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June 2, 2004 /

I’m sitting here at work, killing time until 6:00, when most people will have gone home and I can actually try running my queries because the database won’t be so busy. The Interweb no longer entertains me, and I can’t think of anything interesting to write. I feel dried out and cold. It’s been a long day.

It will be nice to have this done, though (if it works), and not have it hanging over my head. Plus there’s a possibility of seeing Der Flöra tonight, and who knows what will happen over the weekend? There are a lot of people whose company I enjoy in Louisville right now; it’s June, and it’s about time I stopped getting enough sleep.

Ominous

June 2, 2004 /

Overheard just now, from the cube next to mine:

“It’s been a month now, and there’s been no kickback. And it’s like I was telling John earlier: we may have a problem here.”

June 2, 2004 /

The Tuesday Night Ballers reached second level tonight, a momentous occasion and probably the most significant hurdle in a long-term campaign. I haven’t been easy on them, either. They can now stand up to attacks from lone, unarmed opponents without the threat of instant death; this opens up all kinds of possibilities, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the whole thing develops.

If you haven’t figured out what Tuesday Night Basketball is by now, you probably never will. If you have, let’s face it, you’re just as guilty as any of us.

Sumana always reminds me to post about books

June 1, 2004 /

The day I picked up the aforementioned new cell phone, I also went to the comic store and finally succeeded in daring myself to buy Brian Michael Bendis’s Jinx, after looking at it and slowly shaking my head for like a year. This review encapsulates pretty much all my feelings toward it, except I haven’t finished it yet–it’s a BIG book–and also, apparently everybody else who shops at Great Escape felt the way I did. It’s been flipped through and replaced so many times that large chunks of the book are breaking away from the spine, which is a shame. It’s still readable, though, and so far I like it a lot.

June 1, 2004 /

I have a new cell phone. I’m not really happy about this.

On the one hand, my family and I have had a chronic problem with going over our minutes, partly because we were all sharing the same plan and Ian and I used a lot more than Mom and Caitlan. We only had 800 minutes between the four of us, which didn’t work out that well. So it’s nice that Ian and I have our own plan, so Ian can ruin my credit instead of Mom’s. Also we have twice as many minutes to use, and now that I have Cingular unlimited wireless-to-wireless, I should be using significantly fewer minutes anyway.

On the other hand:

  • I have to transfer all my contacts from Layla. Manually.
  • This new phone is not Layla; it seems flimsier and less shiny, and definitely can’t be used as a flashlight.
  • One nice thing is that it doesn’t have a broken extendable antenna. Then again, it doesn’t have an extendable antenna at all, so when I have bad reception there’s not a lot I can do.
  • Oh, and the new phone is not red.
  • Plus its keypad buttons are that annoying two-in-one rocker style, which makes it more difficult to use without looking.
  • And there aren’t as many of them, which means reduced functionality.
  • But I can google from my pocket! Which is something I’ve always wanted to do.
  • But that’s going to end up costing me a lot of money, at a cent per kilobyte.

I don’t know, maybe I’ll learn to like it. I did with Layla. I still have Layla, in fact, although she doesn’t connect to anything anymore. I’ll probably take her battery out once I’ve got all my contacts and stuff transferred, to use as a backup, since it’s the same kind as the new one.

In many ways I still hate having a cell phone, but I’d grudgingly accepted Layla. This newcomer is not so easy to handle. I feel like a friend has moved away, and a smaller, more annoying person has taken her place.

The new phone does J2ME apps, though. I better get cracking if I’m going to port rfk.

May 30, 2004 /

(This entry is posted as dated in my pocket notebook.)

I’ve passed the Waddy Peytona exit probably a hundred times. For the first time in my life, I’m actually in Waddy, at a somewhat sleazy Citgo truck stop, in a back room with no windows. Ian is asleep on one end of the beaten couch; I’m writing at the other. By all accounts, we’re within a few miles of a tornado.

There’s a scattered copy of The Trucker, a half-sheet format free newspaper, on the floor. It appears to be largely concerned with rising diesel prices. Maria called two minutes ago to say that the heart of the storm should be where we are in about three minutes. The rain just slacked off a bit; it sounds like there’s hail mixed with it now. There’s a thick skylight over our heads, which makes me nervous, but it beats the big window-walls out front.

There’s a large TV back here, which is turned off, and a smaller cycling-ads set which is on. It’s connected to some kind of truck load monitor with four large buttons. Every ten minutes or so it shows “local weather,” by which it means the highs, lows and actual temperatures in five parts of Kentucky. Amusingly, it shows nothing related to storm or tornado status.

Maria just called again. Apparently the funnel clouds have dissipated just before reaching Waddy. It should be safe to drive in ten minutes or so.

May 28, 2004 /

The new sweepstakes campaign for Coke involves GPS somehow, and the slogan for it is

YOU CAN WIN

BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE

which evokes disturbing images of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery.

May 28, 2004 /

Given the cicada invasion on Bardstown Road as of late, plus the enormous and doomed Fourth Street Live revitalization project being advertised all over, well, Fourth Street, I’m pretty sure today’s Mac Hall takes place in Louisville.

May 26, 2004 /

I had a busy afternoon. First, I’ve written a few stories for constrained.org, which is as neat as anticipated. I’ve got a couple more in progress, but you know what would be really neat? If you tried one too.

Second, I promised to post about it a long time ago and never did, but there’s a new theme coming up at BlogNomic–it’s still in process, but it would seem that Damanor and I have taken over the world. I’ve been playing since January with only a couple of breaks, and the game remains fun. If you’re interested in getting in at the beginning of whatever happens next, I recommend joining now.

Update 1646 hrs: I should add that Damanor and I may not end up winning, but either way there’s a new Dynasty coming, since the old Emperor has quit. (That’s what I meant by “in process.” I just don’t want to appear overly cheeky.)