Saturday, October 27, 2007
Guitar Zero
One of my favorite simple pleasures is getting the Sunday paper a day early. I only get it for the comics so I don't care about the news. I usually buy it on Saturday (like today), although sometimes I can get the weekend edition on Friday night which is even more amazing. It makes me feel like I'm travelling through time.
One of my worst simple annoyances is having to dig through the Sunday paper to get to the comics. They are buried within the ads (often wrapped within some of the inserts) and it's very frustrating trying the find the two sections. I was digging through all the ads when I came across this:
Guitar Hero III! Available today! I scrambled to find the comics, rushed through them, and then left for Target. I had to fight the afternoon mall parking crowds to get to the store, but it would be worth it. I went to the games section expecting a big display but I found nothing. I asked the sales clerk where they had Guitar Hero III. He said it wasn't released yet. I told him, "um, your ad in the paper says that it's out today and you have it." He told me they didn't.
Frustrated, I headed back to my car and figured I'd have to go to Best Buy. But I thought I should consult an expert, so I called Travis in Kentucky. I asked him to confirm that Guitar Hero III was released today. He told me it wasn't out yet. I told him there was a big ad in the Sunday paper saying "Guitar Hero III, available today!" He asked me "what day is it?"
It's Saturday.
I'm an idiot. Time travelling can really mess you up.
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One of my favorite simple pleasures is getting the Sunday paper a day early. I only get it for the comics so I don't care about the news. I usually buy it on Saturday (like today), although sometimes I can get the weekend edition on Friday night which is even more amazing. It makes me feel like I'm travelling through time.
One of my worst simple annoyances is having to dig through the Sunday paper to get to the comics. They are buried within the ads (often wrapped within some of the inserts) and it's very frustrating trying the find the two sections. I was digging through all the ads when I came across this:
Guitar Hero III! Available today! I scrambled to find the comics, rushed through them, and then left for Target. I had to fight the afternoon mall parking crowds to get to the store, but it would be worth it. I went to the games section expecting a big display but I found nothing. I asked the sales clerk where they had Guitar Hero III. He said it wasn't released yet. I told him, "um, your ad in the paper says that it's out today and you have it." He told me they didn't.
Frustrated, I headed back to my car and figured I'd have to go to Best Buy. But I thought I should consult an expert, so I called Travis in Kentucky. I asked him to confirm that Guitar Hero III was released today. He told me it wasn't out yet. I told him there was a big ad in the Sunday paper saying "Guitar Hero III, available today!" He asked me "what day is it?"
It's Saturday.
I'm an idiot. Time travelling can really mess you up.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007
No Parking
I live in a 20-story condo complex. One of the cornerstones of happy urban living is staking claim to a parking space. There is a big black market of parking spaces in our building, with people constantly posting signs "Looking For Parking Space"; "Parking Space for Rent". They are quite the commodity.
I have two reserved spots in my garage. Mine. All mine. And it is not a perk I take lightly. I LOVE having two spots for one car. I park next to a pillar which gives me several extra feet on the driver's side, and I have an entire empty space on the passenger side. My car does not get dinged. I can open the car doors as wide as I want. I can easily load up my bike or groceries or anything I want into my car, using any or all of the doors.
This morning one of my parking neighbors stopped me as I was getting ready to leave. I don't know her well, but she seems to have a nice family and we share plenty of elevator rides together. She told me they may be getting another car and wanted to know if I'd be interested in renting my free spot to them.
On the one hand, this is free money. I'm not sure what the going rate is for park spaces, but I think it might be $50 a month? $75? (I live in a condo with stupid-high fees for everything, so I'm sure people pay a premium for spots.) But on the other hand, I hate the idea of a claustrophobic parking space. I think that every single time I try to get in or out of my car, I'm going to miss the extra space. But on the other, other hand I certainly want to be a friendly and helpful neighbor.
I think I should rent out BOTH of my spaces, and then use that money to rent two adjacent spaces somewhere else in the garage. It's the only logical solution.
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I live in a 20-story condo complex. One of the cornerstones of happy urban living is staking claim to a parking space. There is a big black market of parking spaces in our building, with people constantly posting signs "Looking For Parking Space"; "Parking Space for Rent". They are quite the commodity.
I have two reserved spots in my garage. Mine. All mine. And it is not a perk I take lightly. I LOVE having two spots for one car. I park next to a pillar which gives me several extra feet on the driver's side, and I have an entire empty space on the passenger side. My car does not get dinged. I can open the car doors as wide as I want. I can easily load up my bike or groceries or anything I want into my car, using any or all of the doors.
This morning one of my parking neighbors stopped me as I was getting ready to leave. I don't know her well, but she seems to have a nice family and we share plenty of elevator rides together. She told me they may be getting another car and wanted to know if I'd be interested in renting my free spot to them.
On the one hand, this is free money. I'm not sure what the going rate is for park spaces, but I think it might be $50 a month? $75? (I live in a condo with stupid-high fees for everything, so I'm sure people pay a premium for spots.) But on the other hand, I hate the idea of a claustrophobic parking space. I think that every single time I try to get in or out of my car, I'm going to miss the extra space. But on the other, other hand I certainly want to be a friendly and helpful neighbor.
I think I should rent out BOTH of my spaces, and then use that money to rent two adjacent spaces somewhere else in the garage. It's the only logical solution.
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Sunday, October 21, 2007
War Is Hell
Dutch and Danielle wanted to come over to watch Transformers this weekend. Dutch suggested that I rent the Blu-ray version; we had a PS3 we could borrow and we could watch the movie in glorious high-definition on my new flat-screen TV. Brilliant idea. I went to Blockbuster only to discover that Transformers wasn't released on Blu-ray, only DVD and HD-DVD. Blockbuster doesn't even rent HD-DVD movies. So we had to settle on watching robot-car battles in dismal standard definition.
Sometimes you don't appreciate the impact of war until it affects you personally. And now, I understand what it means to be a victim. The HD Format War has to end NOW.
For the record, Transformers is a dumb movie. The plot and dialog are written for a 12-year-old. In other words, perfect. I never watched Transformers as a kid (I was just slightly too old for it) but I appreciate the movie for what it is. If you haven't seen it, go power up your HD-DVD player and take a look.
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Dutch and Danielle wanted to come over to watch Transformers this weekend. Dutch suggested that I rent the Blu-ray version; we had a PS3 we could borrow and we could watch the movie in glorious high-definition on my new flat-screen TV. Brilliant idea. I went to Blockbuster only to discover that Transformers wasn't released on Blu-ray, only DVD and HD-DVD. Blockbuster doesn't even rent HD-DVD movies. So we had to settle on watching robot-car battles in dismal standard definition.
Sometimes you don't appreciate the impact of war until it affects you personally. And now, I understand what it means to be a victim. The HD Format War has to end NOW.
For the record, Transformers is a dumb movie. The plot and dialog are written for a 12-year-old. In other words, perfect. I never watched Transformers as a kid (I was just slightly too old for it) but I appreciate the movie for what it is. If you haven't seen it, go power up your HD-DVD player and take a look.
Permanent link
Friday, October 19, 2007
My Broken Flapper
My toiket has been broken for about 2 years. There is very slow leak in the tank, so every 25 minutes or slow the water level drops about a quarter inch. That's just enough to trigger the valve to fill the tank, and it pumps a few ounces of water back in. Repeat. 24/7/365. Drove me crazy at night at tmes when I'd hear it turning on again.
I am not skilled around the house, but I finally decided to fix the damn thing. I went to Home Depot to buy one of those "toilet stopper thingees" which I learned is called a "flapper". I had no idea there were so many varieties of flapper, so I just picked the mose generic looking one I saw and bought it.
For the life of me I could not get the new flapper to work properly. It did keep a tight seal, but when it flushed it would raise up and then just get stuck in the air. Turns out I had the wrong flapper. It literally was an issue of a round peg in a square hole; the flapper holes were square and wouldn't spin on the round pegs. I guess other toilet systems mount the flapper on a square pivot arm or something. I felt uncomfortable trying to exchange a used toilet flapper, so I just bit the bullet (it only cost about 8 bucks) and went back to Home Depot. This time I brought my old flapper with me and found a matching model.
It surprises me how primitive and imprecise a flush toilet really is. There was just a series of hooks and a chain connecting the flush lever to the flapper, with no indication how taught the chain should be. I had to go back and forth trying to find the balance between getting a full flush, and letting the flapper fall freely back down to get a full seal.
It mostly works now. Every now and then I still have to jiggle the handle, but that can be next year's project. If anyone needs any plumbing work done let me know; now I'm an expert.
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My toiket has been broken for about 2 years. There is very slow leak in the tank, so every 25 minutes or slow the water level drops about a quarter inch. That's just enough to trigger the valve to fill the tank, and it pumps a few ounces of water back in. Repeat. 24/7/365. Drove me crazy at night at tmes when I'd hear it turning on again.
I am not skilled around the house, but I finally decided to fix the damn thing. I went to Home Depot to buy one of those "toilet stopper thingees" which I learned is called a "flapper". I had no idea there were so many varieties of flapper, so I just picked the mose generic looking one I saw and bought it.
For the life of me I could not get the new flapper to work properly. It did keep a tight seal, but when it flushed it would raise up and then just get stuck in the air. Turns out I had the wrong flapper. It literally was an issue of a round peg in a square hole; the flapper holes were square and wouldn't spin on the round pegs. I guess other toilet systems mount the flapper on a square pivot arm or something. I felt uncomfortable trying to exchange a used toilet flapper, so I just bit the bullet (it only cost about 8 bucks) and went back to Home Depot. This time I brought my old flapper with me and found a matching model.
It surprises me how primitive and imprecise a flush toilet really is. There was just a series of hooks and a chain connecting the flush lever to the flapper, with no indication how taught the chain should be. I had to go back and forth trying to find the balance between getting a full flush, and letting the flapper fall freely back down to get a full seal.
It mostly works now. Every now and then I still have to jiggle the handle, but that can be next year's project. If anyone needs any plumbing work done let me know; now I'm an expert.
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Thursday, October 18, 2007
OK, OK, I Get It
Ode to a Forgotten Website
Rants of Mister P
Why are you forsaken?
Though you do not run, do you not have feelings?
Though you do not swim, can you not drown?
Though you do not bike, when you’re cut, do you not bleed?
How your anecdotes amused.
How your stories entertained.
Cold, Alone, in the Darkness.
Crying.
-di
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Ode to a Forgotten Website
Rants of Mister P
Why are you forsaken?
Though you do not run, do you not have feelings?
Though you do not swim, can you not drown?
Though you do not bike, when you’re cut, do you not bleed?
How your anecdotes amused.
How your stories entertained.
Cold, Alone, in the Darkness.
Crying.
-di
Permanent link
