The online computery journal thingy of a turtle

Electrodes & movies

2008-05-08T03:50:27Z

Yesterday I went to the doctor because the previous week I'd had a couple of episodes of odd feelings of nervousness and shortness of breath. I mentioned that it felt like my heart was racing, so he had me wear a take-home heart monitor for 24 hours. Thing is, I've been fine for a week now. No idea what it was or if it will ever recur. Maybe it was just some sort of anxiety attack. Anyway, the heart monitor was burdensome, and it was connected to me by five sticky, itchy electrodes that I couldn't remove until 3:30 today.

So I didn't want to leave the house. So I stayed home and watched "Stranger Than Fiction", the best Will Ferrell movie ever, because it's a subtle mindfucky sci-fiey sort of story featuring normal people in the modern world, and because it doesn't have Will Ferrell doing his usual wacky schtick. This movie is to Will Ferrell what "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is to Jim Carrey. Also stars Emma Thompson as the struggling writer who Will Ferrell finds out is going to kill him off.

After the movie, I stopped the heart monitor and removed the electrodes with a great deal of pain, some rubbing alcohol, and scissors. Then I put on a shirt and left the house to return the monitor, and also to catch a movie. Today was a movie-y day for me. I decided to go see "Iron Man". First, of course, there were trailers, for such movies as Adam Sandler in "You Don't Mess With The Zohan", about an Israeli commando who becomes a New York hairstylist, and Mike Myers in "The Love Guru". Man, when did Mike Myers become less funny than Adam Sandler? Man, it was a long time ago! There was also a trailer for the next Chronicles of Narnia, but I could barely see it over the glare of the cell phone of the idiot in front of me who was texting. They need to not just say "Silence your cell phones", they need to say "Turn the damn things OFF" or something.

The movie was smashing! Very smashing. Literally. Someone ought to make glowy medallions that look like the hi-tech power cell embedded in Robert Downey Jr.'s chest, and sell them at toy stores or conventions. Jeff Bridges was bald and evil, but it was good to hear him say the word "board" again, even if it was only "of directors". I've been told to stay till the end of the credits, but the bit at the end was targeted to more rabid comic book fans than me.

The spots on my skin where the electrodes were have been itching all day, and when I took off my shirt, they were ringed with red. A rash? No. There was still adhesive left behind, and I was wearing a red shirt all day. I'm gonna want to clean that gunk off before bedtime.

Edit: After cleaning off the adhesive... now I've got a rash. Sheesh!

Safety tips for going to the barber for a shave

2008-05-07T02:44:55Z

1. Check the barber's chair for nonstandard mechanisms or nearby trapdoors.
2. If possible, bring your wife and kids.
3. Listen closely to what your barber is singing. If he sings about pretty women, or about missing his daughter Johanna, RUN.
4. Do not under any circumstances mention that you are friends with the Beadle.
5. If your barber is Italian, make sure he's the cinematic type who shaves with actual care, not the theatrical type who takes comic swipes at his customers' faces.

Sheesh, stupid spammers

2008-05-06T07:21:00Z

Gotten a comment reading "So be it" from some unfamiliar LJ with a name full of l33tsp33k-style digit letters lately? It's a spammer. Report it.

A tale of two burgers, or attempts thereat

2008-05-04T01:28:52Z

OK so tonight Dad wanted a sirloin burger from Jack in the Box. He has celiac disease, so he can't eat bread anymore, so when I get him a burger, I need to ask for no bun. The JitB I went to has in the past showed incompetence at getting the order right. One time they put the cheese on my burger (with bun) instead of his (without bun)*. Another time they put buns on both burgers. So this time I decided to make it foolproof. I went through the drive-thru window twice, ordering Dad's bunless burger first, then going around again and getting everything else as a separate order. Foolproof... or so I THOUGHT.

The first time through, I checked the order to make sure there was no bun. I looked in the plastic box and saw cheese and lettuce on top, and grilled onions and tomatoes peeking out from underneath. Foolishly assuming there would be a meat patty in there somewhere (because NOBODY could be THAT incompetent), I drove around again for the second order: a sirloin burger for me, no cheese, two medium fries, and three eggrolls for Mom. The guy at the window recognized me from the first time**. At first he looked worried that I had a complaint, but I assured him, no, no problem, I'd just "forgotten" the rest of my order. :} So I got the second order and went home.

Dad opened the box and looked inside, saying "Are you sure there's a burger in there?" Well, I *thought* there was. He poked at the contents and said, "There's mayonnaise in here." Oops, that was my fault, Dad had asked for no sauce and I forgot about that. Then he poked at it some more and failed to discover any meat whatsoever. Shit. Now what? Should I pull the patty out of my burger and give it to him? I started to do that, but he said, "Uh, I don't have a plate to put it on," so I said I'd eat quickly and go out to get this mess cleared up. So he sat and ate his fries.

One quick burger of my own later, I went out again, bringing the cheese-and-mayonnaise salad and the receipt that clearly stated "SIRLOIN BURGER" and headed back to JitB to give 'em hell if necessary and come home with an actual patty of meat for no extra charge because I shouldn't have to pay for the same thing twice.

Fortunately the guy behind the counter recognized me from my two trips through the drive-thru. I told him there was no meat in it. He took it, went behind the counter and said, "Hey Chuck***, you forgot the meat!" "And no mayonnaise!" I hastily said. He gave me another plastic box, and this time I could see sirloin poking out from under the lettuce. Fortunately he didn't try to charge me for it and I didn't have to be nasty to him. So I went home and gave Dad his burger. Finally I could relax!

-Epilogue-

There are two JitBs in our vicinity; the one I went to tonight is about a mile away on Main St. The other is about 2 1/2 miles away on W. Bellfort. It's farther away, but they've always gotten our order right. So I declared that we are never goin' back to the one on Main St.! Next time Dad wants a burger, I'll go to the one on W. Bellfort. It doesn't take much longer to get there and back because I can take the 610 Loop part of the way.

-Footnotes-

*The first time I went there to ask for a bunless burger, I had to repeat the order a couple of times for the guy behind the counter who seemed incredulous. Later, I saw him trying to explain the concept of a bunless burger to the wrapper lady in the kitchen, who glared at him like he was crazy, then sighed, rolled her eyes, and shook her head. Jeez, was Atkins that long ago?

**After he took a minute to dump out two mostly-empty cups of coffee from some coffee shop, which the previous customer had left sitting in the drive-thru window, presumably with a cheery "Couldja do us a favor and throw these away for us? Thaaanks." WTF, people! It's a JitB, not the city dump!

***The name wasn't Chuck, but I forget what it was.

Since when does NO BUN also mean NO PATTY?

2008-05-04T00:11:47Z

Just when I thought our local Jack in the Box couldn't get any more incompetent, they manage to give my dad a burger with no bun... and no meat!

I'll tell the whole story later; right now I gotta scarf down my food, go out again and go back there to complain.

Food questionnaire

2008-05-03T21:05:22Z

Taked from tracerj, who got it from neogeen.

1. Are you a vegetarian? Vegan?
Nope. Me eat meat. Mmmmmeat. But I am an omnivore; I also eat old Omni magazines. Er, I mean vegetables.

2. What's your favorite food?
Aww, I have so many... hamburgers, tacos, fish & chips, fried rice...

3. White bread or whole wheat?
Whole wheat. White's good too if there's no wheat.

4. What's for breakfast?
Lunch. I'm-a an artist. I get to wear old clothes, and I don't hafta get uppa till noon.

5. You're making a Dagwood sandwich. What's in it?
Mostly Buddig products. Beef, ham, honey ham, turkey... then there's Swiss cheese, pickles, or relish if there's no pickles, ooo is there any lettuce left over from making Dad's salads? Maybe some red wine vinaigrette dressing like they use at Quizno's, though I don't know how they get it so thick. Cornstarch is NOT the answer; I tried that once.

6. What's on your pizza?
Beef, black olives, onions, mushrooms. Usually I order a Supreme, and tell them to leave off the pepperoni if I don't want a lot of spice.

7. Coffee, tea, milk, or soda?
Soda. I like Mountain Dew for lunch, Sprite for dinner, and Dr Pepper twice a month.

8. Dark, milk, or white chocolate?
Milk chocolate, although dark is good in certain contexts. Occasionally I like white chocolate, despite cries of "That's not chocolate!" from the purists.

9. Teetotal, beer, wine, or hard liquor?
Teetotal. I simply have no interest in alcoholic beverages.

10. Does cilantro taste like citrus, or like soap?
People think it tastes like citrus? Blaagh! SOAP!

11. Is chorizo the greatest thing ever or is it totally disgusting?
Never tried it.

12. Do you use garlic like a vegetable or like a spice?
A spice, although I think I've dined at restaurants that put chunks of garlic in my pasta. It was yummy. :}

13. Onions: raw, cooked, or not at all?
Raw (as long as they don't have those horrible mouth-burning green streaks running through them), sautéed, or batter-fried into onion rings.

14. Does broccoli taste sweet or bitter?
Some people think it tastes bitter? It's sweet enough for me.

15. How do you feel about fish?
Love it, as long as it's fileted! I love flounder, cod, tuna, mahi-mahi, tilapia, salmon as long as it's not grilled, and sardines.

16. How about sushi?
California rolls and other veggie sushi are yummy. I haven't tried the raw fish varieties, but I think I might like them, because I went to a trendy place once and had an ahi tuna steak sandwich, and the tuna was partly raw. I tried it, and it was good!

17. Fave ethnic cuisine?
Chinese! Others are good too. I don't think I've tried a cuisine anywhere that didn't have something I liked.

18. What's your favorite fruit?
Apples (not the misnamed Red Delicious; I prefer gala or jonagold), pears, navel oranges, peaches (preferably freestone), seedless grapes. The supermarket recently had a display of mangoes, and I like mango ice cream and mango juice, so I got some to try. They're sort of like peaches, but much harder and messier to eat. The skin has to be peeled off and there's a stone that's bigger and clingier than any peach stone. I think in the future I'll stick to mango ice cream and juice.

19. Cheese - thumbs up or thumbs down?
Depends on variety and context. Cheeseburger? No. Cheese cubes on toothpicks? Nope. But I will have pizza, cheesesteaks, Cheetos, American cheese on my turkey and ham at Subway, and I used to demand no cheese on my tacos but I don't do that anymore.

20. Finally, favorite dessert?
Ice cream. Chocolate silk pie. Apple pie. Ooo, or rice pudding if it's not too thin like that stuff at that one Indian restaurant that one time. That was the first time I'd ever tried rice pudding, and I didn't learn until later that it's not supposed to be all watery and runny like that. The Brown Bag Deli at Anthrocon sells little tubs of rice pudding that is deee-licious!

Laptop file transfer: advice please?

2008-05-03T01:25:03Z

Sooo... what's the best way to connect the laptop to this computer so I can transfer all my files over?

Dinner break, and laptop update

2008-05-03T00:03:45Z

Dangit, Taco Bell, I ordered a Burrito Supreme, not a Gordita Supreme!
...
Eh, it's all the same ingredients. *eat*

In other news, my laptop does play CDs!

Next task: figure out how to transfer my entire mp3 collection over to it and render the previous task moot. :}

(Full disclosure: I'm done playing with the laptop for the day and am posting this from my... mainframe. No, that's not the right word. Desktop. Except it's not actually on the desk, it's under it. Um, infotower? Big black box?)
...
(Mainframe.)

Got my laptop working!

2008-05-02T22:05:52Z

All right! I have successfully gotten my laptop turned on and connected to the internet. Also, I bought a wireless mouse for it, and the first time I tried using it, it didn't work, but then Jon told me the magical incantation to make it work: press the tiny "Connect" button on the receiver while it's turned on, then press the "Connect" button on the bottom of the mouse. It works!

Then I tried to play a DVD. MediaDirect launched, but told me it couldn't play the disc because it was the wrong region. The disc was region 1, while the region code the player was set to was labeled "Free". Um, shouldn't that mean it can play any region? I started trying to research how to get around the region encoding, but it sounded too complicated. I just set the player to region 1, and the disc played. I'm not an anime fan anyway, nor am I expecting to want to order any DVDs from Africa, so it shouldn't cause me any problems. Anyway, it'll let me change the player's DVD region code a whopping four more times. DVD region coding is such bullsheets.

Now to see if this thing will play CDs.

May 2 is...

2008-05-02T05:44:13Z

Remember, May 2 is No Pants Day! (NSFW cartoon)

Also posted on FurAffinity.

Something about the evening air in the summertime

2008-05-01T08:42:40Z

I know what you're thinking: KT posting a rap video? But it's not just any. It's Metaforce from "The Seduction of Claude Debussy" by the Art of Noise. I'm a fan of the album and I love these sundancers. Aerodynamic in the evening air.

Animal phones!

2008-04-30T23:46:15Z

Well this was a crap day

2008-04-30T21:30:40Z

Well, I was gonna play with my new laptop today, but the power went out around 11:30. So after running around in circles going aaaargh for a bit, I called the power company, ran around in circles on their phone menu, they told me to call another number, I ran around in circles on the other number's phone menu, and finally got word that they were aware of the problem (a "circuit lockout", they said), and it would be fixed around 1 pm. So I went outside to avoid heating up the house too much.

I did buy a few accessories for my laptop, though; a carrying case and a wireless mouse. When I got home, Mom was there and said we needed milk and Pepsi, so I went out to get those. Oh, and I still have to reset a bunch of clocks and take the trash out, after which I'm still not gonna be ready to play with the laptop. Hopefully tomorrow.

Google Maps just needs one more feature...

2008-04-30T07:00:52Z

Well, crap. It seems Google Maps will give me driving directions from one place to another, and it will let me make custom maps with various points marked on them... but it won't let me combine the two.

I know it's a bit early to be thinking about Midwest Furfest, but I will be visiting Chicago next month and checking out the new MFF hotel and surrounding areas. In the meantime, I decided to use Google Maps to search for convenience stores and restaurants.
HERE'S a custom map I made showing the new hotel and various useful places around it. You'll see a few more if you zoom out, and if you zoom waaaay out you'll see the two places I plan to stop for the night on my three-day drive up to the Chicago area in November.

HERE is the route I plan to take.

Dunno why I can't see both these things at the same time.

Mucked-up comic strips for no reason

2008-04-30T02:08:12Z

Ohhh, I'm in a silly mood today.

Here's what's happening to Peter Parker in today's Spider-Man strip:

I tried making a mashup of today's Hi & Lois and today's Ozy & Millie, but the result ended up making no dang sense whatsoever.

Still, when's that ever stopped me?

Joke-getting references:
Today's S-M
Today's H&L
Today's O&M

My laptop has arrived!

2008-04-29T18:44:04Z

Yaaay!

I think I'll let the box cool down a bit before I open it.

The word "fursona"

2008-04-28T07:27:32Z

http://inaki.livejournal.com/259122.html

Pfaugh, what's wrong with the word "fursona"? It's simply a portmanteau of "furry persona". What better, more concise term to describe what the word means?

Some people, some FURRIES even, seem to have some kind of hate-on for any furry slang whatsoever. Slang from other fandoms they'll gladly use, such as "slash", "otaku" or "con crud"; pejorative terms for furries made up by others they'll eagerly sling around, such as "fursecution"... but oh how DARE their fellow furries have the NERVE to invent neologisms of their own!

Another good example is "yiff". Man, some people complain about this word so hard it seems they'd rather have dental surgery without anaesthetic than ever hear the word "yiff" again. What would they rather we say? "Fuck"?

Here's a question that's been left off that "regional terminology" questionnaire

2008-04-27T21:48:30Z

What do you call the kitchen appliance that keeps food cold?

Honest and smart-alecky answers both welcome.

I don't think this is the right video.

2008-04-27T09:37:16Z

Screenshot of a recent post made by doujoux:

The video is one that someone else on my friends list embedded in a post. I was able to see this post with the correct video by clicking "Post comment" and viewing the post itself. Oh, and some other videos got mixed up as well; I wondered at first why bradhicks was embedding a video of doujoux building a Morse code communicator and modifying it into a theremin (cool though that is!)

ΒΡΟΟΟΟΥΥΥΥΥΥΜ (VROOOOOOOOOOM)

2008-04-27T01:26:59Z

DUUUDE, check it OUT! The Greek 2-lepto (2-cent) coin has a CORVETTE on it! WOOO!

Good night, America, how are ya?...

2008-04-26T07:59:16Z

This song gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. 'Cause it's just so melancholy and beautiful.

Laptop!

2008-04-25T04:26:30Z

Today I ordered a laptop!

KT will soon have a laptop for keeping in touch with friends who couldn't come along on trips.

Yaay laptop!

L'edit français: C'est un Dell Inspiron avec les Fenêtres XP.

It's Earth Day!

2008-04-23T00:09:14Z

And what did I do for Earth Day to make the world a better place? Why, I drew porn, of course! (NSFW! Duh! It's PORN.)

For those of you with FurAffinity accounts, it's crossposted here.

OCS

2008-04-19T07:09:43Z

How come there's Old Church Slavonic but there aren't any other old building slavonics?

I think there ought to be like Old Bank Slavonic, Old Restaurant Slavonic, Old Barbershop Slavonic, or Old Drugstore Slavonic...

At the very least, there should be Old Sawmill Slavonic.

Or, if you need cusswords, Old Bathroom Slavonic! YES THERE CAN BE INDIVIDUAL ROOM SLAVONICS. Hungry? Old Kitchen Slavonic! Yiffy? Old Bedroom Slavonic! In the mood for a game of foosball? Old Den Slavonic! Want to talk about cars? Old Garage Slavonic!

Travis37a's paintings

2008-04-18T08:33:12Z

Travis37a on flickr paints well-dressed freaks and monsters that look like old Victorian photos and are AWESOME.