Hey Kids,
I just wanted to tell you all about the wonderful Christmas I had.
Thursday - Christmas Eve:
I begin experiencing severe stomach pain about mid-day. The pain does not stop. I resolve to go to the hospital if it does not go away by morning. I barely sleep.
Friday - Christmas Morning:
Pain is still going strong. My girlfriend and I decide not to wait till mid-day to go get diagnosed. We head to a local diagnostic place that if I did not have something terrible, would be cheaper than going to the ER. Turns out my appendix was mutinying. We go to a real emergency room. Diagnostic place charges us nothing (Sweet).
Painkillers are given. I am unable to give a urine sample due probably to dehydration for several hours. I do manage to eventually pee in a bottle.
There is a surgery which, for those of you who aren't familiar with anesthetics, happens without me realizing it. I am down 1 appendix.
I sleep in the hospital.
Saturday:
I wake up in the hospital. I eat hospital food. I am constantly checked on. I am discharged and given instructions on how to best recover from the surgery.
Best Christmas Ever
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas
This is a post about the tiny Christmas tree I have constructed. It is made from a grocery bag, a jarritos soda bottle, some contruction paper, and wrapping paper. Clearly, this is the most glorious thing to ever grace humanity. You weep in wake of this wondrous creation, yes? It's certainly not something you'd expect out of a kindergarten craft project. Certainly and positively not. Perish the thought, if that though even crosses your mind in the first place.
In other news, have I mentioned MSPA on this blog? If I haven't, please do direct your favored browser over to http://www.MSPaintAdventures.com/ .
This end today's broadcast. See you after some pleasant holidays.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Battle Tubes, Apartment Times, DreamCast Woes
Greetings. A lot has happened since last I wrote. Since I live a slow boring life, that means it's been a while. But all you need to do is look at the dates to see that.
The tube was a labor of love. Constructed from 1/4" think, 3" wide PVC pipe painted dark blue with Rustoleum spray paint, and the pipe fittings put permanently into place using PVC cement. Here it is with the battle mat contained within it.
The screw on lid to the pipe, with a 4" threaded rod run through it with coupling hex nuts and acorn nuts attached to form a handle that won't be hard on my hand should I need the extra torque to open it. Acorn nuts are hot glued in place, and there are three nuts stabilizing the handle inside the lid.
And finally the binding posts, brackets taken from 2 door locks (there's another bracket at the bottom of the tube), quick links (again, this same setup is at the bottom of the tube), and the
carrying strap.
Originally I purchased the PVC and metal hardware and had the pieces primed and drilled by my girlfriend's dad. Then I made sure the metal bits fit, took 'em out, and painted the thing. My project was a rousing success.
------------STEP 1: BATTLE TUBE------------
A while back I wanted to make a document tube to carry my vinyl battle mat to and from tabletop sessions.The tube was a labor of love. Constructed from 1/4" think, 3" wide PVC pipe painted dark blue with Rustoleum spray paint, and the pipe fittings put permanently into place using PVC cement. Here it is with the battle mat contained within it.
The screw on lid to the pipe, with a 4" threaded rod run through it with coupling hex nuts and acorn nuts attached to form a handle that won't be hard on my hand should I need the extra torque to open it. Acorn nuts are hot glued in place, and there are three nuts stabilizing the handle inside the lid.
And finally the binding posts, brackets taken from 2 door locks (there's another bracket at the bottom of the tube), quick links (again, this same setup is at the bottom of the tube), and the
carrying strap.
Originally I purchased the PVC and metal hardware and had the pieces primed and drilled by my girlfriend's dad. Then I made sure the metal bits fit, took 'em out, and painted the thing. My project was a rousing success.
-------------------------------------------------------
------------STEP 2: APARTMENT------------
I moved into a new cheap apartment. It looks pretty good. I pay very little. Pictures coming eventually.------------STEP 2: APARTMENT------------
-------------------------------------------------------
------------STEP 3: DREAMCAST------------
My DreamCast died while playing Worms World Party. I gutted it and want to do something with the case. I have a new DreamCast I purchased from Craigslist.------------STEP 3: DREAMCAST------------
-------------------------------------------------------
THAT IS ALL.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
SuperChill: SuperValu
Recently I found myself at Albertson's and I wanted to grab some soda before playing some D&D. I mistakenly picked up "Mt. Chill" flavored "SuperChill" thinking it was a generic "Sprite" when it was actually a generic "Mountain Dew". I don't consume things with caffeine in them aside from chocolate so this was an unfortunate mistake.
Caffeine aside, "SuperChill" comes in many varieties and is produced by a company called SuperValu. After purchasing the drink I decided to see what flavors they had so I wouldn't make the same mistake again. I did a web search for "SuperChill" hoping to find useful results, and found mentions of the brand as well as beverage chilling devices, but not a list of flavors. I decided to consult the bottle after the web search turned up the "SuperValu" company name I hadn't known before and found where it was on the label of the bottle. They had a different web address on their bottle than the one that came up in the search engine, and I found the address to in fact be not in service. Then they had a customer service number.
I call the number and get a fairly standard set of automated voice command options, none of which are relevant to me, but I am given an option for "More Options". From here I am allowed to summon a customer service representative, although the option for doing so assumed I'm doing something more serious than trying to get a list of flavors.
The rep answers immediately. I get the impression that this number is called very rarely. I was impressed that they were open though, on Saturday at 5pm. The following is a paraphrasing of the conversation to the best of my recollection:
Customer Service Rep (CSR): Hello, SuperValu Customer Care, how may I help you.
Me: I wanted to get a list of the different flavors in your 'SuperChill' beverage brand
CSR: Ok sir, I can look that up for you. You want me to tell you the different flavors of SuperChill, correct?
Me: Correct.
CSR: Ok, first can I get your zip code so we can locate the store nearest you.
I'd like to stop this transcript for a second, just to note that this is already weird now. I don't see why they have to locate a store at this point, but my zip code alone isn't going to hurt me so I give it and they tell me an address of a store and ask me if I shop there frequently. They do not name the store, by the way, and there's a brief exchange about there being a Safeway and some other stores on that street.
She then asks for my name. I give her just my first. She asks for me last, I ask if just the initial is okay, she says yes and I give it. She asks for my addresses, both physical and e-mail. I politely decline to do so.
CSR: Okay. We will contact the store and ask them.
We're pausing again. They put me on hold. My main question at this point?
You have to contact the local store? You don't even know your own brand's flavors, SuperValu? I could've called the local store myself!
Anyway, after a couple minutes the hold music ends and she lists off the flavors of SuperChill available. I find out the variety I want is just called "Lemon-Lime".
Looking back on this whole story, what have we learned?
1. We have learned that SuperValu is an extremely sketchy company that wants my personal information.
2. We've learned that their representatives are not given any information booklets about their own products.
3. We've learned that sometimes when you try to go straight to the source for information you end up getting it from someone lower on the grape vine anyway.
It was a super weird experience, and now I've documented it. Good day.
Caffeine aside, "SuperChill" comes in many varieties and is produced by a company called SuperValu. After purchasing the drink I decided to see what flavors they had so I wouldn't make the same mistake again. I did a web search for "SuperChill" hoping to find useful results, and found mentions of the brand as well as beverage chilling devices, but not a list of flavors. I decided to consult the bottle after the web search turned up the "SuperValu" company name I hadn't known before and found where it was on the label of the bottle. They had a different web address on their bottle than the one that came up in the search engine, and I found the address to in fact be not in service. Then they had a customer service number.
I call the number and get a fairly standard set of automated voice command options, none of which are relevant to me, but I am given an option for "More Options". From here I am allowed to summon a customer service representative, although the option for doing so assumed I'm doing something more serious than trying to get a list of flavors.
The rep answers immediately. I get the impression that this number is called very rarely. I was impressed that they were open though, on Saturday at 5pm. The following is a paraphrasing of the conversation to the best of my recollection:
Customer Service Rep (CSR): Hello, SuperValu Customer Care, how may I help you.
Me: I wanted to get a list of the different flavors in your 'SuperChill' beverage brand
CSR: Ok sir, I can look that up for you. You want me to tell you the different flavors of SuperChill, correct?
Me: Correct.
CSR: Ok, first can I get your zip code so we can locate the store nearest you.
I'd like to stop this transcript for a second, just to note that this is already weird now. I don't see why they have to locate a store at this point, but my zip code alone isn't going to hurt me so I give it and they tell me an address of a store and ask me if I shop there frequently. They do not name the store, by the way, and there's a brief exchange about there being a Safeway and some other stores on that street.
She then asks for my name. I give her just my first. She asks for me last, I ask if just the initial is okay, she says yes and I give it. She asks for my addresses, both physical and e-mail. I politely decline to do so.
CSR: Okay. We will contact the store and ask them.
We're pausing again. They put me on hold. My main question at this point?
You have to contact the local store? You don't even know your own brand's flavors, SuperValu? I could've called the local store myself!
Anyway, after a couple minutes the hold music ends and she lists off the flavors of SuperChill available. I find out the variety I want is just called "Lemon-Lime".
Looking back on this whole story, what have we learned?
1. We have learned that SuperValu is an extremely sketchy company that wants my personal information.
2. We've learned that their representatives are not given any information booklets about their own products.
3. We've learned that sometimes when you try to go straight to the source for information you end up getting it from someone lower on the grape vine anyway.
It was a super weird experience, and now I've documented it. Good day.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Allergies, Campaigns, and Moving
I have got seasonal allergies. Having them is like being sick all the time. Yesterday I took a Zyrtec because Claritin does nothing for me. The Zyrtec did not seem to do anything yesterday when I took it, but I felt really good this morning. That may be due to the pill, or maybe I really was sick and am getting better. I do know I can breath a bit again.
Want to have a convenient place to make notes and store information on your role-playing campaign? Try ObsidianPortal.com. It's good stuff.
Moving month is coming closer. Today I will put in my time off request for the last half of August.
Inter-tubes. YEAH!
Want to have a convenient place to make notes and store information on your role-playing campaign? Try ObsidianPortal.com. It's good stuff.
Moving month is coming closer. Today I will put in my time off request for the last half of August.
Inter-tubes. YEAH!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Windows 7
This weekend, my girlfriend and I installed Windows 7 on her laptop. It was a lot easier than I expected. We backed up her important data, got the Windows 7 disk, booted from it, reformatted the hard drive (finally doing away with the 2 separate partitions it had, making it into one), and installed.
So far it's gone flawlessly and I have encountered no problems as of yet. I messed with the control panel and tweaked some performance options, balancing how pretty we want it versus what we don't need; for instance, drop shadows of any kind, I dislike and find to be a waste of resources. On the other hand, smoothing screen fonts is great. We installed Trillian, and Firefox, and some basic stuff.
I'll enjoy seeing how this goes.
So far it's gone flawlessly and I have encountered no problems as of yet. I messed with the control panel and tweaked some performance options, balancing how pretty we want it versus what we don't need; for instance, drop shadows of any kind, I dislike and find to be a waste of resources. On the other hand, smoothing screen fonts is great. We installed Trillian, and Firefox, and some basic stuff.
I'll enjoy seeing how this goes.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Cruel Hearted Man
I am not one that is very fond of insect or other pests. Ants, mice, earwigs, it doesn't matter, I would not like them in my home. I am unfair to these creatures, because once they are in my home, I am begrudgingly willing to kill them.
I am also a pussy sometimes. Today was one of those times. I spied several bugs in my room. A spider, an earwig, and a daddy long legs. The daddy long legs I did not care about, because I don't think they are very good at biting. The earwig I was worried a bit about, so I cruelly, though quickly, ended its being.
It is unfortunate so much as I would not like to be ended in a similar way, but I fear that insects would escape only to find me in the night and strike.
The spider though, it had me very nervous. I had noticed it and then watched it move its abdomen from side to side in a very concerning way, like a cat about to pounce. With spiders, I always worry a little about the possibility of them being able to jump, and so this little bit of body language had me in sheer nervous terror.
Upon looking back, I think it was actually working some webbing about, but at the time I tried to find the best way to deal with it from a comfortably safe distance. I tried several things which did not satisfy me with their length if the spider were to run and jump at me:
A cane
A giant pencil
A long vacuum hose
Throwing sandals at it
Still, I was intimidated. Then I grabbed for my airsoft gun. I got a good distance and fired. Missed, but not by much. I pulled the trigger again. Jammed.
This is something that happens with my airsoft gun. On single fire it will occasionally jam. Luckily the solution is quick and easy. Switch to auto fire, and the problem is solved.
I switch to auto fire and fire a fair amount of pellets at the spider one at a time. I hit it. Some of its mass moves one direction, apparently on web. Some jerks but remains in place, also on web. From here, it looks like the spider is dead, but I worry it's merely planning its counter assault.
As an aside, it was not doing any such thing, as it was, as I was soon to discover, fairly thoroughly dead.
I approach cautiously. The spider does not move. I discover one of its legs had broken away along with some other bit. Still worried I turned the vacuum on and used the long hose to suck up the spider. I left it on probably longer than needed, for caution's sake. After which, I disassembled the hose, checking each piece for the spider. Then I put the vacuum away.
I wouldn't want it to happen to me.
In other recent happenings, I had a dream, part of which was about a softcore pornographic gunfighting anime with supernatural elements.
There was a part where I was in an FPS and an enemy killed himself by smashing a computer which ran the FPS, to which I said he was "Meta-dead".
The last part I was outside a large house which was apparently mine, overlooking a large, beautiful city with my girlfriend. Out of the sky I saw two red flares heading toward the ground in the city. One of them hit on the edge out by the water and caused an explosion. I didn't see the second hit. There were apparently a bunch of other people around and they started panicking and running. Ayla and I were not exceptions to this as I grabbed her thinking we would need to find a better shelter. I made arbitrary navigation decisions as we ran, mostly to avoid running into people, when I spot my friend Tamlin coming toward us. He says something I don't remember to the effect of knowing where to go and we start following him. He leads us to a small hatch that leads to a shelter and the dream ends right before I get into the shelter, but I was pretty confident I was going to make it. I wake up.
I am also a pussy sometimes. Today was one of those times. I spied several bugs in my room. A spider, an earwig, and a daddy long legs. The daddy long legs I did not care about, because I don't think they are very good at biting. The earwig I was worried a bit about, so I cruelly, though quickly, ended its being.
It is unfortunate so much as I would not like to be ended in a similar way, but I fear that insects would escape only to find me in the night and strike.
The spider though, it had me very nervous. I had noticed it and then watched it move its abdomen from side to side in a very concerning way, like a cat about to pounce. With spiders, I always worry a little about the possibility of them being able to jump, and so this little bit of body language had me in sheer nervous terror.
Upon looking back, I think it was actually working some webbing about, but at the time I tried to find the best way to deal with it from a comfortably safe distance. I tried several things which did not satisfy me with their length if the spider were to run and jump at me:
A cane
A giant pencil
A long vacuum hose
Throwing sandals at it
Still, I was intimidated. Then I grabbed for my airsoft gun. I got a good distance and fired. Missed, but not by much. I pulled the trigger again. Jammed.
This is something that happens with my airsoft gun. On single fire it will occasionally jam. Luckily the solution is quick and easy. Switch to auto fire, and the problem is solved.
I switch to auto fire and fire a fair amount of pellets at the spider one at a time. I hit it. Some of its mass moves one direction, apparently on web. Some jerks but remains in place, also on web. From here, it looks like the spider is dead, but I worry it's merely planning its counter assault.
As an aside, it was not doing any such thing, as it was, as I was soon to discover, fairly thoroughly dead.
I approach cautiously. The spider does not move. I discover one of its legs had broken away along with some other bit. Still worried I turned the vacuum on and used the long hose to suck up the spider. I left it on probably longer than needed, for caution's sake. After which, I disassembled the hose, checking each piece for the spider. Then I put the vacuum away.
I wouldn't want it to happen to me.
In other recent happenings, I had a dream, part of which was about a softcore pornographic gunfighting anime with supernatural elements.
There was a part where I was in an FPS and an enemy killed himself by smashing a computer which ran the FPS, to which I said he was "Meta-dead".
The last part I was outside a large house which was apparently mine, overlooking a large, beautiful city with my girlfriend. Out of the sky I saw two red flares heading toward the ground in the city. One of them hit on the edge out by the water and caused an explosion. I didn't see the second hit. There were apparently a bunch of other people around and they started panicking and running. Ayla and I were not exceptions to this as I grabbed her thinking we would need to find a better shelter. I made arbitrary navigation decisions as we ran, mostly to avoid running into people, when I spot my friend Tamlin coming toward us. He says something I don't remember to the effect of knowing where to go and we start following him. He leads us to a small hatch that leads to a shelter and the dream ends right before I get into the shelter, but I was pretty confident I was going to make it. I wake up.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Super Saver Shipping
So, I pick up this book on Amazon as a gift for a friend of mine. Lots of books qualify for "Super Saver Shipping", but the book is $5.21 short of giving me the option.
"No problem", I think to myself, "I'll find something I want in the 5 to 6 dollar range that's also eligible for 'Super Saver Shipping' ". First I look at dice. Almost no dice qualify for "Super Saver Shipping". I then proceed to look to see if there is a USB keyboard, or USB anything else I can get in that price range.
I find a few things in my price range that do qualify, except that they are being sold at multiple prices, and don't actually qualify at the price range I want after all. I come upon a USB printer cord which I consider because a friend is borrowing mine, but decide that that's stupid because I can just get mine back whenever I want.
I try to find a tabletop roleplaying book I want for the shipping. No luck on anything that peaks my interest. I look at a few toys. I eventually find myself looking in the grocery department.
After combing through literally thousands of search results, I finally find an item that qualifies in my price range that isn't a sex lube or something (this happened repeatedly). Some candy bars. No image available. At this point, it's three in the morning. I add it to my order, and I finish the entire ordeal. Having done this, I would like to offer Amazon some suggestions about their search.
1. Let me filter by "Super Saver Shipping" eligibility
This would have saved me so much time. Hours of time in fact.
2. When I filter by a price range (like $5-$6) please don't ignore those parameters.
Most of the groceries are sold at one price and one price only, yet for some reason, despite filtering by $5-$6, random other items would pop up that were completely outside the range at $10, $20, $30, and even $40 dollars.
That needs to be fixed. During my search, the most frustrating scenario was seeing a product that WAS eligible for "Super Saver Shipping" that was both FAR outside my desired price range, and also something I would never want. This was the majority of "Super Saver Shipping" items. I do not know how these items are selected, but I'd like it if the items selected were less terrible.
Maybe in that little box telling me how much more I'd need to spend to get "Super Saver Shipping" you can have a link that says "Suggestions" that I can click to find items that might finish out my order proper.
Amazon. I love your low prices. I clearly don't love searching for "Super Saver Shipping" items to round out an order.
"No problem", I think to myself, "I'll find something I want in the 5 to 6 dollar range that's also eligible for 'Super Saver Shipping' ". First I look at dice. Almost no dice qualify for "Super Saver Shipping". I then proceed to look to see if there is a USB keyboard, or USB anything else I can get in that price range.
I find a few things in my price range that do qualify, except that they are being sold at multiple prices, and don't actually qualify at the price range I want after all. I come upon a USB printer cord which I consider because a friend is borrowing mine, but decide that that's stupid because I can just get mine back whenever I want.
I try to find a tabletop roleplaying book I want for the shipping. No luck on anything that peaks my interest. I look at a few toys. I eventually find myself looking in the grocery department.
After combing through literally thousands of search results, I finally find an item that qualifies in my price range that isn't a sex lube or something (this happened repeatedly). Some candy bars. No image available. At this point, it's three in the morning. I add it to my order, and I finish the entire ordeal. Having done this, I would like to offer Amazon some suggestions about their search.
1. Let me filter by "Super Saver Shipping" eligibility
This would have saved me so much time. Hours of time in fact.
2. When I filter by a price range (like $5-$6) please don't ignore those parameters.
Most of the groceries are sold at one price and one price only, yet for some reason, despite filtering by $5-$6, random other items would pop up that were completely outside the range at $10, $20, $30, and even $40 dollars.
That needs to be fixed. During my search, the most frustrating scenario was seeing a product that WAS eligible for "Super Saver Shipping" that was both FAR outside my desired price range, and also something I would never want. This was the majority of "Super Saver Shipping" items. I do not know how these items are selected, but I'd like it if the items selected were less terrible.
Maybe in that little box telling me how much more I'd need to spend to get "Super Saver Shipping" you can have a link that says "Suggestions" that I can click to find items that might finish out my order proper.
Amazon. I love your low prices. I clearly don't love searching for "Super Saver Shipping" items to round out an order.
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