Tuesday, June 17, 2003

This Wandering Hillbilly showed up in my search referrals. So I clicked over to see what that blog looks like and I laughed out loud. Hilarious, clever, and a challenge to read.

A snippet:

sum folks thanks ye kin proov a negativ n sum folks thanks taint possbul n thays bof rite dependin on the negativ yer trine to proov

at first it aint a parent that ye cant proov ever negativ n i spose most folks dun knows it tho ye gotta wunder on a cownta the way folks keeps a usin it n tendin lack its proovin sumpn

He’s got me linked, I will reciprocate the linkage.

Monday, June 16, 2003

There are two people who sent me mugs recently. They may both be thinking that their mug arrived today. One would be incorrect, but only for another day or two when I expect his to arrive.

Thanks for the mug, I love it...it’s perfect!

I’ve added a new category - Here in My Car - because I spend so much time driving and things happen. Like tonight on the drive home.

1. I was on I-66 and this beat up old station wagon came up beside me on the left. As he got closer, I could see in my side mirror that the passenger was hanging out of the open window. My lane slowed, but that lane continued on and as the wagon passed me the passenger and I made eye contact briefly. He was a reasonably attractive man, a bit scruffy, looked like a manual laborer at the end of a long day. Anyway, as I was moving my gaze back to the front, he winked at me. No smile, just the wink. I’m choosing to be flattered by it.

2. I was on Route 50, following closely behind a utility type truck. VDOT is adding some turn lanes where a new storage facility was built and there are traffic cones on the right shoulder. The truck edged over to the right just enough to clip one of the cones, which went flying into the right front fender of my car. No major damage, but the paint was scratched up a bit. I’m hoping it will buff out.

The good and bad. It’s a delicate traffic balance.

There’s word from the USA Today that the LOTR: TTT, Extended Version DVD is going to be really long (3 hours, 43 minutes) and include the resurrection of Boromir (in a flashback).

Bean’s ring-craving Boromir, slain at the end of 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring, is resurrected in a lengthy DVD flashback after brother Faramir (David Wenham) finds a boat bearing his body.

Not only is there more Bean to savor, but the twisted emotional ties that ensnare ruler Denethor (New Zealand actor John Noble, who officially joins the cast in King), his favorite son, Boromir, and scapegoat Faramir also are exposed. The scenes also help explain why the noble Faramir is rather rude when he meets heroic hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin).

[Via PromoGuy]

I just got my first kook call in a long time. When we got our new phone system it cut down on the kooks significantly, it’s been months since I got a call from one of the regulars that used to call.

This guy is claiming that another guy is “monitoring him and putting him on the internet.” I asked a few questions and it turns out the perp has been “monitoring” the compainant with a webcam and posting his images on the web. Complainant doesn’t know the web address (big surprise), but I managed to get names and phone numbers for both people (who knows if they’re real). I told him that I’d pass on the information and see what we could do.

I don’t have much to share today. It’s a typical Monday.

I did notice that we have several mushroom patches developing in the mulched areas in front of my apartment building. They remind me of the mushroom fairies in Fantasia.

[photo credit]

On the job front, we have to watch this video on sexual harrassment sent to us from HQ. So as I type this, there’s a large group of folks congregated in the conference room watching. There’s much laughter and loudness emanating from that end of the hall. Let me say that we have a couple people who are just LOUD. And that room is at the end of the hallway. I can hear specific things one particular person is saying. And I want to yell, “Shut your piehole!” back there. Sheesh.

Later: LW, The Boss, a new investigator, and I watched the sexual harrassment video this afternoon. I can understand why the laughter - especially with that group that watched it earlier. It’s completely ridiculous. Truth is most of us in our office would be in trouble all the time for saying “inappropriate” things based on the examples in this video, myself included. This tells me that people have chosen to be offended by stuff that should just require a good old fashioned eye roll. What babies people have become...imho.

Everyone has favorite scenes in movies, right? The one scene in a movie that moves you, makes you laugh, makes you think, scares you…

Meet the Parents is on cable right now and it’s just gotten to the scene when Greg has left the house in shame and is at the airport to go home. That whole sequence - where he’s trying to get a flight booked, waiting to get on the plane, trying to fit his carry-on in the overhead compartment - that is one of my all time favorites for hilarity.

“...Shut your piehole!”

*Yes, I’m laughing as I type this.*

Sunday, June 15, 2003

After I posted Jason’s issue with a church mailer, I was reading over at The Thinklings and found this post about the lack of compassion in the church. I think they’re related and so I’m going to excerpt a little of the comments from the Thinklings post here because they’re good, thought-provoking, and may spark debate.

I stopped at Blockbuster on my way home from church-lunch with the ‘rents. I won’t bore you with a rant about the questionable customer service I received from the clerk, but it’s a little frustrating when you’ve worked in a store and the clerk tries to tell you they can’t do something that I know can be done. The result was that I was unable to use the coupon that expired today.

Anyway, I rented About a Boy, which I just watched. Very cute. I love, love, love Hugh Grant. Is it just my opinion, but is he great in everything he’s in?

Up next: The House of Mirth
Also rented: My Big Fat Greek Wedding and The Ring

LATER (9:12pm): The Ring is freaky, good freaky...and I admit that I’m a little weirded out from it. Mom, do not watch this. Not your cup-o-tea.

Blog-reading this afternoon and I clicked into my friend Jason’s blog. He doesn’t have archives set up therefore there are no permalinks, so I copied his whole post here.

I’m hesitant to say anything but this has been eating at me. I just saw a marketing postcard from a new church in VB. Besides the fact that they are advertising free starbucks coffee as a reason to attend they make a comment that really frustrates me.

“Late Saturday night? No problem. Sleep in. You can still make it to our 11am service. And better yet, you’ll be out by 12:15” It’s not the “late” comment that bothers me it’s the understood notion that you can come to church and should never be challenged or made uncomfortable. The Biblical Church always set an incredibly high standard for life. The Gospel is uncomfortable to those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). I don’t know why this frustrates me. I understand the church’s intention is to be attractive to non-believers, but sometimes I think we lose sight of the fact that the Biblical Church always called people to something and it wasn’t comfort—it was repentance surrounded by love.

Maybe our marketing strategy should be we offer people a chance to submit to the Lordship of Christ while drinking free Maxwell House coffee?

The title is just a joke for my father, who happens not to be a fathead. My Dad is great...I’m blessed with fantastic parents.

So to my Dad: Happy Father’s Day (again). I’m glad you were home, the b-b-q was delish.

Oh, and Dad, if you see this on Sunday, go check out the logo at Google.

Saturday, June 14, 2003

Kevin at Wizbang has created a Trackback Pinger for non-MT users. I understand the basic idea of the trackback pinger, but I don’t know if I care that much about it for my blog.

Anyway, just thought I’d spread the word for those who might care.

I’ve done my good deed for the day.

Wild at Bleeding Brain has a thought-provoking post about abortion. (If the permalink is not working, it’s at June 10.) An excerpt:

I was following a number of debates regarding the abortion issue and began to imagine a universe in which children (not yet conceived) were given a choice as to where they would be born.

[...]

Some would look upon the earth and watch the gleeful earthlings splashing around in the blue oceans and leaping out of planes to parachute to ground.

To them, it would look so exquisitely delightful that they would hardly be able control their eagerness to be born.

The little angels, as they awaited parental assignments, would be asked to fill out forms to register their selected countries.

I meant to link a specific post of Bryan McAnally’s yesterday, then decided to post about the new blogs in the roll instead. Then I realized this morning, that I really do need to mention the post that got me hooked to Bryan’s blog. An excerpt:

...I had to first undergird the important task of melding the old wafer of Mountain Fresh into the new block of Sport Scent. This is an extremely important process, accomplished by the vice-like squeezing of the two products between my hands. There are many risks associated with this irregularly regular event (which is necessary, because—God forbid—I waste that last 1/32nd of an inch of soap). First, if the wafer be too thick, it could break in half while adhering it to the surface of the other bar. This would result in what is technically known as “lumpy bar” and causes an untold number of irritating soapings. The other main risk is squeezing too hard, causing the the bar of soap to torpedo from between my hands like a lubricated projectile, ricocheting off the walls, and striking me in the head, knocking me unconscious, or worse. I have pledged to my wife that if tragedy ever befalls me, I will do my level best to be completely dressed when it occurs, so she is not assuming the added burden of clothing me before the paramedics arrive.

This is how my life in Christ is to be.