Dare I say it...

Actually, today was yet another warm and toasty day, with the temperature in my office reaching 86, I think--it may have been 87 by days end. I discovered that it is far too difficult to stay awake at work at such temperatures, but, alas, I don't really have much choice.

I had new tires put on my car tonight. I am planning a trip to Portland because my brother will be there with his family, so it is a good time to go, but I needed some basic stuff on the car as well. Next will probably be the rear brakes. I was told the struts might also need to be replaced, but that new tires may delay that repair for a bit.

Dinner tonight was two slices of leftover artichoke pizza (with a white sauce base, rather than red), and a tomato, bean, and fried basil salad. The latter I was trying for the first time, and I think I need to work on it a bit more. It was tasty, but I don't think I cooked the basil long enough. I still have some, which means I will find out if it tastes better for having sat longer.

Dave, my best friend who has provided photo fodder, asked me to read "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction" by Wallace Stevens. My impressions after reading the first section, "It must be abstract" are that in the poem supreme fiction equals poetry, but not poetry divinely inspired, as "Phoebus is dead, ephebe." There is also an indication that poetry should celebrate the abstract, rather than the concrete. I have only read the first section, so I am my impressions are likely to change. If I am lucky, I will manage to avoid reading any criticism online, which might very well affect my perceptions.

Hot Sunday.

My best bud was kind enough to give me a disk of photos from our vacation together back in '04. This particularly disturbing mannequin seemed all the rage in a certain Sarajevo Boutique, as they had at least three of them, though I don't recall if all of them were missing limbs. I was trying to make the perceived expression a little more bizarre, but I couldn't manipulate the image enough to make it odder than in the original.

Today was actually another warm day where a late lunch/early dinner in an air-conditioned restaurant didn't seem a bad idea, so I had a beer and a chipotle chicken calzone at Olympia II. The food was tasty.

I don't have much to write today. It has been warm. I have gone to the gym, did a bit of puttering around the house, read a bit more of "The Communist Manifesto," and bought some (more) blueberries. If I am not careful, I will become much like Violet Beauregarde, though I won't have to wait until they work out the kinks with dessert.

Another Hot Day....

Today is supposed to be in the 90's again. A bit unusual for Seattle, but nothing impossible. Last night I went to the Mariners game and watched a rather painful 4-5 innings before the Mariners were able to score something and make the final score look like a real game rather than what was more like a home run derby for the Red Sox.

I don't know what is on the schedule today. Probably just hanging out a bit and going to the gym.

One great discovery I have made this week, after owning my pc since November '05, I finally decided to try and connect my cam and scanner, and to my dismay, neither are supported by their manufacturers for XP. Just a few more dollars I need to spend that I hadn't planned on spending just yet, but that is life, and it just makes my move that much more expensive--at least I have a few pictures stored digitally to manipulate when bored.

The Internationale

After watching Chico Marx play the "2nd Movement of the Beer Barrel Polka" I noticed in the related videos a music video for "The Internationale" A quick warning if you click though, it seems "The Internationale" "may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community." I guess the flag is for people easily offended by anthems? Perhaps it is just to advise you to react intelligently upon hearing the song, rather than going bonzo anti-red ballistic on the poster. Don't know, don't particularly care, but it does seem that such a notice is perhaps over-blowing the threat posed by such a song.

Saturday's (Non) Events

Last Sunday I was out at the farmer's market on Ballard Avenue and bought a bunch of mixed berries. Nothing quite like fresh blue, black, and raspberries. So, after freezing a bunch and giving some to my neighbor, I used some yesterday to improve a Jiffy Muffin Mix. Yesterday, half the muffins were gone, and I need to report the disappearance of the other half this morning. After making muffins, I went to the gym, and did a leg workout and cardio--so much fun there. Then, thinking to use my new grill thing, I made a quesadilla with bacon, eggs, cheese and salsa. Quite the mess, but rather tasty. When I unpacked my grill I discovered it had no cleaning device with it, so I had to call the store and ask if I needed to bring the whole thing back to trade in, or did they have one of the cleaning things handy. At the time, all they would tell me is that I didn't need to bring the whole thing back, and they would check to see if there was one in the other box. Turns out there was(either in the other box, or laying around somewhere, I didn't ask), so later in the afternoon I managed to go and get it. Anyway, after eating my quesadilla, I decided it was far too nice a day to hang about in the house so I walked over to Fremont, the Center of the Universe, to check on my friend Lenin and look about some of the stores there. I did suffer a minor disappointment during the afternoon when I couldn't get a fun pair of shoes, but that is life sometimes. The reason for not getting the shoes is that one was just barely too tight and the other felt too big, and they were both the same size according to the shoes' markings (I couldn't locate them online to create a link). Never before had the difference between left and right been so apparent. After returning home, I had the message to go fetch my cleaning thing for the grill, as well as a message, apologizing for missing my call yesterday, but asking if I wanted to go over for dinner, from Brad & Steve. Steve is a good cook, so I went over for dinner. The two of them are great company, so it was a good food/good conversation sort of thing. After dinner, I had extant plans to meet someone at a bar I had never been to. Of course I gave myself far too little time to get there and find it, so I was late, but it was a nice sort of dive bar and I played some pool, not losing too spectacularly, which was suprising since I hadn't played in a while. After a few beers there, I came home and went to bed. Perhaps not the most exciting day, but it was full, and it was pleasant. Today I am off to Mitch's for a birthday/croquet party for Mitch. The invitation didn't specify croquet, but considering that seems to be the primary purpose of the lawn, I have a hunch it will be on the days events.

Sea Planes

In Chicago virtually everyone lives in a flight path. Ten miles from the airport and I could see the planes heading in for landing most nights, directly above my apartment. Here in my new place in Seattle, I am not in the flight path, but rather have a view of the flight path, and I have to say, Sea-Planes seem to be louder than jets, though I do know the things are closer to me as well. It was kind of cool initially, but with most kind of cool things, the novelty has worn off.

My weekend aside from that observation has been uneventful, though I have managed to get to the gym I joined Friday three times, which for me is a good record, and a percentage I will be surprised if I manage to maintain.

damned Blogger...pop-ups...and the internet in general

Actually, I had written a rather cool little post, but tried to do a spell check, then ran into a pop up blocker, and when I decided to allow pop-ups, it reloaded the page, swallowing my earlier text.

Now this is a short tiny rant for those who so abused the concept of pop-up window that blockers were required in order to maintain the semblence of control of your computer.

What I had written was that I was reading "American Skin" by Don DeGrazia, enjoying it, and wondering why I never have as much fun as characters in books. Is it because I edit the fun from my life before it happens by the decisions I make? Who knows?

Then there was some stuff about Hero Worship, though not quite--more relating to what sort of people I thought were really cool in school.

That is about it, but morning comes quickly for me when I am at work by 6 a.m. So much so, that even if I drove instead of walking, I wouldn't get that many more minutes of sleep.

Gorgeous Sunday

I skipped the parade, but the day was far too nice to spend around the house unpacking boxes or rearranging the contents of said boxes, combining some of the half emptied ones so I can break down one of the two. Earlier I was out, sort of looking for a sofa, but not really with much heart, so I walked up to Golden Gardens Park, which is a nice walk, and a nice park. I decided to take off my shirt for a bit, but as I now live in Seattle, I have too little of anything resembling a tan for me to leave it off for more than 30-40 minutes. On the way home, I stopped into the Old Town Ale House and had a pint of Dick's Cream Stout, which is a fine and dandy sort of stout, though perhaps a bit heavy for the day's temperature.

I wish I would have had a camera for a picture, but someone had set up the hydraulics on their white Town Car to life the driver's side front wheel several feet off the ground. I was at Market & 24th when I saw the car making a left off 24th, and I have to say, I thought it was pretty cool, though another spectator commented that it was a stupid thing to do. I can't imagine life without the occassional stupid things that are necessary to bring small joys to people. The car gave me a smile, and that was enough for me to think it a good thing.

First Saturday

It was my first full week in the new place, and if I had a camera I could post pictures of the boxes in the living room, full of books, for which I lack shelving. I am trying to refrain from the bricks and boards model of shelving, and perhaps things will stay boxed until I can find appropriate things to put them on. I also have to set up my stereo still, having spent the last week relying on my cd collection which has been copied into my computer, and onto my ipod, and a portable cd player.

Actually, I had almost had a crisis earlier this week when I discovered the power adapter for the computer speakers had been left at my previous address. I still haven't managed to go get it, but I have managed to find a replacement adapter amongst all the stuff, perhaps from a previous set of computer speakers.

The weather was gorgeous today and I managed to spend much of the day outside helping the Peace Corps man their table at Seattle Pride. It was nice to be outside, though unfortunately I didn't see anyone I knew.

Nice day, today was.

I don't know how many hours I spend doing it, but I finally managed to get all my cds (except classical and opera, which don't do random very well) copied onto my hard drive. I don't know the exact number, but somewhere just shy of 11, ooo songs, for non-repeatable play time around 28 days. I have no idea when every song will end up with a time played stamp, nor how many will make it past one.

Other than that, today was Mother's Day, and while I was a bit neglectful in getting flowers out, I did manage to talk with Mom on the phone, which does count for something, as she lives a half continent away, and if I had sent flowers, she wouldn't have been home to receive them, as they left Thursday for a visit to my sister.

First Week Completed

I finished my first week at my new job. So far, it looks very promising-- co-workers are cool, and the boss is understanding of the learning curve, so I haven't just been dumped in and expected to sink or swim. With their computer system, that is a very good thing, since it is taking me some time to make heads or tails of it.

I have also begun the "oh, so fun" apartment hunt. Today I am going to looking at something charming and cozy, and if it is both of those, I will be pleased. Since I don't have a bunch of furniture right now, it isn't as if I need something palatial.

New job on the horizon?

I finally had some good news on the job front in the way of an offer. A real offer, not from a temp service, not for a temp job--it is sort of cool to feel wanted. Anyway, I have a drug test Monday, though I don't see how that will pose any obstacles, unless it turns out I can't get out of work early.

Today was gorgeous, and I spent most of the day outside.

Depending on my daily mood, maybe I will spend the week trying to write something interesting, as it seems my desires at the beginning of April didn't really manage to carry through very long, though I am at least still updating.

Friday update

It is Friday afternoon, and I am fighting to stay awake. With a bit more than an hour to do, there is little that I feel like doing here, rather I would like to just head home. Realistically, I don't think that is much of an option. I don't know what the weather has been like today, so I don't know if going home means mowing the lawn or not.

The week has been uneventful for me, so which is one reason there is very little in the way of daily updates. Somehow I need to make my daily work sound exciting enough for people to enjoy reading about. Perhaps with a bit of practice that will happen.

During lunch today, while reading "The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman" I came across a very fun chapter describing how Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, "Eroica" is like having sex. It was odd reading that at lunch in the cafeteria, one of those passages where you wonder what people would think if they decided to read over your shoulder.

Also today, there was a "Peeps Show." My original idea didn't pan out, since I forgot all about it last night, but after lunch today, I decided to make "Peep cubes." Peep cubes were made by some creative cutting, folding, and taping of Post-It notes into the form of a six cube ice tray, then stuffing peeps into five of the spaces. While it may not have been the most creative idea in the world, I think it made wonderful use of materials at hand.

Today has been a day of too many sweets and a lunch that was deep fried (fish, shrimp and tator tots). With luck, I will eat something healthy for dinner, to balance with my healthy pre-donut breakfast, which was Muesli with Yogurt. [Dinner ended up being Chili, which was a better choice than it could have been.]

another (less than manic) Monday

Nothing quite like the nightmare return of Monday, and the headache inducing monotony of a pointless project. In reality, it seems now that the project we are on is less important than working as grunts for the Sr. Buyers. Perhaps I wouldn't mind the additional work if I enjoyed anything about being here, but as it is, I am only ticked off at what appears to be an extension of my sentence. I overheard someone on their cell phone as they walked in today comment they were in the dungeon and would talk with them later--and that wasn't a temp talking.

I really need to focus on something pleasant about this place, something that will make me feel as if I am accomplishing something. I have tried to find such a thing, but so far the only "good" thing is a regular paycheck, which is less of a good thing and more of a cultural expectation. Somehow we have become trained to give up our lives for a paycheck, to forgo so many things we would prefer to do for a paycheck. I guess in truth all I need to do is learn to live on less, then I could work less, but that is task of a different nature. There is a reason the phrase "wage slave" was created, and it really does describe many people in the world.

New (Used) Car

Well, after years of borrowing cars off others and taking advantage of a deal my father set up when I was attending university, I have finally purchased my own vehicle, a '98 Dodge Neon.

I haven't named her yet, but I am sure that something will prompt itself as I get to know her better.

Cat Fight

An interesting reinterpretation:


http://youtube.com/watch?v=OvLt1olovKM

I tried to embed the player, but couldn't figure it out after the error message commenting: "Tag is broken"

Reverse Auctioneering

Currently, I am doing temp work. Temp work provides some odd insights, and creates more than its fair share of questions.

My current place of work has decided the next big cost savings will be in reverse auctions. For those unfamiliar with the concept, imagine an auction, now a starting price of say $50. As a participant, you are unable to bid more than the starting price, and the winner is theoretically the bidder who has offered the lowest price. That is all well and good, and this is something that is normally done with commodities, rather than custom built parts.


Now then, here is how the same process is being worked at my current place of work. After identifying the products that can be reverse auctioned, basically everything, the company then asks its vendors for quotes. After receiving the quotes, which I assume to be competitive, they choose the lowest as the starting point of their auction. Then, the vendors who have quoted are notified that an auction is going to be held, and they need to register for it. After everything is set up, then on the day of the auction, a buyer from my place of work logs into the auction site and determines that the vendors are present, and if they aren't, calls are made to get everyone on board. Of course, during the auction, calls are made to the participants verifying there aren't any technical problems, especially if bidding seems slow. When the auction is over, my place of work now has a new, lower price than the one on its lowest bid. Though there is one more caveat, the lowest bid isn't guaranteed the contract.

What happened recently is that the auction process moved forward on some custom parts which had been bid out prior to the auction. During the auction, the company whose bid was the most competitive, Bob's Pins and Needles, also had the misfortune of being the company whose bid was used as a base for the reverse auction price. Bob's opened bidding at the base auction price, and during the course of the thirty minute auction, there was only one other active participant, each company bid once. Now, as it turns out Bob's Pins and Needles was the prefered vendor and will probably receive the contract, even though its bid wasn't the lowest. The difference is that now management at my place of work doesn't believe Bob's wants to play ball, and Bob's Pins and Needles has the distinct feeling that someone believes Bob's isn't providing competitive pricing.

This could only be called successful if damaging relationships is the goal of these auctions. My beliefs fall into the more old-fashioned line of thought that companies which work together are more likely to succeed than companies which are antagonistic partners, and what I see is the creation of distrust among partners.