Category: life

The high point of last weekend for me was buying new bedding to match my new girly blue walls. I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, located one of the two navy blue comforters ever made (for a price that reflects its rarity), along with a set of equally expensive 350 thread count sheets. Seriously, is it so hard to manufacture a plain blue comforter? I visited several stores, and there were only three such comforters to choose from: one was jersey knit (out), another had a satin sheen (out). If you want one with flowers or paisley crap all over it, you have it made. The third blue one, yes this is the one I bought, and I was sure it was perfect: solid navy blue color, no frills. Until I got it home and pulled it out to discover that it was adorned with bows. Bows! Back into the bag you go.

Last night I took it back to the BB&B. The lady at the exchange desk asked if anything was wrong. “No, it just has bows on it,” I said. That got a laugh. What I meant to say was that I’m on to BB&B’s plot of mass emasculation, but that’s another battle for another time. The sheets though, they are really nice.

I require a vacation this year to some area of limitless sun, such as the Carribean, Mexico, or South America. Anyone interested? Ryan, Dave, Len?

Speaking of Mexico, today is that day of celebration of dubious Mexican history. My plans? Go home, watch a DVD, drink a bottle of Cuervo. It’s good for you.

If I had it to do over again, I would’ve taken Spanish in high school or college. Not only would I then have the obvious benefit of being able to hit on J. Lo in two different languages, I would also be able to help out the occasional lost non-English speaker. Telling someone how to manuever the complexities of transfers at Rosslyn is difficult enough without a language barrier, but yesterday I tried to help a guy who asked, “Donde esta cor how?” I think he was asking how to get to Court House, but I have no idea, really. He also showed a card with an address on 14th St in DC, but said that he wasn’t going there. Right, that’s not confusing at all.

After several minutes of gesticulating, I think he got the point: Orange line, this platform, one stop. My limited Spanish vocabulary stops short of colors, so I couldn’t really convey which train to take, except by indicating the number two. Yes, I suck at charades. My train, the blue line, arrived first, so I don’t know how he fared, so to speak. He may still be wandering the tunnels of the DC subway system. Good luck, amigo. Vaya con dios.

I still can’t decide if Coke with Lime is the best thing to happen to soda, or if it is poison. I typically change my mind from one to the other about halfway through. I love that it has as an ingredient, “Potassium benzoate (to protect taste).”

The GT alumni club’s softball team really sucks, and I say that as one of the proud owners of an “E” last night. Signs of agility: before the game even started I picked up two bruises on my right shin and hurt my lower back. At least we dominate post-game drinking contests.

Got my HD card working last night. Seems the trick was using dvbstream to capture things as opposed to cat. So my $10 rabbit ears from years ago proved still useful here in the 21st century: I could watch a digital version of old standard def Friends reruns. Woohoo. I’ll still probably go get a better antenna this weekend. Anyone taking bets as to whether I impulse buy a 50″ DLP TV as well?

I helped a lady carry her luggage down the escalator this morning. She told me she had a hernia condition and that I was very kind and which way does she go to get to the airport. I said, “Blue line, this platform.” I’m a nice guy right? Wrong. She walked down to the end of the platform, I stayed somewhere near the middle, then I proceeded to watch her get on the next Orange line train, without making an effort to stop her. So, I’m a jerk. (Someone else told her so she managed to get off the train in time.)

The coolest thing Georgia Tech has ever done: hooking the laundry machines up to the Net. Too bad they just bought some company’s software instead of rolling it themselves.

Accenture (aka Andersen Consulting) is (still) running an ad campaign sporting Tiger Woods (“Be a Tiger” – PDF). Who sees these and thinks, oh hey, Accenture will do to my IT infrastructure what Tiger Woods did for the PGA? Also regarding the linked ad: I didn’t know golf normally involved so much theory. But, yes, Stephen Hawking himself has written several papers on the composition of bunkers (“Hawking Sand”) and their impact on the dynamic subspace domain of score gradients. Of course the real story here is that they are trying to make an impression on the decision makers, who play golf four days a week. Hire us for your consulting work and you can pretend you are good at this ridiculous “sport.”

My favorite unix utility is dd. Most recently, it saved all of my music on my multitracker’s dying hard drive. What did I do before unix, copy /b?

I hate the April 1st internet scene. Except for this awesome tutorial — that one is cool.

I don’t know why, but the demise of the Crystal City Underground (where I work) fascinates me. Perhaps it’s because the place is dominated by the most marginal of retail stores yet the least worthwhile seem to be the ones with the most staying power. Since the last update, the following stores have left: B. Dalton, Kraven’s deli, The Dutch Lady, Like On TV, the store that sold earrings to prostitots, and whatever used to be between the Village Cobbler and The Engraving Store. Mad About Bears and Puppet Heaven: both still around. I marvel at the demographics that make Taco Bell an unsustainable business while any place that sells statues of dogs is a guaranteed hit.

The best part about Coinstar, after fattening your wallet with bills and the satisfyingly loud noise of money-meets-machinery, is all the reject change that the device spits out. I can’t help but wonder what story lies behind the migration of 22 euro-cents from the Old World into the penny tray of whichever stateside cash register housed them before they wound up in my pocket. The river of money is a marvelous thing. And I got a wheat penny too.

Well now that Tech’s been knocked out I don’t have to care about the tourney anymore. Good luck NC State!

Last weekend I finished up painting my bedroom. I’m not really happy with the color though: I was expecting something a little darker or more silvery than I wound up with. Something a bit more masculine. The color Hemingway might paint his bedroom between killing a bull and drinking a tumbler of rum straight up. But instead I have this light pastel blue. So I may just repaint it another color while I still have all my furniture moved out. What does the bluesterror readership think?

Here is my living room. I like it except for the clash with the existing wallpaper.

Now 23-14. Told you I suck. Best games of yesterday were the upsets of Syracuse and Kansas, and the best shot of the night was Vermont’s Sorrentine’s three ball from another zip code. Tech won! ACC is undefeated in the first round. After watching Duke struggle in the first half against Delaware St. before pulling away, it occurs to me that they are a much weaker team without the helping hand of ACC officiating. Too bad I picked them. If they both make it, the UNC game will be interesting.

I am slowly painting my bedroom. Sunday night I did the wall prep, taping, and a coat of primer. Last night I painted half of the walls. That is, two entire walls, not the top or bottom half of four walls. The silvery blue color looks pretty good dried, and most importantly, it covers the lovely heart-laced border. In the meantime, I’m sleeping in the guest bedroom. It’s fun: like going on vacation without really going on vacation and still having to go to work.

After one official night of play in the tournament, my bracket is sad. Including the play-in, I am 10-8 (one loss next round for Pitt). One 5-12 was already an upset; the other three games happen today including the all-important GW-GT. Should be exciting. I’ll be updating my earlier post to reflect missed guesses, not that it really matters since I’m not in any pools.

Yesterday was St. Patrick’s day. My people appreciate your drunken perpetuation of stereotypes.

Here is my ACC-heavy bracket for the tournament. I always suck at these.

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