I have to pay in order to park at work. 480 bucks a year, or roughly $2 per day. It isn’t much when you consider that the lot is close (less than a block away) and I always have a space.
That is unless the bozos across the street from the lot park there. Three times now in less than 2 months these morons have parked in my space. The first time I managed to attract their attention through an open window and they grudgingly moved their car. The last two times I’ve simply called the lot owner and he gives me a free space elsewhere in the lot for the day and has the offending car towed.
These cow-heads have been towed twice now in less than a month.
Stupid.
We have two house cats, Abby and Nekko. Some time ago we started giving them a small portion of canned salon each day to augment their dry food diet. Needless to say, the fish is a big hit.
Originally the salmon was put down around noon. Over time however the two of them have learned that pestering the staff (me and my wife) will get them their salmon fix earlier in the day.
How early? Try 5:15 am today. Abby comes in and stands on me, scolding me with her piteous cries and whapping any exposed part of my face and head with her paw. She is relentless as only a properly spoiled house cat can be.
I know that I am bigger, stronger, and I that have an opposable thumb; still I am at the beck and paw of this little 8 pound bundle of fur and attitude.
Four years of college, 20 years of work experience, head of my own company, and house-boy to two cats.
I want one of these. The power of Unix and the sophistication of a world class UI. Gimme.
Contact me here for shipping directions: mark@zanshin.net
I am typing this on my new Palm Portable keyboard. This folding device requires no power, no cabling, and very little space. My m515 plugs in quickly and easily and I am able to capture my thoughts at a moments notice.
It is most excellent. My hope is that this will help keep the content here fresh and lively. So many times in the past I have had thoughts that I wanted to capture, but writing them down wasn’t convenient. Not any more.
Some times you just gotta love technology.
Of course the flip side to this is the frustration when technology doesn’t work or breaks. The cradle for my Palm stopped working after only a couple weeks. I was forced to go by and new serial cradle and install it. That process was hampered by some incorrect settings on the desktop component of the software. Still, I’d rather have the technology and struggle with it occasionally, than not have it at all.
Call me a geek.
My brother and I have a strained relationship at best. He and his family do a lot with my parents without ever inviting my wife and I to attend. on the surface this may seem like a small thing, but in actuality it is getting to be a bigger issue. most recently they setup a day with my Mom for Mother’s Day and didn’t invite us to attend. Prior to that they ignored my 41st birthday altogether.
The telling event in this non-relationship is coming in June. Chris and Lisa are expecting the second child of their marriage and the 5th of their combined family. We were not invited to the shower (we were for the first baby of this marriage) and we haven’t gotten any “baby updates.” Granted we aren’t calling them, but at this point I am tired of always being the one who puts aside his feelings and needs and acquiesces to the needs of my brother.
A relationship is supposed to work both ways ~ I give sometimes and you give sometimes. If one side is always giving and never getting then it isn’t a relationship as much as it is painful.
Right now this is painful. If we don’t get a call/letter/e-mail directly from them about the birth of the new baby then I will know for certain where he puts this relationship and how he values it.
Stay tuned…
Quick how big is that? If you are from my generation you studied the metric system while in grade school. Days, weeks even were spent on complex conversion formulas all in a futile effort to move the United States to the same measurement system most of the rest of the world uses. Like so many grand social experiments, this one failed.
Still, we run into things that are metric in our lives. I know a few equivalents between US Standard and metric. One is that there are 24 MM to an inch. So 12 MM x 10 MM is roughly 1/2 inch in size both ways. Not terribly big as things go. Maybe the size of a lima bean. Small, then, insignificant.
Insignificant, that is until it is a “mass” in the cerebellum of a human brain. Today I got an e-mail from a very dear friend stating that the source of his migraines had been discovered. A 12 MM x 10 MM mass located in their cerebellum. The prognosis, while still early, is good. My friend is fortunate that it was discovered, and that one of the second opinions is coming from the world’s expert in these things.
Metric or English a lima bean isn’t really that big. The context is the real measure of size. When it is on your plate it isn’t very large. When it is inside one of your best friend’s skulls, suddenly it looms large, almost to terrifying proportions.
We had a quite day at home. It is still rainy outside. We’ve had nothing but rain for days now. Maybe we should be building an ark.
My brother and his family spent the day with Mom. My father is out west taking photographs and attending photo workshops. Michele and I are going to take Mom out for a belated Mother’s day next Saturday. The fact that my brother refuses to invite us to family functions grates. We understand the reason why, but that doesn’t make it any easier to stomach.
We saw Bill Cosby tonight. Live. In person. It was most excellent. I had seen him 22 years ago while in college and tonight’s performance was every bit as good as the first one. We laughed until our sides hurt and then we laughed some more.
Afterwards we had Thai food and chocolate ice cream, and a great discussion about my family. We both feel estranged from my brother and this was the topic. He matches the criteria for a borderline personality disorder, which is rare in males, and knowing that helps to understand some of his actions. The most recent hard-to-understand action was the total lack of acknowledgment of my 41st birthday. No card, note, e-mail, phone call, or gift. Nothing.
It is painful but I am learning to deal with it.
The current zanshin.net hasn’t changed much lately, and it is good to change. I’ve been reading other blog sites more and more lately, and thus am inspired. You can find some of the other sites I visit daily to the right.
What is your favorite time of year? Spring, then fall, summer, and lastly winter.
What is it about your favorite season that, well, makes it your favorite season? The budding of the tress, the grass turning green. The opening of my backyard pool. =)
What is your least favorite time of year? Why? The traditional holiday season. Coming from a somewhat dysfunctional family makes the silly season from Thanksgiving to New Year’s tough.
Do you do anything to celebrate or recognize the changing of seasons? Nope.
What’s your favorite thing to do outside? Swimming, reading in my hammock.