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I saw Mr. Las Vegas. He's from my hometown.
:)
When I get home my new, shiny iMac will be waiting for me. :)
Found via Marty Feldmanize Me
My mother just called me to tell me that there was a man in a ski mask and a shot gun walking through my neighborhood the other day and they haven't caught him yet.
I guess I've now got bigger things to look out for during my 6:00am walk than the neighbor's dog not being on a leash.
Flashback to 3 weeks ago and I had to give my shiny Powerbook back to my previous employer. I have an old Powerbook G3 with a 4GB hard drive and it hates me. I can't do anything on it without it crashing. I've always meant to fix it up but never have (one day I will).
Anyhoozle, so I went to buy a new computer. I found a refurbished iMac for a decent price and ordered it... that was on August 30th. And as I watch my order status the shipment dates for my mac keep getting pushed back. Finally on the 15th I get an email telling me that "due to an unexpected delay" my mac will not ship and it will now ship between the 19th and 20th.
The 19th came and went. No update on my order status. I checked all day yesterday... no change.
By this time, my sister (who is as equally as frustrated with the old powerbook) is trying to get me to call apple and get answers. I told her I was going to wait, they'd fix it.
Last night I got an email. I saw it an my heart sank. I figured my shipment had been pushed back again and I would really have to call. And I loathe calling customer service. Actually, I pretty much don't like talking on the phone at all (I worked 2 years in a call center for a bank and that's my excuse).
So I open up the email. They do not have the inventory to send me my refurbished iMac. Total WTF? moment. What am I going to do, I need that computer to work at home.
But I keep reading. They have canceled my refurbished iMac and are instead sending me a new* one for the same price. Yeah, that's right, and they're now shipping it overnight (for free). It is being prepared for shipment as we speak and I'll probably get it on Monday.
And that... is why I heart Apple.
*I'm not sure how "new" it is as it's a 17" and the new-new iMacs come in 20" and 24." Either way it's "newer" than the refurbished one.
**This experience is in stark contrast to Fred's problems over at the porch.
Listening to the radio this morning I heard a commercial for the Ellen DeGeneres Show. They were using testimonials and this was one womans:
I don't drink coffee in the morning, I drink Ellen.
I can't make this stuff up.
Don't worry, I'll let you all know how much he enjoys his new home next Tuesday.
Our production person thought I'd be here forever. I sometimes thought that too... but onward to bigger, better and newer things.
p.s. I also had to give back my laptop... so until my new computer comes, posting will be sporadic or non-existent. But don't worry I will eventually return emails. Besides, I really want to take a stab at that logo.
Sunday Troy-the-GE-Guy decided to put a talk bubble on a photograph of Doug-the-GE-Guy and his son's baseball team that he coached. The bubble said "I like little boys."***
Troy-the-GE-Guy has been out all week. At some point Doug-the-GE-Guy went and got a Teen Beat and proceeded to tape pictures of well, certain people, and other Disney Channel stars all over Troy-the-GE-Guy's bathroom.
Needless to say it was a very interesting morning.
Oh, and The-GE-Guys are taking me out for a going-away lunch. How nice is that???
***Unnecessary Disclaimer: This was all a joke.
That space I leave between me and the car in front of me. On the interstate. When I'm going 70mph. It's so I don't die, not so that you can whip into that space and almost cause a wreck.
****
You wouldn't be riding your breaks so much if you weren't tailgating that poor person.
****
I'd so submit these people's license plates to that website for bad drivers, but for some reason I worry about my karma.
****
Remember the client I was never a fan of?
Well, he was told I was leaving and he goes, "Is it because of me?"
A jerk AND narcissistic.
Perhaps I love this commercial so much because I really, really, really wanted to be able to jump into chalk drawings like they did in Mary Poppins.
Apparently, according to my source, this is a mirage caused by something I can't remember and the Native Americans sometimes referred to it as a Corn Moon and it signifies the start of Fall.
Needless to say I was psyched. And well.... that's the moon in the photograph. It did appear exceptionally large on the horizon last night (this was about quarter to 10). But unfortunately no double moon.
I've googled it and there are some sites that say it's tonight - and they are pagan in nature. I only found one mention of it scientifically. Of course, I also found out that there was a lunar eclipse last night or rather this morning. Unfortunately when I see eclipse on the 28th I think "oh, it'll start tonight," not that it started at 4am this morning. So I missed that too.
Although, I am crossing my fingers that there *could* be this "double moon" tonight and I'll get to see it.
Mother-m-mother, she isn't quite herself today.
0 comments Posted by Thinking In Vain at 8/24/2007 02:11:00 PMBERLIN (Reuters) - A German left his dead mother seated in her favorite armchair at their shared home for two years because he could not face organizing a funeral, police in the southern town of Fuerstenfeldbruck said Friday.
The woman died of natural causes in the chair in July 2005 at the age of 92, a police spokesman said. A doctor called to the scene at the time gave the son a death certificate but he did not register the death.
Neighbors recently alerted police about the corpse. The man told police he could not bear to move his mother and said he never again entered the room where she was seated. Police have started an investigation for violating German burial law.
Via Oddly Enough
Bear with me. I tried to get all fancy this morning and messed everything up.
Update: Is the orange to light? Too yellow? Hmm.....
Update: Green too ugly? Why is that damn white bar still at the top?
CIA and Vatican edit Wikipedia entries
Someone using a US Senate computer altered a profile of veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas to complain she "interrupts" and is annoying.
Via The Sydney Morning Herald
Aug. 20, 2007 — Certain snakes can survive without food for two years at a time, but not without paying a physical price, according to a new study that found some snake species will actually digest their own hearts and grow bigger heads to broaden prey options during periods of famine.
The study, which will be published in next month's issue of Zoology, is the first ever to examine starvation physiology in snakes.
Author Marshall McCue, a researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Arkansas, thinks intense snake hunger may even explain some of the more outrageous snake stories from recent years.
"Severe hunger might make snakes take greater risks than otherwise," said McCue, who then mentioned "last year's photos of the Everglades python eating the alligator and then lethally 'popping' open, or stories of escaped pet snakes eating unusual objects, like unused light bulbs."
For his study, McCue put 20 ball pythons, 22 ratsnakes and 20 western diamondback rattlesnakes through 168 days of starvation. Weight and other measurements were taken at regular intervals. After the 168 days, McCue chemically euthanized each snake and pureed it in a blender in order to better conduct chemical analysis.
At the 168th day, the snakes lost 9.3 to 24.4 percent of their initial body mass. They also reduced their energy expenditures by an average of 80 percent over the test period. McCue told Discovery News that the snakes usually were sedentary, wrapped up in provided "hide boxes," and only explored their environments when they thought a potential food source was around.Measurements revealed the snakes actually grew longer during the fast. Growth especially was noticed in the head.
"Larger head bones mean that they can choose from a wider range of potential prey items," he said, noting that snakes cannot chew and therefore must be able to swallow whole animals.
The chemical analysis determined the snakes break down saturated fatty acids into polyunsaturated fats by "picking off bits of hydrogen for energy."
Intestinal fat, which he likened to "belly fat" in humans, as well as fatty liver tissues were among the first to be targeted. As a byproduct, water formed in the snakes' bodies, causing them to "bloat" by around 7 percent.
Then the snakes would digest their own heart muscle.
The heart breakdown initially surprised McCue, but he said it is reasonable given that "the lower energy expenditure allows lower circulatory demands, and therefore permits the heart organ to shrink."
Immediately following a nutritious meal, the snake hearts can quickly rebuild themselves.
Aaron Rundus, a University of Nebraska researcher who has also studied snakes, said he was surprised to learn snakes can survive without eating for up to two years, but, "I completely believe it, and the physiological mechanisms make sense given how successful these reptiles are at surviving under the worst of conditions."
Rundus explained to Discovery News that snakes are "ambush hunters," as opposed to "strategists," so they must wait for incredibly long periods before an unsuspecting victim may cross their paths.
McCue hopes future studies on snake starvation will lead to treatments that can increase food deprivation tolerance in other animals, including humans.
Via discovery.com
Via the caveman's crib (the after-party).
And yes, you all needed to know that.
I went the back way to the airport yesterday (my sister was returning her rental car and I was helping in this transition) on our way I saw a VERY large yellow sign (picture soon, hopefully) with "Save Countryside" and a blogspot address under it.
I'm still over there trying to figure out their purpose and what's been going on - but I thought the sign was a great idea.
Oh, news on that protester. Seems her signs are now advocating for a hernia specialist. As suggested before, a blog is a good thing for her too. She could just hold up signs with the address.
