Thoughts from a Patchwork mind...

I'm on the intertubes!!

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:28:52 GMT

This is a highlight reel from the night i qualified for the Legendary Karaoke contest. My bit is at around 1:56.
Yeah, i didn't realize there was someone behind me recording the whole thing... 0.o

New Furniture!

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:49:15 GMT

So we have everything situated, so I took a few shots to show off my new stuff. But first, here's a reminder of what it looked like before:

So, yeah. Decent, but I never chose it. It was moved in a few years ago, and I never really cared too much for it. But everyone seemed to think it belonged there, so I let it go.

When it was moved into my current place (while I was overseas), it got pretty banged up and one of the recliner sections on the sofa leans crooked.

That, and it was uncomfortable to lay across.

So I started on a hunt for a replacement. This is what I decided on, as it sits in my living room now:

First, a shot of the whole room:

Overheard on the phone...

Fri, 22 May 2009 01:16:40 GMT

I walked in on someone a little bit ago, they were on speaker phone. This is what I heard:
"who's this?"
-"it's your baby!"
"hah! I WOULD be you daddy, but yo' mamma didn't have change for a nickel!"

Take the CHILL pill.

Fri, 08 May 2009 03:42:47 GMT

My office is in the midst of applying changes to all of our servers. These changes require a reboot. Pretty common, no big deal. We'll push it down, and reboot the systems.

My immediate supervisor is away at a conference, but has access to email, so i shoot her a quick message to see if there are any special considerations to watch out for as i'm rebooting machines.
Her reply: "Many."

GREAT! That's ALL THE INFORMATION I'LL EVER NEED! I wait for a while to see if she's going to expound on that, but no more contact is forthcoming. $BOSS decides, "Hey, we're going to do this at 1pm so that we have time to fix any issues that come up." Okay, since i'm still the low man on the totem pole, i just nod, despite worries of breaking things mid-day and users calling in a panic.

So i get started, and as I'm plugging away, $SUPERVISOR decides to join the party over VPN. Sends me a list of ones that she's rebooted. To avoid us walking over each other's work, i send her MY list. This is what i got in reply:

"YOU REBOOTED $IMPORTANT_SERVER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY?? It took down $service, $otherservice, and more!!"

She apparently didn't pay attention to the fact that $BOSS put me onto it, and that immediately following $IMPORTANT_SERVER on the list were the servers that ran these services that depend on it. Didn't bother to ask if i'd tested to make sure $services were restored. When i pointed this out, and assured her that all services were working correctly, she decided to flame me about doing this in the middle of the day when anything that goes wrong would be visible to users.

As i'm reading this, i hear laughter from $BOSS's office, and he calls me over:
"Dude, you pissed off $SUPERVISOR. Haha...she's having a fit about you rebooting that server! Hey, don't worry about it, if you never break anything, you're never going to learn how to fix it. You did good, don't worry about her."

A little while later, as i'm checking $IMPORTANT_SERVER to make sure everything has stayed kosher, i notice a few data sources that may be needed by $OTHER_DEPT. The SA there is out for the day, so i go to his supervisor, ask, "Hey, do you know what these belong to?"

His reply: "No, but we can always take them offline and see what breaks..."

Why did i have to wind up under the only person in this whole place that is wound so tight?
Besides, where does she have room to complain if i mess something up when she doesn't want to share vital information? Grr.

Ummm, yum? I think...

Wed, 06 May 2009 00:29:45 GMT

So I decided to try something new today, perhaps you've seen it on the shelf in the supermarket: Naked brand "SuperFood". It's a drink. Called food. Weird.

The variety I selected was called "Green Machine". Looking at it, it's a greenish-brown slurry. Morbid curiosity led me to inspect it closer, and I noticed this on the side:

"Looks weird." Sip.
"Tastes amazing." Sip.
"Hey, 10 green turbo-nutrients?" Sip.
"Still looks weird."

And I have to admire a company willing to poke fun at their own product, so I grabbed the bottle and headed to the checkstand, not really sure what I should expect.

I got back to the office, looked at the bottle a little closer, and noted the ingredients:

Apples
Banana
Kiwi fruit
Mango
A hint of pineapple

Okay, sounds good. A bit of a mix, but it might be okay. But here's where it goes a but strange, as the ingredients continue:
Spirulina
Chlorella
Broccoli
Spinach
Blue green algae
Garlic (Garlic in a drink? Really??)
Barley grass
Wheat grass
Ginger
Parsley

At this point it sounds more like a salad than a drink.
And now, having downed most of it, I'm still not sure what to think of this product. Interesting taste, but the aftertaste faintly reminds me of the flavor left behind after you've just had a mouthful of seawater.

Fri, 01 May 2009 10:03:02 GMT

My apartment is a freaking oven. I've had the thermostat turned down all the way (to include the old ones that supposedly aren't hooked to anything) for over three weeks now, and it's till a sweltering 80 degrees in this place.

So let me get this straight - i have problems GETTING heat all winter, complain to the owner several times about it, finally get that sorted out without hearing from maintenance, and now the danged thing won't cut OFF, now that it's warmed up? I'm about to start cutting random wires to the thermostat, here.

I called the contact number for the landlord 2 days ago, left a voice message. Haven't heard back. If i don't get a reply by tomorrow afternoon, i'm calling again. And again. And again. And again. And again and again and again until the ~~stupid wench~~ lady picks up. And then i'm demanding a direct contact number for whoever they replaced the maintenance guy with, because obviously the owner's method of 'getting someone to look at it' isn't working too well.

I'm sitting here with the window open and shirtless, and i'm SWEATING. It's 42 degrees on the other side of the window, and i'm SWEATING with it wide open.

NOT.
COOL.

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 02:43:37 GMT

Oh well.

Life happens, you move on.

Back to being decidedly indifferent, i suppose.

Busybusy

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:48:51 GMT

Monday: work in Wasilla, spend the evening at Val's.
Tuesday: back out to Wasilla, spend the evening at Brad's
Wednesday: finally looks like I get to go home! But im going to see Spamalot tonight with Val & co.
Thursday: work, then karaoke contest (last week to qualify, wish me luck!)
Friday: work, an evening to myself!!
Saturday: Heart Run @ 10am, b-day party after.
Sunday: ???

Date wrap-up

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:19:14 GMT

In a word: *facepalm*

First of all, my place wasn't as clean as i thought it was...once she got here, i kept noticing things out of place, dirt here and there, etc...

Anyway, she came over as i was finishing up the prep for the meal: The chicken was just about to go in the pan to brown. Opened the door for her, give her the nickel tour, and get everything going for the main meal. We're talking this whole time, this, that, and the other thing. She reaches into her bag and produces two bottles of Framboise Lambic. She has a bit of trouble getting the cork out of the first one, so she asks me to help...and i do. All over my shirt. Fortunately, it's not a shirt i'm too attached to, and was planning to change out of anyway once i was done splashing around in the kitchen.

Well, we talked some more while the food finished cooking, and we took our plates into the living room and i let her choose a movie. She was intrigued by the plot of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and even though i warned her about it being a bit slow, she wanted to watch it.

After we were done eating (she couldn't eat the whole thing, so there went dessert), we ignored the movie in favor of conversation. We went through quite a few topics before i realized that i still had my oil- and sauce-spattered, raspberry-beer-stained t-shirt on. Yeah, that had to be attractive. Way to go, Chuck! -___-

And then there was the cat. As much as we tried to discourage her, she insisted on being between us on the couch. I'd harass her to the point she'd get up and leave, but two minutes later she'd be crawling over my lap to get between me and M. A little annoying.

So...bad movie choice, no dessert, looking like a slob, and a cat getting in the way.
All in all, outside of the compliment she gave me on the main course (she enjoyed it, just couldn't finish), i'd say i did a rather bang-up job of botching that one.

The Plan

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:43:49 GMT

My date is set for Sunday, since we both work this weekend (me during the day, she at night).
So, here's the plan...

Dinner:
Salad: Romaine, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, ???, ~~PROFIT!~~
Chicken with Rosemary and Capers, and Couscous with Yellow Squash:
the chicken:
4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
2/3 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons rinsed capers
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of tomato paste
2 tablespoons chopped parsley.

Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and saute, turning occasionally, until lightly browned on both sides(about 7 minutes). Remove chicken to a platter.

Over medium heat, add the onion, garlic, and rosemary to the pan. Cook, stirring, 1-2 minutes until the onion is wilted. (careful not to brown the garlic)

Add chicken broth and vinegar. Deglaze the pan by stirring and scraping with a wooden spoon.

Add capers and tomato paste and blend. Return chicken breasts and any juices on the plate back to the pan. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer 5-7 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Turn the chicken once during this.

Stir in the parsley and serve.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

for the couscous:

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 large clove of garlic, chopped fine.
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry couscous
1/4 cup cilantro

Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the squash, onion, and garlic. Stir over medium heat until onion wilts (2-3 mins)

Add the chicken stock and boil...add the couscous and blend well. cover, remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff it and stir the cilantro in with a fork, and you're done!

Dessert:
Choca-Chino Cakes with Ganache

After Dinner:
Option A: Pool or Bowling. There is a bowling alley right by my place, might even be a nice night to walk there, if the weather goes the way it's been going. The pool hall's not far away, either, now that i remember that there's one over on the corner.

Option B: Movie & Popcorn. Chick-flicks and Stupid-funny movies are out, but movies that make you go "huh?" for a while are okay. I'm thinking Memento (if we're just wanting action and confusion), or The Jacket (which is a really interesting movie, if bizarre). If neither of those sound appealing to her, there's always The Dark Crystal. That's a fun movie, no matter how old you are. Barring that, i sit her down with my Book O' DVD's and say, "Pick."

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:15:19 GMT

A date? Me? Will wonders never cease....

Clarification/disclaimer for last post

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:20:29 GMT

No, I did not try to use that line. I was being urged to by a friend, but I was able to recognize it for what it was: a Really Bad Idea (c).

Poll: Horrible pickup line?

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 11:49:56 GMT

While the band is playing "Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy", guy walks up to girl:
"I'm a cowboy. Let's go save a horse."

What IS that noise?!

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:25:22 GMT

It's amazing to me how difficult it is to tell between the sound of an upset baby and the sound of a very, VERY angry cat, muffled by distance and a closed window.

I'm guessing cat, since Issues' face is pasted against the window trying to figure out where it's coming from.

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:17:45 GMT

heh...we wound up texting like, all day yesterday. That was cute.

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 09:28:00 GMT

So, I posted last week about a certain gal I had taken an interest in, and that the next time I saw her I would give her my number. Well, since I didn't see her last night during the contest, I made a special trip out here tonight. Judging from her schedule, she would be here. And she was.

Cue anxiety. For a moment, anyway. ((oh, geez... She's gonna be married, or engaged, and I'm gonna make an arse out of myself.))

I got over that, though, and though she was in mid-conversation when I saw her at first, when I sat down, she came over and started talking to me. After a couple of topics, there was a pause, so I thought to myself, "here's my shot" and it went somewhat like this:

Me: "so, I had some big plan for this, but nothing ever turns out the way it plays out in my head. Anyway, I thing you're really cute, and fun from what I've seen, and I'd really like to take you out to dinner sometime. So, here's my number *hand over slip of paper with my number on it*. If you're interested, give me a call sometime and we'll do something.

Her: *takes slip, looks, pockets it* That would be really nice.

The topic changed a couple times,we talked about this, that, and the other thing, and she had to go clock in.

What this means to me:
She came to me: she likes me, a least in a friend capacity.
...when she wasn't on the clock: she wasn't doing it to butter me up for a tip.
She took my number: she might actually use it.
She stayed around: she wasn't completely horrified at the idea of me showing interest.

So, as Peter Griffen said when he was a Wonder Twin, "~~Form of - Jana's tampon!~~ Now we play the waiting game."

ETA: At the end of the night, she came up and said, "I've got your number, i'll have to text you mine later." More promising signs...

It's Thursday, again

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:09:07 GMT

Just inviting all you Anchorage-ites to the Shed tonight...come cheer me on as i battle it out with up to 11 other singers for a spot in the finals and a shot at $1000!

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:49:22 GMT

I lol'd.

Karaoke contest, part ad nauseum

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:59:00 GMT

Okay, so I wound up with a three-way tie out of the songs that I tossed up on Thursday night/Friday morning.

So, I'm tossing all of them and going with All Summer Long by Kid Rock. So there.

Of Idiots and Ashfall

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:44:44 GMT

Well, let's do the ashfall first.

Saturday, i looked out my window and saw what appeared to be a dirty sort of fog. To my dismay, i recognized it for volcanic ash from Mount Redoubt, and it had just started rolling in, so i hopped in my car and made my way out of town before i was unable to. There's supposed to be some more coming; we'll see. I have a little foil tray sitting on the balcony to see if i can collect any of it.

That's...really all i have to say about the ashfall. I'll have to get a full fluid change and a new air filter at the end of it.

On to idiots...
What is with people driving like complete morons, all of a sudden? I'm not what you'd call a slow driver, so there is really no reason for what's happened yesterday and today.
I'm cruising down the highway, going...about the speed limit...if i was off, it was on the high side, because the traffic flow is just that way on the Glenn Highway. If you're going the speed limit, you're actually in more danger than if you're going 10 over. You run the risk of getting run off the road.

Anyway, that said...i tend to go slightly faster than the surrounding traffic. I'm not really sure why i insist on this, it just happens. So i'm tooling along, going slightly faster than most of the other traffic, when Idiot A comes barreling up behind me in his little white coupe. I can't really get out of his way; i'm in the process of passing another car. He sits there flashing his high-beams at me for a moment or two, and in the meantime the car beside me decided he didn't want passed, so is now speeding up. Once he is past, this doofus is STILL sitting on my bumper, flashing his brights. For HALF A MILE. For one, i'm in the RIGHT LANE. For TWO, i didn't particularly feel inclined to speed any more than the flow of traffic called for. But this fellow can't figure out how to change lanes to the passing lane, so i take my foot off the gas and coast down to the speed limit of 65, to encourage him to get off my bumper and on with his death wish. Finally he gets the idea and changes lanes, then pulls up beside me to let me know that i'm Number 1 in his opinion. I feel so honored! He peels off ahead, and i make the rest of the trip out to the Valley.

And just tonight on the way home, the same thing. Only i found myself in the LEFT lane, which is the customary passing lane, while passing a car. Out of the night comes, this time, a big, blue pickup with a license plate "JUDDA", closing the space of two football fields in a matter of about 5 seconds, banging on his high-beams the whole way. One problem. People don't like being passed, apparently. I tried to speed up to get out of this "JUDDA" guy's way (who am i to keep him from his appointment at the funeral home?), and whenever i did, the guy next to me kept me boxed. I slowed down some, and once again, this fellow made sure i wasn't getting out of the way of the tool trying to give me an epileptic seizure with his little light-show. And now it was a very up-closelight-show.
I finally dropped gear and hammered on to get more torque than the dip beside me would be able to make up, open a bit of space between us, and as I'm about to change lanes, with my signal on, i glance at my blind spot in time to see JUDDA swerving into a space i'm surprised was big enough for him between the other car and me. He, too, proceeds to pace beside me for a half-mile leaning out his window and gesturing wildly at me, and probably making loud, outrageous claims about my parents and whether they were married when i was born. There may have even been a comment or two regarding my mother's demeanor; i can't say for sure: i only glanced over once, and the rest of the time i paid attention to the road.
When he was done, he decided that his trip would go SO much faster if he swerved in front of me, slowed down and showed me how it felt. Now, there's one great thing about my little car: projection high-beams. You generally don't want those in your rearview mirror, or in your face (they tend to be more focused, and as a result, more painful). Since he took the time to sit behind me giving me a lightshow, and gesticulate wildly into the night instead of paying attention to the road, and then seek what he considered to be 'revenge', i must admit that i decided to return his favor and give him a light-show of my own. Only brighter. And i made sure to drop back enough to make sure they made it over his tailgate.
What happened next, i'm still trying to work out. Either the shock of being treated to his own retina-searing game made him momentarily lose his senses, or he wasn't done being a douchenozzle and knew exactly what he was doing. Either way, he swerved over the yellow line to the very edge of the pavement and kicked a fair amount of dirt and stones up at my windscreen. Whatever the case, JUDDA is lucky none of the crap that bounced off my car broke my windshield, or he'd have the pleasure of buying me a new one. I'll leave off it for now, but if he had damaged my car, there would have been a police call, giving his make, model, and license plate number as well.

These two have re-ignited my desire to mount a million-candle-power spotlight in my rear window and having a trigger on my steering wheel.

Last night at the bar...

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:16:22 GMT

So, there's a waitress at the Shed, where the karaoke contest takes place, that I've found increasingly difficult to keep my eyes off of. Very cute. Over the last several weeks, I've talked to her more and more, and she seems rather sweet to boot (but don't take my word, I'm obviously a horrible judge of character). Anyway, i've been sitting with a couple of the other contestants for the past few weeks, a girl that runs a karaoke gig at another bar, and her boyfriend. I noticed that Mindy (the waitress) was hanging around our table a fair bit more than normal. Not that I minded that, at all; she's fun to talk with. Well, toward the end of the night, after Mindy had left, the other folks I was sitting with came out and said that I was the main topic of conversation whenever I wasn't at the table. Mindy, it seems, was asking questions about me. They then offered me her number. That seemed kinda...weird, and sort of not-how-things-are-done, so i passed. I figure if i'm ready to start anything, i'll man up and ask the girl myself. Anyway, this means one of two things: either they're trying to con me into making a move, or Mindy really has taken a shine to me. I'm going to choose to believe the latter, and the next time I find myself talking to her, I'll try not to make a fool of myself while trying to exchange phone numbers. Of course, with my overly-timid mindset, actually opening the topic could take a while.

Karaoke Contest - Week 5

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:53:03 GMT

Whoa, wait, what? What happened to Week 4??

Well, i was sick as heck last week, and my vocals were torn up from endless coughing fits, so i had to sit it out.

As for this week, i sang the song that was originally slated for last week, which was Walkin' on the Sun by Smashmouth.

Those who've seen me sing know that i'm typically all bottled up, and great technically, but not much of a showman. So this week, i decided to change it up a little bit. I thought to myself, 'Eh, what the heck. The worst that happens is i have to find another song for next week.' So i let it all out, quit worrying about the technical aspect, and just had fun with it. After my song, i had several of the audience members come up and tell me that i "rocked," or that "that was awesome", and a couple other variations on "Good job, man!"

The audience reaction while i was singing was pretty good, too...had one gal even get up and dance, which is a rarity, and i got a great round of applause. So, i was feeling pretty confident that i'd be at least going home with the 3rd-place shwag again.

No such luck. I've discovered that, while according to the rules, audience reaction is only 5% of the total score, the reality of it is, if you don't have a large group cheering madly for you, you're hosed.

Of the top three this week, only two were any good (seriously, a black lady with not only no pitch but no soul?? I think that's the first time i've seen it), and all three placed, i feel, because of the size of the group they were all part off (same table, all of them). And all three sang (or tried to sing) R&B or soul. Unfortunately, that's not my forté, and the genre selection shouldn't really matter anyway, but it seemed to tonight. All three from the same (rather large) group, and all in the same genre.

So i've come to realize, now, that it's not really a karaoke contest, but a popularity contest instead. Blah.

Oh well, i'll keep going, there's 5 weeks left, so hopefully i'll get in one of these times.

Oh right! Choices for next week (there are already votes, i asked people in the bar after the contest this time around):

Rock Star - Nickelback (3 votes)
Tribute - Tenacious D (3 votes)
Smooth - Rob Thomas and Santana (3 votes)
Paralyzer - Finger Eleven (2 votes)
Handlebars - Flobots (2 votes)

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:06:26 GMT

Sci Fi Channel to change its name.

Okay, can someone explain to me who the hell cooked this lame-brained idea up? The Sci Fi Channel has ALWAYS been about Sci-Fi - or of you prefer, Science-Fiction (hence the name? Abbreviation? Yeah?)

So now they want to appear to be less 'geeky' by changing their name. I don't buy it. Not in the least. First of all, the programming isn't changing, which is what made it 'geeky' in the first place. In fact, according to the above-linked article, they're launching a new series that stays true to the science-fiction nature of the channel.

Second is what they're changing it to: "Syfy". What in the name of all that is holy is THAT?! It's not a word, it's not an acronym, it's just a bastardized, mis-spelled version of the original name. It's pronounced the same, but it looks like something that was created by someone that was Hooked on Phonics.

Also, the station's rankings haven't exactly suffered - the article also mentions that The Sci Fi Channel is coming off its "best year in history", ranking it at 13th in the nation. Yet Dave Howe, President of the station, believes that the "geeky nature of the name 'Sci Fi'" is holding them back.
Mr. Howe, your station has a niche audience. It always has, it always will. Sure, your shows such as Ghost Hunters and a couple others have helped expand that niche, making you the 13th most popular ad-supported cable network. But seriously, what do you want? I don't think a theme-programmed network realistically has a shot at #1, if that's your goal, regardless of the name. Especially when you continually produce those Z-grade movies you seem so fond of making.

My parents brought me up understanding the rule, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Sci Fi coming off its best year ever would certainly indicate to me, at least, that it definitely ain't broke. At least "Sci-Fi" is a real abbreviation, unlike "Syfy".

DIAF.

Boom.

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:32:32 GMT

Redoubt just popped.

Some think the ash will hit Anchorage by 2am.

That is all.

Karaoke Contest - Week 3

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:40:47 GMT

Okay, so the voting last week was a tie between Pretty Vegas and Breakdown. However, the tiebreaker was decided when my desktop went belly-up over the weekend. All my karaoke software is on that machine. They don't have Breakdown in the book at the Shed, so i had to go with Pretty Vegas.

Now, if i ever do Pretty Vegas at that place again, i will be bringing my OWN copy of it, which:
a) sounds like real instruments, instead of sounding like it was made for a NES game, and
b) is in the RIGHT KEY.

Seriously, that wasn't even a reasonable facsimile of instruments. It sounded like pure MIDI, and was at least a full step lower, and it threw me off enough that i just couldn't get into it. So instead of getting into the crowd and playing the audience a little bit, i wound up standing in place, singing with a rather confused look on my face. It still got me 4th place out of 11, so at least i was still in the top half.

ANYWAY...this means i have yet another choice to make as to what to sing. This week i'll give you only two options (why? because I'm mean like that!):

(3 votes)Smashmouth - Walkin' On The Sun (not a huge fan of this 'unplugged' version, but it's the only one i could find that hadn't been yanked because WMG won't post the video like other studios do, and are killing every copy of it on YouTube)
or
(1 vote)Flobots - Handlebars

Since my desktop's still down, i'll have to re-acquire my CD+G software for my laptop if Handlebars wins, but that's a small matter of re-downloading it (since i bought it online, and don't have a CD for it).

I'll be accepting votes until Tuesday, if you feel like throwing your opinion in!