Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Jay: I Got Nothing

Well, not now, anyway.  I still have another unfinished post, which I actually tried to finish yesterday with the same result.  It’s just longer now.  I have a book review/commentary to write, having rabidly finished BMOC.  I have a cooking-related post or two I’ve had in mind.  One of these days maybe I’ll start a blog just for those posts; I even have a name and domain in mind.  Not that I need that, to create a blog magazine collective thingy like all the coolish kids.

Anywho, I think I’m going to try to do some car-related stuff today.  I’ve gone entire winters sounding the way I do now, and I may be beyond contagious.  I wouldn’t mind seeing my doctor and finding out if there’s more to do for it, but half the reason to have even made the attempt is to test whether I could.  Especially since he has been known to poke fun at me for not going to see him when sick or injured enough to justify it.

It’s a fascinating dynamic.  The doctor is like “come on down!” He acts like he’s an old-fashioned country doctor working out of an addition on his house, with no problem accomodating anyone stricken enough to need to see him like today.  The reality is that unless you’re lucky, you get gatekeepered into waiting a couple weeks, or seeing someone unfamiliar if you really must.  I hate seeing unfamiliars.  Even if he is their boss.  Which doesn’t help with his schedule, surely.

But I digress.  Maybe my back killing me is distracting from it, but I seem almost somewhat better today.  Sort of.  We’ll see.


10:26 AM | Totally Random • (0) Comments • Permalink

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Deb: Things that are harshing my mellow today:

1. The post office got an extra day off ‘cause Ford died.  Why?  Who the hell knows?  It’s just what’s done, donchaknow.  Unfortunately, since I don’t have psychic abilities, I was unable to take this into account when paying bills.  So instead of “thank you for the memories” I’m singing “thank you for the late fees” for sure.  Damned holiday’d already screwed the mail up.  Fucking holidays.  Fucking weird-ass ceremonial gestures.

2. I was totally loving the fancy weird energy saver light bulbs that Jay’s been bringing home from Wal-Mart, but it turns out that selling them at a reasonable price is all part of H. Lee Scott, Jr.’s plan to save the planet from the sort of people who shop at Wal-Mart.  There’s just something wrong about having this fellow in charge there.  First organic food, and now this?  I mean, I like the bulbs, but now I feel dirty, somehow, you know?  Fucking activist CEOs.

3. That sonofabitch Wakefield was apparently paid by lawyers to undermine the MMR vaccine:

According to the figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, Wakefield was paid £435,643 in fees, plus £3,910 expenses.

Wakefield’s work for the lawyers began two years before he published his now notorious report in The Lancet medical journal in February 1998, proposing a link between the vaccine and autism.

This suggestion, followed by a campaign led by Wakefield, caused immunisation rates to slump from 92% to 78.9%, although they have since partly recovered. In March this year the first British child in 14 years died from measles.

Fucking lying scheming murderous bastard lawyers.  Fucking no-good lying bastards that help them with their ugly schemes.

*sigh*

Somehow I don’t think this is fixin’ to be one of my less cynical years.


06:24 PM | Totally Random • (6) Comments • Permalink

Jay: Three Years Pass Like Nothing*

Happy anniversary!  Three years ago today, we made the scenic drive from Fresno to Las Vegas, enjoyed adventures in marriage licensing, braved wedding chapel sidewalk sales sharks, tied the proverbial knot, and stayed over at the Luxor.

No time and lifetimes later, here we are.  Yay!

Here’s my way after the fact big Jedi Wedding announcement post, which was preceded by a right after the fact confirmation post, an interim post touching on it, a picture of the rings, and followed by wedding pictures here, here, and especially here.

All the more appropriate to be offering congratulations to Rob Sama today.  Nice ring.

* This is a reference to the first issue of Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers that I ever read.


11:50 AM | Totally Random • (6) Comments • Permalink

Monday, January 01, 2007

Jay: New Toy

This is my Sadie’s Valerie’s cool toy keyboard that “Sadie” got for Christmas.

Sadie loved it, but ultimately Valerie seems to be the most taken with it, despite her seeming initial “that’s not a guitar where’s my guitar?” reaction.  In both cases, perhaps more so Val’s, when they bang on it the result is oddly musical rather than noisy.  That hardly seems likely, but then there are Sadie’s drawings with pleasing, consistent color combinations.  Go figure.

Oddly, the thing came with no sheet music as I’d expect a kid’s toy-yet-functional instrument to.  We had a little around that came with Sadie’s xylophone, but that’s been largely shredded.

It seems even more odd, because across the top they have a row of what you might call “play by numbers” labels.  Barely visible below the keys they also have the note letters.  I was thinking if I knew what the number system was called, I might find music similar to what I’d have expected to be included by searching the intertubes.

I’m glad it was such a hit, even though I really did have myself in mind as much as Sadie when I found it for $9.99.  That turned out to be $6.99!  Gotta love when that happens.


03:32 PM | Kids • Music • (0) Comments • Permalink

Jay: Another Unfinished Post

I made the following as a comment elsewhere, then saved a copy to post here and perhaps expand or comment upon further.  I no longer recall what I meant to say, be it more on alternate timelines, or my memories of Ford and of the times, or elicit discussion about the pardon, or what.  Thus I present just what I commented elsewhere in reference to an opinion wishing Ford had not done the pardon that is actually a transposed wish not to have had Carter win in 1976:

And yet… Carter ensured we got Reagan.

While at the same time Carter gave us Volcker and set us on the path of deregulation, showing even he could have a silver lining (besides ensuring we got Reagan).

I don’t know if anyone has ever addressed it in fiction, but surely Ford’s loss in 1976, and therefore presumably the pardon that tipped the scales, was one of the most pivotal points in American history.  It would be fascinating to know where the road not followed would have led, but how can we be so sure it would have been to a better end?

Any extrapolation is just that, with the butterflies increasing in ferocity by the day.


12:10 PM | Blogging • News • Politics • (1) Comments • Permalink

Jay: So I Caved

I bought a 48-pack of pseudoephedrine hydrachloride from the Wal-Mart pharmacy yesterday.  Now I’m on the List of Possible Meth Makers, since of course all those folks with such labs will ever go near buying restricted raw ingredients personally.  Next thing you know I’ll be going truly hardcore, buying fertilizer and diesel.

On another note, I replaced the dead DVD player.  $37 for a new one!  Amazing.  What they’re pushing are all the fancy ones that also write, or are also a VCR.  Of the three basic ones, only the Magnavox was in stock, so that’s what I got.  It’s light as a feather, looks a little retro, and works great so far.  The Sony they had on display didn’t even have a price, but Sony is what died so we’d have wanted another brand anyway.


09:23 AM | Totally Random • (0) Comments • Permalink

Jay: Happy Birthday

To blogger Will at Entropy Manor, for whom this will be a year of being The Answer.


08:55 AM | Birthdays • (1) Comments • Permalink
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