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Funny Photos

May 31st, 2007. Published under General. No Comments.

Proper storage of your Pixel
Originally uploaded by blogkitten.

I uploaded a ton of photos last night to my Flickr account last night.

Lots of vacation pictures, and some funny cat ones.

Recording Tech Snark tonight and have lots to do today.

Home Improvement.

May 29th, 2007. Published under General. 2 Comments.

We finished the Great Painting Extravaganza this weekend. The project I started around the 4th of July last year, I believe. We also got the shelves built and installed - it looks awesome. I’ll take photos later.

In my zeal to “stick it” to Comcast, we were going to switch our television and internet over to Dish and Embarq, respectively. Without going into a long, drawn-out story, Embarq fucked up royally when I called them today wondering where the hell my DSL modem was that was supposed to be delivered on the install date of last Friday. Due to the fact they never put the order in to have one sent to me (despite me being adamant and asking 3 times when we’d get the modem) and since they weren’t too concerned about fixing things for me, I decided right then to cancel their service.

If they can’t even set up a new customer correctly, how in the hell will the rest of their service be? We weren’t saving any money by switching to them anyway. But we are switching to Dish, because we’ll be saving about $30 a month on the service and I can cancel my Tivo subscription (another $20 a month), so that’ll be worth it.

But now, since we had to switch our Dish service (we had it bundled through Embarq) to a new account, we lost (not sure how) the cushy Saturday morning install and now will have an install next Monday morning. Not ideal, but $50 is $50.

* * * * *

Happy “Monday”, everyone!

Time flies.

May 24th, 2007. Published under General. 1 Comment.

Time flies whether you’re having fun or not.

Work has been crazy lately and I haven’t had much energy to write properly, so I’ll give you the BlogKitten Cliff Notes Version:

1. The new phone is OMG AWESOME. It’s gorgeous - and I was right, it’s more of a burgundy than a rose color. It nearly matches my car! And it is so slick, I can’t stand it.

2. Running off the treadmill proves to not fuck up my hip. Since that discovery, it’s rained every single night and I haven’t been able to run.

3. I had to go home early yesterday afternoon to deal with a house issue and as a result I got hailed on in the Death Storm we got yesterday afternoon. I have so many dents in my car, it’s not even funny. No broken glass, thank god - but still, it’s enough to make me sob.

4. The Great Painting Project is going to be finished this weekend. We’re also going to build some shelving above the television to house the immense number of things we have for the TV now.

5. Embarq is coming tomorrow to hook up our new DSL line, and once that’s running, I’m going to tell Comcast to SUCK IT. Our new Dish service will be installed June 2nd, but considering the last show we watch just had its finale on Monday, we don’t really need the cable right now. Also, the Tivo service is also going bye-bye since we’ll have DVR’s (at no charge) through Dish. If it records on the one in the living room, we can access it in the bedroom. Awesome. All in all, we’re going to save $50 a month by switching and we have a lot of friends thinking of doing the same. Fuck Comcast.

6. Four-day weekend! Woot! We’re going to burn meat products with B & J on Sunday, and possibly go to a live show. I think we have another party to go to on Saturday night too. I think we’re going to be busy as hell all weekend…but that’s a good thing.

7. New Tech Snark episode out!

Happy Memorial Day!

Awww!

May 18th, 2007. Published under General. No Comments.

What a great story!!

Dog Nurses Tiger Triplets at China Zoo.

*squee*

Recovery.

May 17th, 2007. Published under General. 1 Comment.

I hate recovery.

I hurt my hip nearly a month ago running. It was painful to even walk for a few days.

Now, I’m feeling fine - but I tried running on Sunday and after a 13 minute warm up and lots of stretching, I could only run for a minute and a half before that painful, knife-stabbing twinge came back.

Now I’m going to have to devise a new workout regime while I heal enough to run again. What I tried the past couple of workouts is to walk at a 4.0-4.2mph pace, throwing in some incline here and there, then doing the upper body machines and some vertical knee raises. So far, it seems to be working.

I might have to switch to cycling for the serious cardio for the summer. I need a new helmet, though. Good thing I can get one with my Super Employee Discount!

But I’m so impatient - I try to push myself rather than let myself fully heal before I give things another go. I have to remember that I’m not 18 years old anymore.

On a side note, the Nike Free shoes have been working quite well. I’m not having as much foot pain in the morning lately. Which is GOOD.

The Death of the Butt Phone!

May 17th, 2007. Published under General. 5 Comments.

I’m finally doing it. I’m getting rid of the Butt Phone*.

My cheap nature and stubbornness has paid off!

Soon, I will be the proud owner of a Motorola RIZR Z3:

Closed.

Open!

In that color too. They call it “Rose” but it looks more of a dark magenta to me. I don’t care. I’ve wanted one for the longest time, but T-Mobile only carried the blue one - and I really don’t like blue.

Also, since my contract was up, I get the phone for CHEAP. Even better!

I’m not sure how long it will take to get said phone, but most likely I’ll have it by next week. Unless I go to the actual T-Mobile store and get it. They probably don’t have the phone, or else they won’t have the deep online discount.

But yeah…no more Butt Phone! Woo Hoo!
* * * * *

* - I really don’t know how my Nokia 6010 got that nickname - it’s more of a brick than a butt. I’ll have to ask my Tech Snark co-hosts about that one, since they’re the ones who came up with the name.

Blind man cries discrimination in denial of gun permit.

May 16th, 2007. Published under General. No Comments.

A North Dakota man who says he would only use the gun for self-defense at close range couldn’t get a permit in Moorhead, MN because he couldn’t pass the required proficiency on the firing range and a proficiency of the weapons themselves. Apparently the blind can shoot guns based upon “sound, gravity, body position.”

read more | digg story

Adventures in Shopping!

May 14th, 2007. Published under General. 1 Comment.

I took Tim to the Mall of America (MOA) on Saturday. Now, I tend to avoid MOA at all costs, because going there just drives me crazy. However, we were on a mission: to go to H&M.

H&M is a discount retailer from the UK and is supposed to have some pretty innovative fashion (Madonna and Kylie Minogue both have lines with the retailer) and is supposed to be dirt cheap. But the only store in the metro area that has both men’s and women’s clothing was at MOA. Since both Tim and I need some new summer work clothing, we ventured out.

Here’s a hint: if you’re not 18 and/or not a size 1, do not go to H&M. Why? Because the clothing is crap and they size it very small.

Now some of you might say that the UK sizes differently than the US, and they do - however, they had both UK and US sizing on the labels and I grabbed my normal size in the US sizing chart. Let me tell you something, as a woman, there’s nothing more demoralizing than going into a store, grabbing your “size” in a pair of pants and when you try it on, not being able to pull the accursed garment past your knees.

Couple that wonderful experience with a store full of the afore mentioned 18 year old/size 1 people. People who had the look on their face like they smelled something bad and looking at me like I had 7 heads and were covered in flaming spikes. Tim had found a shirt and he was standing in a line of people 80 deep waiting to pay for the shirt. But after my dressing room debacle and relaying the story, he looked at me and said “I’m just about ready to drop this shirt and get the fuck out of here.” So I said “then let’s do it” and we left.

Another item I discovered while at H&M: I can’t wear shirts with puffy shoulders. I look like I could take Brian Urlacher’s spot on the Bears - but with broader shoulders.

I came to the realization of why I can’t find inexpensive clothing that I like. I want stuff that’s cool, funky and isn’t made so cheaply that looking at it funny would make it fall apart. The problem is that the styles and colors of things that I really like aren’t the same as what a mass-market would buy. As a result, the items that are made are in a relative small quantity and because of that, the individual item has to be more expensive in order to make a profit. It’s why the stuff that I absolutely LOVE from Boden and Kuhlman are so expensive. Well, it’s not exactly why - but you know what I mean. I prefer a niche, specialty type of clothing - and that shit is not cheap.

So I guess what I need to do is evaluate my current wardrobe and find out what pieces I’m missing and what items I can affordably add to it to make it work for me.

* * * * *

In other shopping news, my part-time job employee-discounted Timbuk2 bag (in the olive/lavender) was waiting for me when I worked there this weekend. Gotta love the employee discount!

UPDATE: Darwin Award Nominee

May 11th, 2007. Published under General. 1 Comment.

Remember the story about the genius who was riding his bicycle at night with no light and got a ticket for it after colliding with a car?

There’s an update to the story - a short interview with the driver of the car he hit:

‘I got T-boned’ by a biker on a cell phone, motorist says

A quote from the story:

Jaimae Schmit said the cyclist, Bruce D. Miller, 45, of Waite Park, was wearing black clothing and had no light or reflectors on his bike, and he was not wearing a helmet. Police said he was on the phone when he crashed into Schmit.

Now I’m not surprised that this guy wasn’t wearing a helmet. I’m surprised he wasn’t drunk off his ass - but with the other stellar choices he’s made while riding a bike, a helmet would be the last thing on his mind. It would interrupt his cell phone use considerably because it would be in the way.

What really pisses me off is that since the bicycle Miller was operating is not considered a “motor vehicle”, Schmit has to pay the $500 deductible to get her car fixed. I hope she sues the guy for negligence.

Darwin Award Nominee

May 9th, 2007. Published under General. 1 Comment.

There’s this story in the Star Tribune today:

Bicyclist who collided with car is injured and gets ticket

Ok…I normally side with the bicyclist in cases like this. But this guy is not only an idiot - he deserved getting a ticket for operating a bicycle without a light. Normally, one would say “WTF, mate?” but in this instance, it’s valid.

Why? Because…

1. It was 10:47pm. That’s when it’s REALLY DARK OUTSIDE.

2. He was talking on his cell phone. I’ll repeat. TALKING ON A CELL PHONE.

Now it’s unfortunate that he did get hurt - albeit a minor injury - but if you’re that damn stupid to be riding your bike at night, in traffic and without a light AND THEN not being hyper-aware of your surroundings, then, well, stuff is probably going to happen to you. Boo-fucking-hoo.

On a side note, there’s no way I could ride my bike in traffic (or anywhere, for that matter) while talking on a cell phone. That’s just dangerous.

*feels the irony*