I was testing my sister’s gallery software (which is broken, by the way) and I had to find a proper picture to use to test uploads. Fortunately, my new Mac has a camera built into it.
I think I’m going to use this picture on Match.com.

I mean, the show gets my heart rate up and I have trouble getting to sleep afterwards, so I’m glad there’s only 24 episodes in a season. Problem is, there has to be a cliff-hanger until next January. Good thing I have “Rescue Me” and maybe “The Closer” and possibly “Monk” this summer. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Starved” better be coming back, too.

For those of you who look at my sister’s galleries, I am sorry they are broken at the moment. She can’t post any more entries. I’m not sure what’s wrong, and it may take me a bit to fix it. Let me say, on the record, that I really dislike PHP. It may be time for me to learn Ruby or something.

Not only did I not get up early today, but I also took a nap. I finally got around to mowing the lawn, but it got dark and the sky looked, well, ominous. Thunderstorms were forecast, so I figured I’d better just get the mowing done and then hide out. After some short period of hiding out, the sun came out, but it was all just a ruse. After about an hour of good weather, all hell broke loose and I even heard there were some flooded streets. There are random severe weather warnings, and coin-sized hail.

My sister brought over some stale pastries today, which beats the hell out of no pastries, but calling them “stale” means I get to eat them at a rapid rate with no feelings of guilt. Not that I tend to feel guilty about eating pastries. I feel guilty about just about anything else, but not pastry eating. Especially not stale mini-pastries.

Oh, an internet buddy from Baltimore sent me a copy of the article I was in about people who didn’t get into their college of choice. I was featured, you remember, because I got into NO medical schools, not just my medical school of choice. The funniest thing was that my picture is right next to STEVEN SPIELBERG’S! I’m sure that’s the only time that’s will happen.

Instead of enjoying the surprisingly nice weather, I took a nap and then worked on my sister’s database. I know I didn’t need to figure out all the weird things, but it also gave me practice with SQL. I’ve forgotten a lot in the past year. I was so tired today, I could have gone to sleep at 7PM. But, as it usually goes, I got a second wind and while I should be asleep now, I was re-watching the last shows of “That 70’s Show” and “Will & Grace.” Yeesh.

So, I think the cooling tower for the Trojan nuclear power plant will have to implode on its own. I’m going to sleep right through it. There were all-night parties and also camp outs planned, but unless I’m doing the blowing up or standing very closeby, I’m not going to bother with the loss of sleep and the horrendous traffic. That just sounds too much like going to work.

Jessica at the gym’s front desk (or Mrs. Y, as I like to call her) found a new DMX radio station at the gym. I think Ben, also at the front desk, said it was called “70’s Party Music.” It’s not just the 70’s. I remember hearing “Buffalo Stance” by Neneh Cherry, The Dazz Band, some Parliament, “Shine a Little Love” by ELO, etc. Some of it is 70’s but a lot is 80’s. All very silly, just the way I like it.

Anyway, here it is, Friday night again and I’m too tired to do anything besides hitting the hay after watching some TV. I’m just so exciting. Even my fantasies about the women at the gym are more like my thinking, “Eh, I’m way too boring for her.”

One problem I’ve had is lack of TV-turning-off willpower. “The Unit” showed two episodes until 11PM, “Without a Trace” started with a big shootout in FBI headquarters, and then I had recordings of the last episodes of “Scrubs,” “Will & Grace,” “That 70’s Show,” and a DVD of “Rex the Runt,” episodes. I need to catch up on my sleep.

Oh, and the song I had to have this week after hearing it at the gym: “Livin’ It Up (Friday Night)” by Bell & James which is NOT on iTunes.

So, my sister screwed up this Access database, and to fix it (which I really haven’t finished yet) I had to install another database and write a program that took way too long for me to figure out. I’m feeling quite silly about it, but sheesh, why couldn’t this have been discussed earlier? (Actually, it probably was, and I probably wasn’t listening.

I probably should also NOT mention that I had possibly several thousand spam trackbacks on my blog. Yeesh, I mean I post about six times a week and get about 3 comments a week (not counting the dozen or so spam that get filtered out each day) and then I get FLOODED. The guys on the WordPress IRC channel weren’t exactly unhelpful, but they’re not exactly nice, either. The Bad Behavior plugin is what saved me, by the way.

I only have a few meetings a week and half of them are on the phone. Today when I picked up my phone, it was dead. Well, not completely dead. Lights were on and I could hear myself but no dialtone and the keys didn’t make beepy sounds (a technical term, to be sure). Turns out they were doing some work over the weekend and my phone was probably dead for about four days. I never noticed.

Well, other than that I got almost nothing. It’s still hot, and since it’s sweeps they keep showing things I want to watch until 11PM. Come on, some of us need sleep and have no will power. Give us a break!

I’m a native Oregonian, and I like it a little cooler out. The record high for May 15, for example was 86°F and the average high is in the 60’s. But today, the high was 92°F. Not my cup of tea. I got used to sleeping with the doors and windows closed and I’m afraid I won’t have that luxury today.

In other news, my ID let me in the door at megacorp today. The CEO has been talking about “downsizing” and everyone’s afraid their jobs are going to be over. My manager and his cronies went to an off-site meeting on Friday and that usually bodes ill for the workers. So far, so good, though.

Time to find some earplugs and try to sleep. I see heat lightning (also an anomaly for this area) and often that means a lot of people out late watching the free show. Stupid global warming.

I’m still following the New Years resolution Steve made for me (he’s a noted comic book artist). I went to a housewarming party for a co-worker and met lots of people from India. They’re all from different parts of India, so I don’t really feel like an outsider. We’re all from different cultures. Well, OK, mine is more of a bacon eating culture, but you know how it is.

My friend Terri and my ex both think it doesn’t matter to women what kind of car I drive. Somehow, I think they expect me to meet someone non-superficial and, well, not suburban, who doesn’t want a peek at my bank account before letting me get to first base. And honestly, I can’t even remember what getting to first base entails, it’s been so long.

I just watched a bunch of episodes of House and Prison Break because I’m stupid and I keep piling them up. I finally got rid of a bunch of episodes of Alias because I knew I’d never watch them. They were a bit silly anyway, since I only started watching last year.

I also haven’t been posting much because, well, what was I going to write? I got up, went to work, got sleepy, came home, did or did not go to the gym, and stayed up late doing whatever I wanted to on my computer. Rinse, later, repeat. I suppose last night was a little different, as I went to a friends’ house to watch L’Enfant which was a beautifully understated movie. I mean, it was a about a young low-life whose girlfriend has a baby and he sells it. You can imagine how horrible or how sappy that could be. But it wasn’t.

Anyway, it was a wonderfully sunny day today, and I actually got out and did some shopping. Tobacco, coffee, water filter, and shoes at the REI sale. I hate having to buy tobacco, but like I say, my dad is 90 now and if he wants tobacco, I get it for him.

Oh, yeah, and there’s a house listed down the street that used to be a run-down disaster full of skate rats. One-point-four million dollars. Geez. I mean, the house two up from my parents is only $1,075,000 with six thousand square feet and a pool. You’d have to live two houses up from hillbillies, but still.

Back when I was moderating a list for local Ivy League Alumni group leaders, I had this weird interaction with a guy who sounded to me like a complete jackass. It went like this, and keep in mind “Other guy” never did ‘fess up to his name, just his email address of builder@XXXXX.com (blocked for, you know, reasons):

Me

Subject: Does anyone know Ken XXXXX of the Stanford Association of Oregon?

He is requesting to join the XXXXX-leaders group.

Other guy

He’s the President of SAO, jerk. Just say “Welcome, Ken”.

Me

Well, I’ve added Ken XXXXX, and removed builder@XXXXX.com.

Thanks for the feedback.

Other guy

arrogant functionary. we’ll meet some time. watch your back.

Me

Nice threat. I’d report this to the police but I figure you’re a coward.

Other guy

Couldn’t get into med school….can’t get a good job….time to get your life together young man.

Don’t ever send out an email asking a question like ‘Who is Ken XXXXX….he wants to get onto the list I manage….. you insulting little twit. Respect your elders. You might get somewhere in life.

The reason I mention this is that I found out that the guy’s name is Jay Kushner and is running for Oregon State Representative in District 44.

I’m not sure why he was on the mailing list (which is one of the reasons I removed him). I thought I’d never hear from the SOB again, but he’s running for public office. One of our State Representatives was recently convicted of meth possession after being run over by a janitor’s girlfriend in some sort of love-triangle fiasco, so I probably should avoid insulting people who may not be law-abiding citizens.