Halloween

[ehowton]

Per HOA regulations, I'm going to stain my fence. I've never been a part of an HOA, nor had an unstained fence. I had no idea that stain was that expensive. The good stuff goes for $120. Yikes. I settled for a five-gallon bucket at $85. I was also overwhelmed at the variety of colors. We ended up with "Cederwood." Now that I have a compressor I can get cool things like a gravity fed spray gun, which should minimize my actual "work" time on this project. I'll let you know how that goes.

I've been on and off line since Thursday. I've never had cable modem before, and after this six-day run, I may never again. I'm just waiting for fiber. Biding my time. And making multiple calls into the helpdesk. Of course by this time I've flat out refused to "restart my computer" to see if it comes back up. Christ, I'm running four different operating systems at home. Why do they always want me to reboot my XP box?

Speaking of Microsoft, remember the CAN-YOU-RUN-VISTA program you could download? The one which told you which "number" your system was?

1. Your system cannot run Vista.


2. Your system can run some core components of Vista.


3. Your system can run Vista, but many features will be disabled.


4. Your system can run Vista with most, but not all features enabled.


5. There is no hardware available today to run a full version of Vista with everything turned on.

I like Apple's approach better:

Leopard will run faster than Tiger, even on your old equipment.

Its the opposite of 'bloatware' and we, as cattle, don't know how to handle this information. We don't understand because its completely antithetical to our way of thinking. Microsoft has brainwashed us into thinking that security flaws and poor code are simply a way of life.

Which reminds me, drax0r found an independent study which names the fastest Vista laptop on the market today: The MacBook Pro. Dumbasses - http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136649-page,3-c,notebooks/article.html

This past weekend drax0r and I attended an all-day party at the Grand Opening of Anna Fine Wines & Spirits. There was a classic car show, a 20-foot smoker filled with sausage and brisket, and plenty of wine, vodka, and tequila tasting all day long. My favorites were the Daytona/Superbird twins:



Afterwards was a Tribal Council meeting. A meeting among private citizens of Anna to drink and discuss the merits of drinking. Everyone was there. I was the grill co-pilot to Retired Boom Operator and the entire operation was a rousing success.

Until his wife fell face first into the pavement.

With the wine glass between her face and the pavement.

Ouch. She was a real trooper though. The only thing she wanted was a new glass for her wine.

Took some time out to sit and watch National Lampoon's Vacation this weekend. Yes, the original. Hadn't seen it in years. So funny. Cousin Eddie at his darkest (instead of the goofy Cousin Eddie of later shows), the jaw-dropping incestuous & masturbatory remarks (unusual in a comedy), and a young Beverly D'Angelo's breasts. Twice. Good stuff. I want to see European Vacation now. Its getting close to that time that we start our annual viewing of Christmas Vacation.

I was at Wal-Mart, wandering aimlessly down the isles as I am wont to do while my wife is perusing the DVD selection. I spy an old Gen-1 512MB iPod Shuffle. PERFECT. My wife's been wanting a portable mp3 player, and though I refuse to buy one which forces me to use that most horrific of interfaces, Windows Media Player that greatly limits my choices. BAM! This was it - the answer! I inquire to the price. It was $10 less than the shiny new 1GB 2nd Generation Shuffle. I ask the saleslady if she understands why this is not a good deal.

I've got strict instructions to be home by 1700 and I don't know why. I think it may have something to do with Halloween.

Comments

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

Whatever will you do with your time once this election is over?! :)

Did your wife have a good time at the party? She sounded happy when she called me.

My brothers and I purchased my Mom a refurbished 2 Gb iPod Nano for Christmas. Bought if from Apple with a 1 yr. warranty.

I'm sure you're expected home on time to take the children Trick or Treating. Have fun!!!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Whatever will you do with your time once this election is over?! :)
I've been asked to serve on another committee.

Did your wife have a good time at the party? She sounded happy when she called me.
Surprisingly, yes. You know how she gets.

My brothers and I purchased my Mom a refurbished 2 Gb iPod Nano for Christmas.
That so rocks! I bet she loves it. If she wants to fill it with scores, let me know. I usually don't have anything else on mine.

I'm sure you're expected home on time to take the children Trick or Treating.
This is entirely plausible.

Have fun!!!
Thanks! Remember last Halloween in STL...it was 30-degrees? It will be 70 here in Texas. Yee-Haw.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

I've been asked to serve on another committee.
You just don't know how to say NO do you?! :)

Remember last Halloween in STL...it was 30-degrees?
Brrrr! Yes I do. Tonight was much better - 52 degrees.

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

The only thing she wanted was a new glass for her wine.

I like this woman already. I think she and I would get on terribly well. :)

And your Obi-Wan icon is teh sex.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

I like this woman already. I think she and I would get on terribly well. :)
There was a lot of blood involved. How very goth!

And your Obi-Wan icon is teh sex.
Thank you. I required it to speak frankly to my young padawan learner. I'm so picky about my avatars (I actually handmade my Transformer one from last post). For this one I definitely knew I wanted Episode III Kenobi, and I needed him slightly disapproving (why else would he be required to be stern?) And the archives scene made a beautiful pre-existing background I didn't have to construct (though I do admit to fiddling with the saturation levels).

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

I admired your animated Bumblebee icon from your last post: very nicely done indeed! I like the slightly off-centre cropping of your Obi-Wan icon too; enough to show the background off, but without enough background to take the focus from Obi-Wan's disapproving look.

< /icon whore >

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

I required it to speak frankly to my young padawan learner
Kiss my ass.

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

The only thing she wanted was a new glass for her wine.

I like this woman already. I think she and I would get on terribly well. :)
You two sound like "kindred spirits".

[jaceman.livejournal.com]

Two things...

How awesome is it to say, "gravity fed spray gun!"

Apple is NOT the Savior of the computing world nor is Steve Jobs, and his willingness to backstab friends/business partners and steal their code, a saint.

=-=-=-=

Truly, it seems that there really are no "good guys" any more. So, God bless competition. Here's to hoping something good comes out of the OpenSolaris - Project Indiana camp!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

How awesome is it to say, "gravity fed spray gun!"
They had two kinds. A normal one, and a 'super-high-efficiency' one. That one was $30 more and I would've bought it except it required a compressor with three times the horsepower and tank capacity of mine. Yikes.

Apple is NOT the Savior of the computing world...
Perhaps not, but they sure make Microsoft look stupid, and in my book, that's tops!

[jaceman.livejournal.com]

Microsoft makes Microsoft look stupid. Next.

[unixwolf.livejournal.com]

!GRAVITY!
Its the new word of the day! From mow on, when every you hear !GRAVITY! you scream real loud!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

I can say with confidence that this is the post to end all posts. What a great read!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Thanks dude.

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

I can't quit re-reading this post. This is too good to be true.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

You're embarrassing me.

[unixwolf.livejournal.com]

/me loves mopar!!!!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Those were some fine looking automobiles. The last time I saw a Daytona in person was 1987, driving down the road. The last time I saw a Superbird was 1989. It was in a garage in North Richland Hills.

[snapper521.livejournal.com]

Do-da-do...

I've never used anything but media player. :-P Thats why Tomas's laptop will stretch the entirety of my computer related world. :-P

Anyway... I read this, but I've realized I need to go to GR before any more time passes. I shall return and by that time you'll have posted another 5 or 6 times I suppose. *laugh*

Catch you later.

[leonardii.livejournal.com]

Lena was just saying to me... "it's about time to get out our DVD of Christmas Vacation!"

Glad you guys also enjoy this holiday favorite.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

We never miss it. I'm still looking for European Vacation!

[leonardii.livejournal.com]

I ask the saleslady if she understands why this is not a good deal.

And her answer?

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

I make eye-contact with people when I'm talking with them. After I ask her that question, I feel like I'm looking into the eyes of a cow, grazing in the field. There's no intelligence behind those eyes. It was a spooky transformation.

I think she mumbled something about this being the only sales price. It doesn't matter. Her blank stare was enough of an answer for me. She wasn't empowered to discuss competitive pricing.

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

Yannow what's funny? All you have to do to make this post up-to-date (granted, Vista 2 7's already shipped) is change Vista to Windows 7. If you put one of those new repost buttons on the "new" post, I'd repost it for you. In fact, it would be fun to do it either with this post or with the "new" post and see how far around LJ the post got.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Done.