Miscellarikneous

That according to warning signs all over SLAC. Consider yourself warned!

But don't thank me... it turns out someone beat me to it!

I invited my folks up to stay with us because the city where they live is on fire. They and their homes are not in danger, but the smoke and ash is choking. My friends Kevin and Eric live in Stevenson Ranch, and apparently they were under "voluntary" evacuation yesterday. But apparently there is a little known usage of the word "voluntary" that means, in this case, that they don't actually let you back in once you've left, so Kevin was stuck on the outside while Eric holed up, defiantly waiting for the "mandatory" evacuation.

The Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill DVD is a riot. For those of you who've seen it, the transcript will have you rolling. Those of you who haven't will just be going, "quoi?"

My birthday pub crawl in the city was a blast! The only physical crawling I did was after I got back to Lo & Glo's. I blame the tequila. Quoth Shane McGowan:

"First we drank some whiskey
Then we drank some gin
Then we drank tequila
I think that's what did me in
Then we drank some brandy
And the women had a dance..."

(from Boat Train)

There wasn't any whiskey, gin, or brandy. Mostly beer. I definitely think we should do it again soon.

I wonder if anyone else found it strange that of the Irish pubs we went to, there was one that was playing Madonna, one with a funk-band playing the forty-five minute version of Purple Haze, one with a $10 cover for a DJ (to benefit a frat ?!), and one with a C&W band. I guess we were a little far from the source. Or maybe there are so many so tightly packed that they struggle to set themselves apart. Aside from that oddity, the night was fine indeed.

Thanks to everyone who bought me a drink or wanted to...

From this article: in The Star:

"During Bush's speech, two Green party senators jumped to their feet and shouted war protests at Bush. They were ordered removed from the chamber but sat and refused to leave. One of them, Senator Bob Brown, shouted 'we are not a sheriff,' a reference to Bush's recent description of Howard.

'I love free speech,' Bush said to laughter."

Does anyone else see anything wrong with this? Bush loves free speech... that's his response when the people speaking up in parliament are told to shut up.

A new category on eBay? I guess it could be. But in this case, remember college? What you probably forgot about was how much administrative crap there is to do! They must figure that the one thing students have a lot of is time, so they try to find ways to fill it. Or maybe they figure that one thing we have a lot of in this world is paper companies, so they try to keep them in business. Well... maybe not. But whatever end they have in mind, they are also accomplishing the former two ends nicely.

Today I went to the physics board office to meet the TA who has been covering the lab that I'm taking over tomorrow, only he wasn't there because he had met the other new TA (who is taking over a lab today), and they were down in the lab already. And the board coordinator woman was out sick. I tracked down the lab dude, but didn't manage to get hold of a manual for tomorrow, so I'm going in blind. That's ok, since it's fun stuff KE and PE and pendula and balls rolling down ramps. Fun stuff! Also, when I agreed to do the Thursday lab I thought it was at 9:30, but it turns out it's at 8:30. Ugh!

Then, it was off to get signed up to get paid for being a TA, only I didn't have my SS card with me (I took it out of my wallet after Naomi chastised me for carrying it with me-- identity-theft risk). I probably should have figured that I'd need it to get signed up, but the fact remains that they didn't tell me... and they are the ones who do it every day, me only once per job. OK, so that's a return visit tomorrow.

So, down to the ATM to get cash to pay my reg fees, since of course, they don't take credit cards. Down to the Cashier where I pay my fees, but the fee reduction for being a TA hasn't gone in yet, so I just pay what I think the fees will be once it does. Then in line at the Registrar, where Carson Kressley was very friendly & helpful, not bitchy like the real Carson, but I couldn't get my ID card there anymore. That's over at an office in the new tool shed--I mean book store. (It looks like a tool shed, though. I thought it just wasn't finished, but no, they're actually going with the corrugated steel look.) That took 10 minutes longer than it should of because they couldn't access the computer right away. Was it down? no. Power out? no. Network problems? no. Virus? no. Terror alert? no.

They had to fix the keyboard tray first. No, really. I had to wait while they fixed the keyboard tray so it would lock in place. They finally got it to where it was sort of resisting, if not so much locking, and that was good enough. Looked me up, took my picture, and printed me up a new ID! Except, oh, sorry, can't give you a FALL validation sticker because you haven't paid all your fees. Grr. I figured that would be a problem. Back to the registrar. Carson is impressed that I got my ID card so fast. He asked if I did everything so quickly. No, he didn't really. But the real Carson would have. Very apologetically he told me I couldn't get my fall sticker until (turning flat panel display toward me and pointing at the $2,400+ figure) "this says 'zero'."

OK, back to the my car before my two hours are up (just made it), and down to the parking office to buy a permit. Yes, I have to buy a permit in order to, essentially, park where I work. The woman there was actually an ex-housemate of mine, and while I didn't really like her then, she was very helpful, even if she didn't remember who I was. That's ok, on those rare occasions when a long-lost-acquaintance's name jumps right to mind, I like to throw people for a loop if I can.

OK, so I bought a book of scratchers, so I can park on a day-by-day basis. But even though they are sitting right in front of me, the ones I will actually get to take with me, I can't actually take them with me until tomorrow. Don't ask me why, but it takes a day for all the computers to communicate and agree that I bought the parking passes and that I should be able to use them. And even though I don't actually need any until the next day, I don't get to take them with me. That's one more return visit tomorrow.

Finally, lunch with Mel at the Asian Rose, and back home again, where I had to make some more coffee... I'm already getting sleepy thinking about leaving the house at 7 am tomorrow.

zzzzzzzzz

...leaving me 14:45 in the bank. Apparently, I'm in the Almaden newspaper this week, from when Naomi and I were "interviewed" there for a man-in-the-street type segment. (Naomi declined to have her picture taken.) Basically, it was a series of questions along the lines of "what do you think of Quicksilver-Almaden Park?"

But the way the woman approached us was really odd. Instead of saying "hey, do you guys mind if I ask you some questions for a 'man-on-the-street' type column," she came up to us kind of shyly asking if she could as us a "random-seeming" question. She explained every step of the process as if we'd never heard of such a bizarre idea for a column. And what could have taken 2 minutes took 15. But, she was nice enough, and probably new at it, so we didn't really mind. It's no wonder she had a hard time finding people to ask, though, given her approach.

Talking to the Registrar today, I discovered that I'm apparently an out-of-state resident. They were sort of planning to charge me an extra $4000. If they had asked, I would have told them that I actually do live here. Amazingly, all it took to fix it (in theory) was downloading a form, filling it out, and faxing it in. So, it should be all cleared up, but it's a fine example of the red tape of the academic world. Oh how I've missed it!

Five ideas to help ambulances "encourage" people to get out of their way:

• Elegant: Install cameras on the front of the ambulance, so that anyone who doesn't get out of the way gets a ticket mailed to them;


• Clever, but Incomplete: Install a short range FM & AM broadcaster in each ambulance that is strong enough to overpower any radio station people might be listening to;
  
• Sneaky: Have a cop assigned to each ambulance that follows it along and tickets people who don't get out of the way;


• Satisfying: Install a megaphone on each ambulance that enables the driver to broadcast a message at the touch of a button: "Get out of the way, you Fucking Moron."


• Vengeful: Install paintball launchers on the front of each ambulance to blast any Fucking Moron who still doesn't get it.

By the way, here's what the City of Light looks like right now:



Check out Parispourvous for this view and others.

OK, if the announcers on both radio and TV can see that Pedro is fatiguing, and I can see from home he's losing it, how come Grady Little can't tell? I was in favor of Pedro starting the eigth, but I figured if the potential tying run got to bat, he'd be pulled. Instead, Mr. Little goes to the mound and asked Pedro if he wants to stay!? What kind of asinine managing is that? Any professional athelete is going to want to stay in! You don't get to that point without being the kind of competitor who wants to be in the game, on the ice, etc., in the crucial situation. OF COURSE HE SAID YES! The Manager is supposed to be smarter than that. Pedro got hammered, the Red Sox lost. And I thought Lloyd McClendon was bad.

You know how you see someone driving like an idiot, and you think, "there's never a cop around when you need one." ? Recently, I've witnessed the typical idiot-like driving combined with the presence of law enforcement, with the disappointing result: THE COP DOES NOTHING! Last night, it was a motorcyclist speeding down Monterey Rd. while popping a wheelie, right past two cop-cars who had pulled over someone. (OK, 10 outta 10 for style, but a big 0 for good thinking.) Today, two cars running a red light on Blossom Hill to make a left turn, right in front of a Sheriff. And I mean it was ALL red.

Finally, there's the light on eastbound Blossom Hill at Entrada Cedros. Cars run that light all the time, sometimes a couple of seconds after it's been red. Red-light running is just not cool. Speed if you want, pop wheelies, whatever, but don't risk running down grandma (or me on my bike) because you can't wait 40 seconds for the lights to cycle around again! Anyway, I'd always hoped that a cop would stake out the intersection and nab some of these red light-runners. Until I saw a cop run the exact same light in the exact same way.

To quote a certain assistant captain, "Come on!" I try really hard not to be cynical about cops, and to believe that they actually are looking out for people and try to do a good job. But more and more it appears that they don't really do anything aside from give me speeding tickets on hwy 17 (don't worry Naomi, none recently).

Mr. Copper, who really cares about speeding on the freeway? Get the reckless drivers, sure. Get the people going 50 mph past a school. Get the red-light-runners. Get the tailgaters. Just do something other than sit on the side of the road and point a radar gun at people. Geez, do something that requires judgement! Oh no! You might have to go to court when they fight it. So, butch up and fight it. It's your job.

Confirmed, there is another kitten in the back yard (photographic evidence will follow at a later time). So, seeing it prompted me to trap Eyebrow and take her in to be spayed (that makes 3). She should be back tomorrow, and then hopefully we can catch the kitten and acclimate him/her/it to people before it's too late.

Let's just get one thing straight: these girls are just way too cute.

Recently I wondered where sesame seeds come from. You never hear of "sesame fruit". Turns out they come from Sesamum Indicum plant. "The fruit consists of an elliptical pod with two to four chambers containing about twenty seeds each." (ref)
Who knew?

Happy Birthday to me!


Thanks, Naomi!

Last night, an inauspicious return to the ice for the first Lynx game post-Hockey Workout.

We skated okay, but the other team was fast, and a couple of them were really whiny even when they were winning. And, we need to learn how to play in a rough game. Basically, when the game gets a little rough, we can't take it. Some people will get bumped and then turn and start going after the guy. Other times people get frustrated and they start chasing the other guys around, trying to hit someone. In both cases, it is extremely obvious to the refs and we get called for a penalty. Then we start bitching to the refs. I won't say much more about that except to quote our captain: "You know how we make fun of those teams that consistently whine? We were THAT team last night."

It is my feeling that to survive in a rough game, you have to initiate the rough stuff. You have to dish it out in the course of the play. Think about it: when the game gets rough, it's usually because the other team is dishing it out in the context of making a play. They play you tough in front of the net, or along the boards battling for the puck. It's the difference between reaching for the puck with a stick and taking your whole body to where the puck is. So, to combat this, you have to play the same way. You initiate the contact. You keep your weight low and your feet under you. You get in there and shove with your body. You don't pull up on a poke check, you skate right through it, you take the puck with you. They have to go through you to get where they want to go.

You do the things to piss them off. For example, I tried this defensive move I've been meaning to try, and it worked twice last night. Say you're playing a guy in front of your net. Instead of trying to move him, cross-check him, tie him up, you take your stick, put it against his back, and push down until you're pushing on the top of his pants. Keep pushing-- whoosh! -- out from under him go his skates. I did this last night twice, the second time right in front of the ref. Big Hulking Pretty Boy McLameass whined. The ref said, "No, that's good. Just a push." He boarded me about 10 seconds later, taking a penalty. I look forward to seeing the video.

Today, I'm up at SLAC where I'm going to be doing some new work to finish my Master's in Physics -- more on that later. It turns out that after this I've got to go all the way down to Santa Cruz to register and pay fees, etc. (the deadline is today, wouldn'tcha know it), before coming all the way back to Mountain view to meet Naomi.

OK, I finally did it. Nextdoor neighbor has been yelling and snarling at her kids all day, maybe even knocking them around some (hard to tell), so I finally called the cops. We'll see what comes of it. They'll probably egg my house. The neighbors, not the cops.

Uh-oh... just saw another kitten in the back yard. Looks just like Eyebrow but smaller. Damn it, we need to catch the parent cats and get them nobbled!

Eyebrow.