makes a great gift

I decided to explore craigslist today. As usual, there's always something strange o'er there. This time it was in the garage sale section. Not sure how it made it there...

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/gms/137173036.html

terrible mapping experiences

So I've been trying to locate a few things using online mapping tools tonight. I started by using Google Earth, which is great for visually plotting locations. I then fell into the trap of using its search function. I was initially impressed by its ability to locate the things that I was looking for.

Some background: Someone I know is going to be moving to New Haven, CT this fall, and since they aren't any good at doing anything without my help, I'm looking for stores that we can go to to get stuff. You know, move in stuff. So basically a Target, Sam's Club or Costco, Home Depot or Lowe's... that sort of thing.

So somewhere along the way I decided to see if Google Earth missed any. Basically I was disappointed/surprised to see that the closest Sam's Club was 12 miles from downtown New Haven. So I check out the Sam's Club Web site. I could find the locate store function fairly easily, but it took me about 5 minutes to figure out that it would only work in IE because it uses a strange variant popup (aka "bastard popup").

The first online mapping horror: Sam's Club's map's inability to zoom out
As someone not familiar with New Haven, it would be nice to zoom out to get some orientation of where the place is in relationship to the city. No can do here. And what's up with the black and white Mapquest map? I thought they've always had color maps.

The second online mapping horror: Google Earth sucks
You know how I mentioned that Google Earth told me that the closest Sam's Club was 12 miles away? Apparently the location that Google Earth found and plotted was nowhere close to where the real Sam's Club really was. It was off by about ***8 miles!*** The worst part? I need to recheck everything that I've found so far. And you know what that means... more fun with store sites... ugh....

The third online mapping horror: Home Depot's stores disappear
I was happy with this to start. It was easy to find, and unlike Sam's, it actually worked on my browser. Always a plus when things work. At least I thought it worked. Try zooming in (so you can actually see where the two locations are). Note that the first location is in North Haven and the second is in Orange. Also note where these points are on the map. Click on the North Haven location, then hit the back button. Say you want to re-submit the data. After all, submitting the same ZIP again should yield the same stores, right? Kind of... What's the second store now? Wallingford? What happened to Orange? It's still on the map, but Wallingford is actually about 15 miles to the north of New Haven, not to the southwest as the map indicates.

Fourth online mapping horror: Costco's crap print map, now online
Try finding this location on a real map. Seriously, give it a shot. Here's a map from Google Maps. Note that Costco insists that I-95 runs straight north and south. As far as I can tell, I-95 goes northeast and southwest, with a smidge of northwest southeast. Actually, there is not a single point in the entire state that goes north-south, and definitely not when it intersects with Boston Post Rd. Oh yeah... even better, the map says that Boston Post Road goes northwest/southeast. In reality, the entire road goes perpendicular to what the map says. Very nice... The fact that the map sucks so much makes me not want to shop there. At least Google Earth found this one right.

after dark

Reminiscing... I'm about to go across the room to read something, but I'd like to keep track of this upload so I know when to upload the next file... However, I know that before it's done the screensaver will start going. This means that either I'll have to disable the screensaver, or get up every 18 minutes to flip it off.

I remember a time when I had a screensaver that had this feature that would be great for this situation. The screensaver software was After Dark, the ever-popular screensaver for the Mac back in the 1990's. It had this feature where it would do different things if you moved the mouse to a corner of the screen. For example, if I moved the mouse to the top right of the screen, the screensaver would instantly come up. Similarly, if I moved it to the bottom right corner, the screensaver would never come on. Something that I could certainly use right now.

<grumble>

Oh... and for those of you who are wondering about the random scream, it doesn't mean anything. It's just a random scream. Bad habit, I know.

aaahh!!!!!

<scream!>

followup

I have my followup appointment with the surgeon today. Hopefully I get the all clear and everything is going well. Wish me luck!

stool softeners

Yet another post of poor taste...

But these stool softeners are amazingly consistent in how they operate. If I take them before bed, the results come at 11am the following morning. This is after 3 days of observation.

Definitely more effective than the Percocet. That neither had the painkilling effect, nor the narcotic effect. The generic was probably a placebo (at least that's the story I'm sticking to). Well, it's about that time....

wish list?

My dad asked me about getting a "Jump Drive" today. Personally, I'm not a fan of calling those things "Jump Drives" since it's a brand name that is completely dead to me. Does anyone actually own a "Jump Drive" branded USB drive? For those who also have never heard of "Jump Drive," it's neither a drive nor does it jump. It's one of those small USB devices that you can save stuff to. Often accompanied by a lanyard or something.

My dad's request did get me thinking... perhaps I should get one. I'll add it to my list of potential toys to get prior to going to school.

Here's the initial list:

• Portable USB drive - as big, cheap, and portable as possible. Current contenders: LaCie Carte Orange (8GB, 6mm thick, size of a credit card, and cheap!), Imation USB wristband (weak at 256MB), anything that can get perpendicular, another iPod?
• Laptop - specs TBD. Something with a big screen. 1400x1050 minimum! No way I'm going back to anything smaller (unless um... money).
• Desktop - maybe.... probably not. Faster CPU is the only thing I might need... to support my crack-like photography habit.
• Clothes - I will need new clothes at some point, right?
• PDA - may not be necessary if I find a small enough laptop that can boot up quickly... combining it with a phone may actually make it practical, but I like my phone. It's small, gets good reception, and the battery remarkably still kinda works. No crackberry though.
  

update.... plus the stupidest web blunder of the year

I'm alive. I made it through surgery. I can walk around, but my back hurts and it seems like my body doesn't want to stand up straight (yet). I do get to finally take the bandage off this afternoon and take a peek, so maybe that's something to look forward to. And I'm really really really bored.

It's only Friday, so maybe I'll feel good enough to go watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. However, the thing that scares me is Laz. If he tried to tackle me like he did Greg right after his surgery, I will have to kill him. Maybe I should get a restraining order first. It would be *very* unpleasant to re-open a wound that (or any other night).

So... you're wondering what the stupidest web blunder is? Try going to American Express' Web site. Seriously. Try it!

If you're like many people, you probably typed in "www.americanexpress.com." But any luck? Probably not. Let me tell you why... The idiots at American Express decided that they're special and that they're going to use the URL home.americanexpress.com. That's perfectly fine and good, but you should at lease make www.americanexpress.com work too, for all those people who might think that you guys would support the same www. subdomain that everyone else in the world seems to support. I wonder how many people will miss payments because of this...

i am no fun

**WARNING**
Some of the content of this post is excessively descriptive. Really... I'm putting this here for a reason.
***************

So, does anyone want to do anything this weekend? Sorry, I'm busy Friday and Saturday night. Want to do something for Superbowl Sunday? No, I can't make it. When will I be able to hang out? Um... maybe March?

It's not that I don't like you (well... maybe), but I'm going to be busy. Busy doing what? Busy having a nurse shave my balls. (-; Literally.

Yeah, my insides are falling out and the doc needs to patch me up with a plastic mesh to keep my innards *in*. No, I'm not kidding!

I have a hernia and I need to get it fixed. Not familiar with hernias? It's when your intestines find a way out of the abdominal cavity. Mine is an inguinal hernia, meaning that it's protruding out of my crotch. No, that extra mass down there isn't a good thing! No sex for weeks afterwards! (not that that would really matter anyway...)

No, it doesn't really hurt. It definitely feels unusual. Unusual how it occassionally feels like something is putting pressure on a third testicle down there that I don't have. Oh... and when I fart, or have bowel movements, I can feel it move sometimes. (-; Don't you ever wonder how you can have a lot of gas but you don't look visibly bigger? Well, with a hernia, it's almost like a little window. You can't see inside, but you can feel as your lunch (or dinner) moves through while you're sitting on the can. (-; Jealous, huh?

Want one of your very own? I don't really recommend it, but you can try to get one by smoking a lot to develop a good smokers' cough. You can also try to lift really heavy stuff. Uber-constipation also helps. Or, you overachievers out there can try to smoke, cough, and lift heavy objects while trying to force constipated poop out of your rectum. Your body, you do what you want.

As for me? I'm not really sure how I got mine. I'm sure my cough at the beginning of January certainly didn't help. Or maybe it was me propping up my bed to help my cough... or the combination of the two? Either way, I don't smoke and I'm pretty sure it's not constipation.

If you have read this entire post up to this point, give yourself a pat on the back. Was it the morbid curiousity, or do your *really* have nothing better to do?

almost queen, part deux

Almost Queen was in town again today, and I was there again to witness it.

Different set, but still an awesome performance. Unlike the last concert, this time it was packed. I even saw a few people from work there. They were impressed as well.

I'm not going to write a ton on it again, because I already did it before. They still rock. Here's my previous post.

must feed

In theory, cooking your own meals at home is cheaper than going out to eat. I put that to the test today...

$4.60 Strip Steak
$0.55 Onion
$1.99 Mushrooms
$0.72 Tomato
---------------------------
$7.86 Total from Heinen's

Add to that the probably $1.00 worth of lettuce, oil, dressing that I used. About $8.88 or so. Pricey for a home-cooked meal, but still cheaper than eating out and getting something similar. Only problem is that I overcooked the steak. :-(

Next time I'll do better.

political commentary of the day

My comments from signing the moveon.org petition to have an independent investigation of domestic wiretapping activities:

I can understand the justification of reduced civil liberties in a time of war. However, what is troubling in this situation is that our fight on terrorism is one that has no clear end.

If we can foresee an attainable definition of victory, then it would be justifiable to reduce civil liberties temporarily for the purpose of preserving our nation and what it represents.

However, in the present situation, it appears that there is no clear end to the war on terrorism. This creates a scenario where our civil liberties can become permanently suspended. If this is the case, then the terrorists would have effectively destroyed what makes our society unique.

While I do not protest the use of executive power on the grounds of being in a state of war, I do have strong objections to using this justification as a means to permanently reduce our civil liberties.

these guys are awesome!

So I was reading my new favorite newspaper, the International Herald Tribune (more on this later), and spotted this article on NFL quarterbacks and their facial hair. Halfway through the article, there was a quote from the captain of Beard Team USA. Needless to say, I had to check it out.

And what did I find? Wonderful, wonderful beards. Not in your wildest dreams would you find such bountifully abundant moustaches and beards. Check the world champs.

So back to the International Herald Tribune... I've been using news.google.com more recently, and I've noticed that iht.com was by far the easiest online news to read. I poked around their site some today and learned that this is the very same newspaper that I like to steal whenever I'm in Chicago's O'Hare airport. Good articles, good broad coverage, and none of the tabloid crap that's so common nowadays. Sorry. I'm not a huge fan of gossip.

ridiculous link of the day

Third post of the day. Lordy, this is getting excessive. But I had to share. :-)

Thanks to Scott, who referenced carrier pigeons in his e-mail about moving back to Houston, I was presented an ad for a "Pigeon Loft Organizer."

"What on Earth is a Pigeon Loft Organizer!?," you might ask. Some choice snippets from their site:

• Do you need to upgrade from an obsolete, "legacy", pedigree program?
• Pigeon Loft Organizer software provides a quick and easy way for you to manage all your pigeon data.
• Create pedigrees incorporating JPEG images of the object pigeons and parents
• Identify all sons & daughters of a selected cock or hen
• Analyse your racing results by Club, race point, year, pigeon
  

nucular

I've just been playing with local.live.com for a bit. Nice aerial photos. None of downtown Cleveland though.

But who needs downtown Cleveland when you can get a great pic of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant?

Yes, I can see this from my window. Obviously not so close (or maybe not so obvious?).

dreaming of the mbta

Um.... strange, but it's been the second time in a week when I've had a dream that involved the MBTA (Boston's subway system, to be specific). Must be those spare passes I keep seeing in my wallet.

Dream #1:
I was trying to catch the red line to Kendall Square (MIT Sloan reference I'm sure). But instead of the current system of trains, they had this huge two story platform like it was some sci-fi movie or something.

Basically there were two sets of tracks so that twice as many trains could run. I decided to try to bottom tracks.

As I got to the bottom platform I noticed that my train was just leaving. Crap. I raced back up the ramp to try to catch the one on the upper platform, since that's where the next train would arrive.

As I neared the upper platform, the train arrived. "I got it" thought me. I ran to the car closest to me, but the door closed just before I got there. Crap again.

Knowing that I can't make it back down to the bottom platform in time by running, I stood frozen for a few moments trying to decide what to do. I heard the train coming in the bottom platform.

Without thinking, I climbed over the fence and dropped down to the bottom platform. I landed on the platform just as the train was slowing down. I had made it.

Do not *ever* try this. It's what I would call stupid.

Dream #2:
I was about to enter one of the subway stations when I realized that I didn't have any tokens and only the blue line seemed to take the passes that I had. As I backed away from the turnstile I looked around for the guy who sells the tokens. Nowhere to be found. I looked around some more and noticed that another entryway did accept my pass. Score.

The funny thing is that the slot for the pass was above the doorway. Since I have crazy hops, I was able to get it in on the first try. I passed through.

As I was walking in, I started wondering whether I needed to get the pass back. When I used the pass before the turnstiles would always give me that pass back even though it didn't have any value left. As I was pondering, I noticed a beep coming from the door. I turned around and saw a light flashing and I knew that I needed to go back and get it.

However, someone else saw this and started running for it. I gave chase. We got there at the same time and jumped up to snatch the pass. Like a going up for a rebound or jump ball in basketball...

I managed to get the pass even though the other guy was much taller than I was. I then called him a bitch for trying to take it.

As I walked back towards the subway, I began to think that maybe something else had happened when I was caught up with trying to get my pass. I then noticed that my watch was missing.

I darted back towards the other guy.

Eventually I caught up with him at a mall where my foot speed allowed me to catch up to him and knee him in the sternum. He had my watch. That bastard.

At this time, security came along and sorted things out. I told them that it was my watch and that I could get the serial number to prove it.

My brain decided to skip the following boring part. I got my watch back and I drove to work.

On the highway, I noticed that I was behind the guy who stole my watch. He was driving a black car with a vanity plate, similar to mine. But instead of IP 88, he had his full name on there along with some numbers.... something to the effect of 7.13.1983vPAUL_IP or something really retarded. Some combination of possible birthdate, then his name, which coincidentally was also my name.

Also coincidentally, he worked in the same place as I did. Not just the same place, but one row over from where I sat. We exchanged some dirty looks....

links of the day

Ever wanted to be a trucker?

link of the day

Link of the day

random thoughts

A rambling of some of the thoughts that have been running through my mind:

• "I'm getting nothing done"
  Clearly... you're writing in your blog. You haven't done this in an entire week. Clearly procrastinating...
  
  
• "Maybe I should buy a Mac. For some reason they actually seem somewhat affordable now."
  Um... you may have no choice what computer you'll end up getting. Either way, it probably won't be a Mac, unless you go photo crazy. Get some L glass first, then worry about the computer.
  
  
• "I should go buy software"
  
  
  
• "Should I get a new battery for my iPod mini?"
  No. It technically still works. It's just a little tempermental. How often do you use the battery anyway? Suck it up and deal with it.
  

jump starting the 2006 travel season

OK... that's a complete misnomer... especially since this is a one day trip and I have no firm travel plans for the rest of the year. But just you wait... there might be some extensive excursions!

Right?

Oh right. I'm flying to Boston in the morning, and coming back Saturday. If weather permits, I may be at the Progressive Direct Year-End Event (yes... Year-End Event Jan 7th!).