So blog entry #101 may become just a little bit rambly. I’ll try to keep it down (especially as I’m tired and it’s getting late), but you never know how that goes.

First off, Beth and I both got to talk to Minda tonight for some time. It was a good all-around conversation and was nice to actually be able to talk for a while rather than play telephone tag, etc. So that was Good Times. She’s planning on coming out for an afternoon in about a week, so that will be fun. She gets to finally meet Kirstin!

Beth and I actually got to go out to lunch today. Together. By ourselves. It was a nice change, and quite random that it actually took place, but things lined up in such a way that made it possible for a little dinner date. Even if it was Pizza Ranch buffet (but that’s a Good Thing because of the variety).

I got home from work this afternoon and decided that I really did have to go out and get the rest of the lawn mowed. Otherwise it’d be a Bad Thing. Namely because with the warm temperatures the last few days, the grass is growing like you’d not believe. So what just got cut the other day is already grown to the point where I couldn’t mow tonight at the same height as what I mowed the other day (and make it look relatively the same). But, I got that done now and also mowed down some tall stuff that I’d wanted to do last fall but didn’t because of other issues (namely the fact that I’d just cleared brush from the area in question).

While I was outside I got the weed eater started and ran it for a few minutes until I ran out of gas. That takes mixed gas, of which I have none, so when it stopped I was done. But that’s alright, because I need to fill my little one-gallon can with mixed gas so I ca use the chainsaw and weed eater anyway…

I also took time to do the last of the backfilling around the septic tank covers. So they don’t stick out quite as much now, and are level with the ground all around (I’d previously only brought the dirt level to the top of the riser pipes, so there was about 6″ all around the covers that was 3″ lower than ground level and looked strange). I also filled in the various dog holes on the east side of the house while I was at it and got the area cleaned up. Should be good now so that I can spread out some grass seed here in the next week or so and get that established again.

In other news, I noticed that the water is finally receding in the basement again. In that what little was still coming up through the floor has completely stopped and in several cases has either dried up or sucked what water was in the basement back into the ground. If we get a couple of relatively nice and fairly dry days, things should be completely dry in short order. Fantastic, because then I can work on the sump basin project.

I’ve got the slight luxury of being able to ‘sleep in’ a little bit tomorrow morning (maybe a half hour longer, depending upon Kirstin). This is because I was informed that the office building’s power is going to be shut down while they finally do the three-phase changeover to the overhead wire. I guess they’re starting around 8am and expected it to be out for about two hours. So I’m shooting to be in around 10 or 10:30. I’m not sure what I’ll do in the morning (aside from watch Kirstin and hang out), but it’s kinda nice to have that on a Friday morning.

And as a bit of a rant: I shall quote the following from a random email forward I received (because I was one of the ‘mixed company’ type of contacts in someone’s address book.

I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food.

But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table… everywhere. Then some of the birds turned mean . They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. Other birds were boisterous and loud . They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn’t even sit on my own back porch anymore. I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio. Soon, the back yard was like it used to be… quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now lets see… our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, free education and allows anyone born here to be a automatic citizen.

Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families , you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor , you r child’s 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn’t speak English , Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box , I have to press “one” to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than “Old Glory” are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.

Maybe it’s time for the government to take down the bird feeder.

What really pisses me off about shit like this is the fact that I received this through my work email account. That, and the fact that while I’m familiar with the person who sent it, we are by no means on a familiarity basis where one knows what I think about garbage like this.

For starters, pick a better metaphor.

Secondly, I absolutely HATE broad generalizations about groups of people in this sort of context. I won’t go so far as to say that some of the aforementioned doesn’t take place; it certainly does. HOWEVER, the programs in question are there for a purpose (a legitimate one at that); one which benefits many, many people.

What really infuriates me the most I think is the fact that people send this shit around and not only believe that it’s funny or true, but think enough of it to keep sending it around. No wonder we have some completely absurd percentage of this country’s citizens that believe a particular current leader and his dictatorial tendencies are the best thing since fried chicken (a reference to the southern US) and sliced bread.

Couple this with the fact that some absurdly large percentage of people under the age of 30 consider ‘The Daily Show’ and other satirical comedic television programs their primary source of daily news, and I believe we’re really going to have a problem at some point in time in the future. Perhaps it’s a good thing; people are filled with such crap they don’t know what to believe. But the fact that comedians are delivering more ‘news’ than traditional outlets to the younger audience (of which I’m a demographic member) bothers me.

Anyway, that was a bit of a digression, but I don’t like being included on stuff like that. Especially en masse as it were. Unfortunately, people adhere to crap like that. If they want to, I guess that’s their right, but please think twice about sending it to everyone in your address book next time — especially for those with whom you have a strictly business relationship.

So I’ll step down from that box here to end the post. In a random bit of Google magic today, I discovered that the online bits of an old Computer Science classroom presentation I did in 2002 were used as references for someone’s technical paper and presentation in 2005. Yeah, I was doing one of those vanity searches on Google and discovered this. It was oddly flattering, though, that someone thought enough of the material on which I’d presented (even though it wasn’t my own material) and made available online (through the University) to include it as a reference in a technical paper and presentation.

Go figure. I guess I’m just that popular. 🙂

So, all of that stuff said, I’m signing off for the evening. Until next time…

–MZ