplane in formation*
Rain rain rain!
*choocka-chooka*
Oh, such rain we had… it was delicious.
Very spiffy flash site about 60’s spidey cartoons and the voice talent that were a part of it.
Time to Roll.
LEAVE NO EVIDENCE!
Phase 2 is underway.
To any who would oppose me… PREPARE YOUR BLADDER FOR IMMINENT RELEASE!
I hate to be the bad guy, but you must be disciplined or you’ll never learn.
Until Later, Dear Journal.
The condo owners are out of town… silly for them to list it and not be available until later, but, whatever. I’ll know more today, I think.
Did the guy that invented combos see a snausage, and think it would be tasty for people to have a snack like that.. or was it the other way around, benefiting dogs?
Intelligent observation overheard ages ago – “Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”
I can’t believe that a single packet of ramen noodles is considered to be “three servings”. That’s almost as bad as the “two fig newtons per serving” rule. Who decides this stuff? Very full people who aren’t so hungry and don’t like the product?
Random ramen factoids –
I’m in the mood to watch the Rockford Files again.
Random Scotto Factoid: I had trouble remembering the difference between definitions for vertical and diagonal, until I learned the word vertigo. Likewise, horizontal was never a problem, because I already knew the word horizon. I learn better by association, rather than simply by rote.
Many women in bridal gowns or the like were there on Saturday. I suspect a photo shoot for a magazine, but there wasn’t a lot of camera technology there.. just handheld cameras, none of those wacky reflector-umbrellas, makeup folks or people with light meters that I saw at the last shoot I witnessed in Fort Lauderdale. Maybe they didn’t need it with all of the natural light as nice as it was? Maybe the production values were just lower. In any event, they added a nice ambiance to the visit.
Apparently I have a “repair aura” this morning.
I “fixed” the fax machine with my presence… I merely walked by, giving it a look and it clicked on, dutifully sending pages to assorted points around the world…perhaps it was afraid of getting some of what the router in the other room got once I was through with it. Don’t make me get all “Office Space / Bolton” on your booty, Mr. Fax.
Elusively skulking from workstation to workstation, the Scotto-yeti wanders into the underbrush of into the server-room, to be sure all is well in his electrical glade and plasti-formed work grotto.
The other nearby fauna are often nearby, and show little to no fear of wandering into our quiet ursine anthropoid’s foraging zone. Amongst them are any number of beasties, ranging from the pleasanty quiet and unassuming V-mouse to the loud, peevish clucking of a Rhode Island hen, scratching at the the gound and generally making a mess. Fortunately the buttergnome and the pebble-kicking wombat are occupied elsewhere lately. I wonder what it’d take to bring a little red monkee into the grotto?
Apparently I have a “repair aura” this morning.
I “fixed” the fax machine with my presence… I merely walked by, giving it a look and it clicked on, dutifully sending pages to assorted points around the world…perhaps it was afraid of getting some of what the router in the other room got once I was through with it. Don’t make me get all “Office Space / Bolton” on your booty, Mr. Fax.
Elusively skulking from workstation to workstation, the Scotto-yeti wanders into the underbrush of into the server-room, to be sure all is well in his electrical glade and plasti-formed work grotto.
The other nearby fauna are often nearby, and show little to no fear of wandering into our quiet ursine anthropoid’s foraging zone. Amongst them are any number of beasties, ranging from the pleasanty quiet and unassuming V-mouse to the loud, peevish clucking of a Rhode Island hen, scratching at the the gound and generally making a mess. Fortunately the buttergnome and the pebble-kicking wombat are occupied elsewhere lately. I wonder what it’d take to bring a little red monkee into the grotto?
Webalizer is a lot sharper than the old stats package I used to nibble on.
It’s sort of a disappointment to me that more people seek out the melon-girl on the gallery page than newtcam, but that’s to be expected of net- pervies. Maybe I should put an evil clickthrough on that picture…or at least one that will get me a nickel each time someone looks at it.
I’m really tempted to pick this laser keyboard up, just for the uber-nerd “Science!” factor. The rechargeable batter lasts 3 to 4 hours which seems fair.
Waxy’s hosting Heat Vision and Jack. well worth the download. Get it while his bandwidth lasts! Well worth the 280ish megs.
Random memories:
When I was a kid, I had a few favorite junk foods that I couldn’t get enough of. My brother and I beat our parents home by about three hours or so, and we were always keen on a little bite to eat right after school. We were fairly well-off, but that might’ve been a result of how frugal my folks were with the grocery bill.
Steak-umms. (usually prepared with american cheese (bleah), and A-1 sauce on a hamburger bun)
Mac & cheese (with peas.) (Our house always got whatever the el cheapo 3 for $1 grocery-store brand was, with the day-glow orange powder of plague.) Always had butter, but more often than not, there was no milk in the house. I acclimated to bad mac & cheese pretty earl in life, which made being broke in college that much more acceptable.
Hmm. My web server is down. I wonder what’s happening there. I’ll give it an hour and they start to rattle some chains. [update: it’s up again! yay! but I can’t ftp for some reason! Boo! the scribble of my dreamself holding a squirming, plucked tentacle eye will have to wait.]
{Update to the update…FTP is back!} 
I’m on call this week… and need to find another person or two we can hire to help take up the slack when the Kahuna’s out of town.
Doc agreed with the specialist… I called to start the wheels in motion for a time for my surgery. I’ve also been discussing the idea seriously about buying a condo. I figure that even if I don’t keep it, I’m all for putting my rent toward equity rather than just in some other person’s pocket. The consultant I talked to said that I can comfortably work out a regional one at about $125k on my income and credit. If I decide to turn it around and sell it later, I should make a tidy profit, too.
Random mental wandering.
I’ve almost always dwelled near a large body of water, usually the shore of Atlantic Ocean. Between growing up near Cape Cod (note to self, write about the cranberry bogs sometime) and the summering in Florida Keys, I’d say that the furthest I’ve lived from the ocean was when we were in Alexandria, Virginia. (Even then, we were right on the Potomac, a *DANG COLD* river, even in the summer, if memory isn’t exaggerating over time.) Contrary to popular belief, I’ve never had a residence under a bridge, in order to eat passing goats or unwary travelers unwilling to pay a toll.
I remember folks being really afraid of the beach when Jaws came out. I was only about six years old, but the killer-shark hysteria was amazingly high. All of those shore-bound places where I’ve lived naturally had a significant amount of tourism by the beach, and the year that movie was released, the visitors began acting even more irrational than usual. Lots of folks were too frightened to even walk along the water… somehow, some way, a ravenous, blood-lustful, twenty-foot man-eating fish with triple rows of pearly white and razor sharp teeth was going to leap onto shore, grab them, emit a long, deep, haunting laugh of pure aquatic evil, and finally bite ’em in half, twelve feet away from where the water stops and the sand begins. The real telling element was how you could see people scanning the surface of the water, looking for that one dorsal fin that spelled total carnage for the poor victim splashing, flailing and generally having fun fooling in the “deep end.”
I figured they were *looking* for a monster to get them. Having spent enough time by the water, I was pretty aware of sharks, and knew something about their behaviors and mannerisms. I knew there was the merest likelihood of being attacked by a shark, even smaller by a colossal great white. Even in recent years, when there’s been a notable increase in the number of attacks along the East coast, the amount of them is still tiny. I had no fear of being attacked by a shark when I went into the water. Sure, if I saw them, I’d get out, but it’s not something that gave me pause. I had more immediate things to worry about: man-o-war stings, and mean ol’ crabs that pinched your toes if you stepped on them by accident Most worrisome was the undertow.. my brother’s surfing drove that point home one time when I was about sixteen, and he got pulled out really fast. I’m glad that my dad was a strong swimmer and was able to recover him quickly. I didn’t even realize he’d gone that far until dad was out there calling to him.
That said, I can’t remember the last time I went diving, surfing, or swimming in water more than chest deep. Perhaps that’s overdue. I’d like to float out and around Red Reef Park for a bit. I’d like to see some stuff from the snorkel perspective.
Again, this year, It’s October, and I’ve heard nothing about Oktoberfest (which generally starts in the last half of September). On researching, it looks like I missed it this past weekend. Ah well, there’s always Bavarian Village.
Handy dandy Admin tools recently discovered –
F.I.R.E. is the Forensic & Incident Response Environment Bootable CD. Its a downloadable ISO that allows you to gathers tons of information on dead and alive machines.
Offline NT Password & Reg Editor Bootdisk is a very simple bootable CD that lets you change passwords on a machine you have physical access to. The bootable CD version includes support for some SCSI cards.
Other handy ones –
Free IP Subnet Calculator from solarwinds.net
Free TFTP Server from solarwinds.net
Free GFI LANguard NS Scanner 3 (non-commercial)
Ethereal Protocol Analyzer
Free SSH Client
Free SSH/Terminal Client (Nags)
Free Angry IP Scanner
