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| Monday, October 13th, 2008 |
wcg
|
3:10p |
Sunday afternoon bike ride
Yesterday afternoon I pumped up the tires on my bicycle and went off down the Baltimore-Annapolis trail to the scenic overlook just above the Severn River bridge and the Naval Academy. Along the way I cycled over Arnold Pass (The highest point on the B-A Trail! 141 feet above sea level!) and enjoyed the beautiful autumn afternoon while cruising along at an average speed of 12 miles per hour. The whole ride, down and back, took me just over 2 hours and I went 24.2 miles.
Today my thighs are telling me about it. |
otherbill
|
10:52a |
Sharing joy #2: <Car>
In other news, we've paid off <Car>, about two and a half years ahead of schedule.
While we've had enough savings to cover the loan for quite some time, <Wife> has always been nervous about dropping our emergency fund below a certain balance. Still, the auto loan was our highest-interest installment debt, at 8%, so it made good sense to pay it off. |
otherbill
|
10:17a |
Sharing joy #1: eighty-eight keys Okay, the economy is in the tank, the election is weeks away, and some of the looming state propositions are downright scary. I figure the only way to combat this is to share a little joy. Background: When he was younger, <Wife>'s maternal grandfather started and ran some large businesses back in <OtherState>. When he passed away, the businesses were split evenly between his seven children, including <Mother-In-Law>.
<Mother-In-Law> recently sold her share of those companies back to her brothers. As an early Christmas present, she gave each of her children a small sum of money (large enough to be useful, but not large enough to be taxed). Most of <Wife>'s siblings can really use it—one wants to buy a condo, another is planning a wedding, another has lousy health insurance and just had her gall bladder removed, and so on. In comparison, <Wife> had no immediate need for the money... ...so yesterday, <Wife> and I went piano shopping. ( More? )It's being delivered on Friday. It's by Story & Clark, a five-foot baby grand, with a shiny black finish. Needless to say, <Wife> is excited (an obvious understatement—the phrases "over the moon" and "on cloud nine" come to mind). <Mother-In-Law> is excited, too, as she wanted her kids to enjoy the money, not sock it away in savings (and she'll get to play it when she comes and visits). Even <Son> is jazzed for now, because he can take piano lessons at the community college and earn college credit for them—music credits will look good on those college apps. I'm kind of excited, too, even if I'm going to have to restart at the "Up We Go/Down We Go" level. Now, can someone remind me what all those lines and dots mean? :-D Current Music: Billy Joel/Ray Charles, "My Baby Grand" |
| Sunday, October 12th, 2008 |
davehogg
|
10:49p |
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davehogg
|
9:41p |
Lost Decade
Matthew Shepard died 10 years ago today in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Angie, Mom and I saw a performance of The Laramie Project at the local Unitarian church today. It's a play based on hundreds of interviews of inhabitants of Laramie, Wyoming, as well as the experiences of the members of the theatre company that performed the interviews.
Two friends of ours had (multiple) roles in the play, which led to the bizarre moment of listening to one of our best friends - a woman who runs a non-profit organization dedicated to peace through diversity - screaming the vicious hate speech of her character, the Rev. Fred Phelps.
It's a very powerful play, especially today. In his statement asking that A.J. McKinney not get the death penalty, Matthew Shepard's father told him that he hoped that every morning that McKinney woke up in prison, he remembered that Matthew wasn't going to wake up that day.
Matthew Shepard didn't get the last 10 years. He won't get the future. I only hope that some good has been done in his memory.
|
puns
[ just_you_wait ]
|
2:49p |
balloonacy Me, in an aerospace meeting: "Did the Balloonacy project ever get off the ground?" Completely unintentional. |
davehogg
|
1:06a |
Kitten Update
She's a tiny thing - it was hard to realize how big Spark has gotten until you see him next to a 6-month-old kitten - but she's fearless. She laid down next to Spark while he was hissing at her, and she was roughhousing with Kai, who has to weigh three times what she does.
She's been eating well and has already used the litter box. I'm working on getting pictures, but she's too busy exploring the house at 175 mph. When she does take a break, she is very affectionate.
She seems to think her name may be Storm. Not quite sure, though. |
| Saturday, October 11th, 2008 |
puns
[ my_hypocrisy ]
|
8:17p |
Investment Opportunities?
Investment tips for 2008-09 for all of you with any money left, be aware of the next expected mergers so that you can get in on the ground floor and make some BIG bucks.
Watch for these consolidations in 2008-09.
1.) Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W. R. Grace Co. Will merge and become: Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.
2.) PolyGram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and become: Poly, Warner Cracker.
3.) 3M will merge with Goodyear and become:
MMMGood.
4. Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and become: ZipAudiDoDa
5. FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS, and become: FedUP.
6. Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become: Fairwell Honeychild.
7. Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become: PouponPants.
8. Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become: Knott NOW!
And finally...
9. Victoria's Secret and Smith &Wesson will merge under the new name: TittyTittyBang Bang |
docwebster
|
6:12p |
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wcg
|
5:26p |
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davehogg
|
5:11p |
Halloween Ghosts We went to PetSmart to get a hamster - more about that in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) aiela 's journal. We came back with a hamster and a ghost. They had a six-month-old female kitten that is a exact replica of Moonlight. The same white markings in the same spots, the same eyes, everything. And she was born the week Moonlight died. |
wcg
|
11:20a |
Morning walk
The weather today is as perfect as anyone could imagine. Beautiful autumn weather with clear sunlight slanting through the turning leaves. So I went for a two mile walk. It was cool enough going out the door that I put on a jacket, but I warmed up enough along the way that I took it off for the second mile. Utterly gorgeous morning. |
docwebster
|
10:10a |
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puns
[ lastpunslinger ]
|
10:48a |
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puns
[ selaura ]
|
9:22a |
Podcast Plethora of Puns Stephen Fry presents Cracker Puns... a podcast... here! |
| Friday, October 10th, 2008 |
wcg
|
10:27p |
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puns
[ my_hypocrisy ]
|
10:22p |
Two nuns, Sister Catherine and Sister Helen, are traveling through Europe in their car. They get to Transylvania and are stopped at a traffic light. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a tiny little Dracula jumps onto the hood of the car and hisses through the windshield.
'Quick, quick!' shouts Sister Catherine. 'What shall we do?'
'Turn the windshield wipers on. That will get rid of the abomination,' says Sister Helen.
Sister Catherine switches the windshield wipers on, knocking Dracula about, but he clings on and continues hissing at the nuns. 'What shall I do now?' she shouts.
'Switch on the windshield washer. I filled it up with Holy Water at the Vatican ,' says Sister Helen.
Sister Catherine turns on the windshield washer. Dracula screams as the water burns his skin, but he clings on and continues hissing at the nuns.
'Now what?' shouts Sister Catherine.
'Show him your cross,' says Sister Helen.
'Now you're talking,' says Sister Catherine. She opens the window and shouts "GET THE FUCK OFF THE WINDSHIELD!" |
docwebster
|
6:59p |
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wcg
|
7:39p |
It's nice to see this Apparently, John McCain got the word today. "I respect Sen. Obama and his accomplishments." People booed at the mention of his name. McCain, visibly angry, stopped them: "I want EVERYONE to be respectful, and lets make sure we are."
The very next questioner tried to push back on this request, noting that he needed to "tell the American the TRUTH about Barack Obama" -- a not very subtle way, I think, to ask John McCain to NOT tell the truth about Barack Obama. McCain told her there's a "difference between record and rhetoric, and I plan to talk about his record, respectfully... I don't mean that has to reduce your ferocity, I just mean it has to be respectful."
And then later, again, someone dangled a great big piece of low-hanging fruit in front of McCain: "I'm scared to bring up my child in a world where Barack Obama is president."
McCain replies, "Well, I don't want him to be president, either. I wouldn't be running if I did. But," and he pauses for emphasis, "you don't have to be scared to have him be President of the United States."
Indeed, he just snatched the microphone out the hands of a woman who began her question with, "I'm scared of Barack Obama... he's an Arab terrorist..."
"No, no ma'am," he interrupted. "He's a decent family man with whom I happen to have some disagreements." So yeah, way to go John. It's good to see he's stepped back from the precipice and given himself a gut-check on the honor code. Some things are more important than winning, and I'm relieved to see a man I admire in many respects doing the right thing. |
otherbill
|
2:13p |
The wait is over If you haven't checked out Mezzacotta yet, you really should. It's inconsistent, but still uniformly funnier than, say, Garfield or Cathy. Be sure to check out the strips at the top of the "Best Baked" list; I'm fond of -9999999999999-10-19. :-) |
wcg
|
3:42p |
|
otherbill
|
8:03a |
The Kazookelele! Posted for davehogg, without comment: |
otherbill
|
7:18a |
Happy Birthday gundo!! :-D |
wcg
|
12:14a |
GIP
Semper Fi. |
| Thursday, October 9th, 2008 |
puns
[ schmonday ]
|
10:33p |
Today, outside a pro shop, I saw a man in a wheel chair banging a sign into the ground. The sign read, "Cut your handicap in half now!" |
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