Sunday, September 30, 2007

Rolling rolling rolling

Yes, I'm still on the wagon - ending my second month of Chocolate Abstention. My resolve was almost shattered when I saw display of Joseph Schmidt's truffles the other day. Apparently J.S. confections has been bought out by a competitor and their online site no longer offers their Slicks or Mosaics. I'm glad they no longer exist as a temptation... but very depressed too, knowing that when I do eventually fall off the wagon they won't be there waiting for me. *sob*

Anyway. Finished BioShock which definitely got two thumbs up from me in all categories: music, voice work, graphics, playability, theme, storyline, etc. 'Normal' mode was, at times, a bit more challenging than I was expecting.

Still rebuilding stuff in SecondLife (before & after pics coming soon), and am eagerly anticipating the Havok 4 phsyics engine update, it should make some of the projects I've shelved viable.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

A day for politics

I sent a short thank you e-mail to Jerry Sanders for his choosing to sign rather than veto the amicus brief that the San Diego City Council voted to join, asking that the California Supreme Court overturn the ban on gay marriage.

And, unrelatedly, out of annoyance, I finally unsubscribed from MoveOn.org:
    You attack everything, the small issues and the large.
    It's trivialized the real issues and makes you sound like crackpots.


    I'm tired of the hype, you've become as toxic as the right-wingers
    in your daily attacks and I'm sick of it.


    Where the hell is "Moderates.org" so I can sign on with them instead?

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Opportunism

Quote of the day:
"The more opportunities you take advantage of,
the fewer that will come your way." -- me

No, I'm not being some fatalistic pessimist here.
It's about trust and expectation. If you turn a situation
to your benefit the moment someone lets you, they'll
be more guarded around you in the future.

Play for fun, not to win. People will be more willing
to play with you and you'll benefit more in the long run.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

I Lost my Cool on Labor Day.

... because of the heatwave?

Well, partly.

Last night, an unforgivably fugly car with a 'custom' car alarm (I peeked in its window)... decided that it liked the heat less than I did.

So it honked as if a driver were in the vehicle having a panick attack...

And it honked so loudly that it badly startled me each time it started up again...

Which it did, more or less every 20 minutes ... all ... night ... long.

By dawn, the car was taped up with several angry notes by neighbors up and down the street. None of them had it parked directly below their bedroom windows, like I did.

A police officer arrived around 7:30am. (That time of day that I'm normally quite oblivious to the world, but not today.)

Overheated, sleep-deprived and out of my head with rage, I had a very strong impulse to break the car's window, release its emergency break and then push it down the hill into the nearby canyon. And I said so.

The officer informed us that there was little he could do unless the alarm sounded continuously for 45 minutes or more. I made a number of additional comments that also shouldn't in front of an officer of the law. I wasn't alone in voicing my frustration. He weathered it well, letting us vent at him like that, very diplomatic without being patronizing. And while it made me feel better to be heard by someone, anyone... I still wanted some assurance that SOME action would take place to end the disturbance.

He left without providing any.

Not long after, a large multi-car carrier arrived and loitered for several minutes. I'm not sure what transpired, but the offending car remained silent afterwards. It still had all the notes left on it. Several hours later, I presume the car owner arrived and vanished with his car of shame.

In the 14 years I've lived near downtown I've had to put up with quite a few unruly car alarms. Neighbors that would lock their large dog in the car over-night, not realizing it set off their alarm whenever the dog moved, and the like.

Nothing has ever even come close to how loud, startling, invasive or infuriating this car was.

The heat today was so much that I relented and turned on the A/C, something I often do without most years. The poor thing was laboring to keep my place cooled down to 80, but it was enough for a rather satisfying nap.