Jimbo's Journal

My couple plans for Halloween fell through, so I was just sitting at home last night.  I decided to try installing Half-Life 2 again.  It didn't start out well.  It requires you to install STEAM in order to install the game.  STEAM sucks.  It wouldn't install, and therefore wouldn't install the game either.  It kept crashing while trying to install STEAM and its updates; this is why I've had the game for a year or so and never played it.  I figure that the version on the disc is just so old that the update doesn't mesh with Vista or something.  I was about to give up when it occurred to me to check for an online version.  TaDa!  I went to the website and installed it from there.  Now on to installing the game.  It gives me an error.  After checking online again, I turn off the "Windows compatibility" feature.  Now it tells me that there isn't enough disc space to install HL2.  What?  I have over 100GB free.  Check online again, and someone suggests copying the entire CD to the HD and installing it from there.  That works.  So I finally got it working and wound up playing until about 1am.  (Another hour and I would have played until 1am. *snicker*)  The game starts out kinda slow, and I didn't care much for the driving-the-boat-around section, but then it kicked in.

I was seriously creeped out at several points.  I remember back in the early 90s, playing DOOM when it was relatively new.  I would sit all alone in the dark with the surround sound speakers turned up.  I got freaked out by some of the noises.  HL2 kinda reminds me of that.

"The Second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore."
~ John Adams letter to Abigail Adams (1776-07-03)

I might not be around the next few days, so I thought I'd get this in early....... ;)

Saturday, I went to friends for a 8th grade graduation party of their daughter.  The same one that luminousx went to.  I knew he was going, but apparently he didn't know I was going, which made it slightly less comfortable for him than for me.  (Sorry about that.)  I had a good time (they had Italian Beef - my favorite), but unfortunately I had to leave midway through the showing of Hitchhiker's Guide.  It was just getting too late and I had an almost 2 hour drive to go. On the way home, I decided to push through a light that had turned yellow and ..... didn't make it.  Of course, the car behind me (too far back to see) was a cop.  He pulled me over immediately.  Fortunately when he came to my window he said that he had another call and let me go.  I believe that is the first time I have ever been pulled over (by real police) and not ticketed.  Whew!

Sunday I spent cleaning up a bit in anticipation of my parents coming over so we could do something for Father's Day.  Unfortunately my dad wasn't feeling too well after sitting outside in the heat, so we postponed it until this coming Sunday.  Bummer.

-------------------------------
Yesterday I stopped at the Condo Assoc and informed them of a few nagging problems.  I got a recommendation for a garage door repair company that they use.  Not that I have to use them but it takes out the agonizing decision making process that I would normally go through (and had partially immobilized me til this point).  I told them of the security door that doesn't latch (not my responsibility, but no one has reported it in a month apparently), and I scheduled a time for a maintenance guy to look at the rotted drywall above my wall-mount AC.  When I replaced my water heater the guy told me he thought it might be cause by a leak from outside water.  I have no idea if I will be responsible for this repair or not, which has kept me from doing anything until now.  Unfortunately I scheduled the repair for the day of my chiropractor appt, so now I have to change that - much easier than changing the repair though.

These are but a few of the things that I have let pile up and cause me quite a fair amount of anxiety.  These and a few more are thing that I absolutely must do before I can even begin to contemplate selling my place and looking for someplace new.  The fact that I haven't just stresses me out, and they pile up and don't ever let me truly relax, so this is a positive step.

-----------------------------
This coming Saturday I'm going up to the Jake's and then a group of us are hopping over to Summerfest to see BNL.... and hopefully I can relax enough to (get drunk enough to) have a good time.  I don't have to worry about driving.  :)   Then Sunday come home, clean up some more and take Dad (and Mom) out for a late FD dinner.

Then Monday will hopefully be the rescheduled chiro appt., Tuesday the home repair.  Thursday is a long drive to meet up with a friend from college who is in the area.

*sigh*  I'm exhausted already.

Add this to the list of fucked up (but cool) Christmas songs:

The Killers "Don't Shoot Me Santa" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9eHUgictCI



Possibly my all-time favorite:

The Kinks "Father Christmas" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjaPXihbORk


Anyone else have their own favorites?  Half-Christmas* is almost here.


*Is there a word for June 25 or did I just invent it?

I am currently not drinking soda, but this caught my eye.

Why is this Coke different from all other Cokes?

It's kosher for Passover.

And even non-Jews are thirsty for the limited batch of Coca-Cola because of a very special ingredient - it's made with pure sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup.

That's probably even better for you than Diet Coke using aspartame and hfcs.

I grew up Catholic, but I am in remission and don't practice anymore.  So since I don't observe Lent, can I still partake in Fat Tuesday?  Hell YES!!!  Donuts!  Actually the guy who brought them in called them "punchkeys," which I guess is spelled Pączki.  This is new to me, even though I am 1/8 Polish.


---------
Aside: I really need some new and more relevant user icons.

Thank to everyone for coming out on Saturday.  I had a great time and hope everyone else did too.  I still get quite overwhelmed in hosting, and AGAIN noticed that there was so much food that I never put out.  I don't think anyone was wont for food, but I wish I had put more out and didn't have SO much left over.  ;)

I am really grateful that most of us still get together as frequently as we do.  Granted, I wish we got together more, but I think we do a pretty good job of staying in touch.  I think we've developed somewhat of a decent rotation for gatherings.

So I was driving my sister's mother-in-law home the other night; she lives about as far out in the middle of nowhere as I do.  She mentions that they are building a pipeline from Canada to Mexico and that it passes only a couple of miles from her house.   She says that they have someone stationed at EVERY intersection where the pipeline crosses a road, so that no one messes with the site, etc.  (Terrorism paranoia?)  Really, though, EVERY intersection?  Thats a LOT of people that they are paying to do absolutely nothing.  Sure enough, there's a van (a regular old van) sitting on the side of the road idling, in order to provide heat to the occupant on one of those bitterly cold nights that we've had.  I say, "Wouldn't it be more cost efficient to provide the poor guy with an (ice-fishing) shed and a space heater than an idling van?" 

The entire thing seems ridiculous and absurd, maybe even surreal, just begging for some form of conspiracy theory.

The closest mention that I could find is of a major nationwide project with this map, which certainly could include the area in which I live.

Ok, not yet, but it is just around the corner.  That means it's time for my 4th Annual Groundhog Day party (4th?  wow!)  I'm putting this out there early both so that people know about it and to force myself to get off my lazy ass and REALLY clean my place up.  (Wish me luck!)  Anyway, this year it falls on Monday, so the Woodstock events (and thus mine) fall the Saturday before, January 31st.

As usual, we will privately screen a showing of Groundhog Day (read: watch my DVD copy) and possibly other movies while partaking in food and conversation and general merriment.  If anyone is interested, and if the weather is not is characteristically FRIGID temperature, we can take the walking tour (highlighted below) or I could even probably do it myself at a different time.  The Movie Symposium also sounds interesting, but I have no idea what it entails - I've never gone to it.  The 10am FREE showing at the town theater (as featured in the film) is quite enjoyable, but it is ALWAYS packed and usually too early for people to make it out here.  You're welcome to come out, though.  If any other event (Saturday or other) sounds interesting, just let me know.

I may request that some people volunteer to bring some sort of dish or beverage to pass, so as to take some of the stress off of myself, but I haven't decided on anything yet. 

As before, ANYONE reading this post is welcome to attend, but I would appreciate some sort of acknowlegement or confirmation beforehand, even if it's just a "maybe."

More to come later.

The Official City Events

January 31 – Saturday: “the movie, 10:00 am, free.
Compliments of Classic Cinemas Woodstock Theater, 209Main St; 815-338-8555
Groundhog Tales, Storytelling with Jim May at Home
State Bank, 124 S Johnson St; 10:00 am, 815-338-2000
Chili Cook-Off, Noon – 1:00 pm in the Woodstock Opera
House Sponsored by Jones Country Meats, Nierman
Landscape & Design and Starbucks Coffee
Wood Carving Demonstration, Noon on the Square
Walking Tour of filming sites, 1:30 pm meet at Stage Left
Café, Woodstock Opera House. Plaque recognition of
“Gobbler’s Knob” southwest corner of the Woodstock
Square Park 
  “Groundhog Day” Movie Symposium, 3:00-4:00 pm,
Stage Left Café, Woodstock Opera House
Woodstock Willie Goofy Bowling, Wayne’s City
Lanes,109 Church St. Registration at 6:30 pm, bowling at
7:00 pm, limited tickets available: on sale at Chamber of
Commerce, and Woodstock Public Library, $15 includes 3
games, shoes and prizes. Sponsored by Woodstock Moose
Lodge, 815-338-0126
District 200 Groundhog Days Event – Watch for an
upcoming announcement from the D-200 Education
Foundation 815-338-8200

doo....dooo.... dooo..... WAH-wah!!! (*PAC-Man noise*)


So, I tried to make some treats for luminousx 's party Saturday. I found a picture of the Flying Spaghetti Monster made as a party treat. Yesterday I had an EPIC fail, by trying to incorrectly melt white chocolate. Afterwards, I found the actual recipe and learned that they were supposed to be made like rice crispy treats. It still didn't turn out very well. Better, but not well.

Here's what they're supposed to look like (click for full recipe):


Here's what mine turned out looking like (click to enlarge):


Way too hard to form into a coherent shape once the marshmallow "glue" starts to harden.
Anyhoo, not the worst thing in the world.

I finally got a Halloween costume.  Unfortunately it isn't matching the steampunk theme (I just couldn't find one), and it has a mask.  But I have a costume!  It holds more to my "theme" of pop culture reference than S's, but at least this one is "scary."

Stolen from

terani , but I'm ignoring the numbers and posting however many are interesting to me:

Birthday Meme: Look up your birthday in Wikipedia. Pick 4 events, 3 births, 2 deaths, and 1 holiday.

EVENTS:
1776 - George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River to attack the Kingdom of Great Britain's Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey.
1868 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
1914 - World War I: Known as the Christmas truce, German and British troops on the Western Front temporarily cease fire. 
1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans Earth Injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit. 
1973 - The ARPANET crashes when a programming bug causes all ARPANET traffic to be routed through the server at Harvard University, causing the server to freeze. 
1990 - The first successful trial run of the system which would become the World Wide Web. 

BIRTHS
1821 - Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross (d. 1912)
1899 - Humphrey Bogart, American actor (d. 1957) 
1924 - Rod Serling, American television writer (d. 1975) 
1946 - Jimmy Buffett, American singer and songwriter 
1946 - Larry Csonka, American football player 
1950 - Karl Rove, PIECE OF SHIT (I didn't know I shared bday with this whore)
1954 - Annie Lennox, Scottish singer, from Aberdeen 
1971 - Dido, English singer
1980 - Marcus Trufant, American football player (Seattle Seahawks)

DEATHS
Skipping this because who wants to associate birthdays with death?!

HOLIDAYS
Christmas, obviously.
(Re) birth of Sol Invictus. The winter solstice feast in the Roman Empire from 274 to 391. (Reason for Christmas being celebrated on this day??)

 

 

 

  Happy Cinco de Mayo

by Jethro Tull

Have you ever stood in the April wood
and called the new year in?
While the phantoms of three thousand years fly
as the dead leaves spin?
There's a snap in the grass behind your feet
and a tap upon your shoulder.
And the thin wind crawls along your neck
it's just the old gods getting older.
And the kestral drops like a fall of shot and
the red cloud hanging high
come - a Beltane.
Have you ever loved a lover of the old elastic truth?
And doted on the daughter in the ministry of youth?
Thrust your head between the breasts of the fertile innocent.
And taken up the cause of love, for the sake of argument.
Or while the kisses drop like a fall of shot
from soft lips in the rain
come - a Beltane.

Happy old new year to you and yours.
The sun's up for one more day, to be sure.
Play it out gladly, for your card's marked again.

Have you walked around your parks and towns so knife-edged orderly?
While the fires are burned on the hills upturned
in far-off wild country.
And felt the chill on your window sill
as the green man comes around.
With his walking cane of sweet hazel - brings it crashing down.
Sends your knuckles white as the thin stick bites.
Well, it's just your groaning pains.
Come - a Beltane.

6th anniversary of invasion of Afghanistan.  
Tomorrow is 5th anniversary of invasion of Iraq.

*sigh*

Been pretty down lately.  I haven't been sleeping well.  I've had no energy to do anything.  I have accomplished very little, to the point of it taking almost 2 weeks to do a load of laundry, beginning to end.  I've been really conscious of having no friends locally, and haven't wanted to go out by myself.  Hence I just sit home.  Hopefully with the weather starting to get better, I will just get outside more.

Yesterday I went to the dentist for the first time in probably 15+ years.  That actually made me feel quite a bit better, just interacting with people (retail and fast food workers don't count).  Shockingly I don't have any cavities.  My teeth are about midway on the whiteness scale, so I may look into that in the future.  I do have a calculus (tartar?) buildup, so I have an extensive cleaning scheduled in 4 weeks.

She recommended some special mouth rinse and that I buy an electric toothbrush.  It actually looks really cool (dare I say "fun"?), so maybe it will incentivize me to take more care of myself.  It's a bit expensive but who cares!  They sell it out of the office cheaper than I can buy it in the store.

Interestingly, I have two teeth, one on top and one on bottom, that have grown in sideways underneath the gums.  Both the doctor and hygienist were endlessly fascinated.  The teeth aren't causing a problem or pain or interfering with the other roots, so they say not to worry about it.  Weird.

Oh, and happy clucking and colored-egg-laying bunny worship day to everyone!!!!

It's Groundhog Day!

Ok, not yet, but it's coming up.... SOON!

This year it happens to fall on a Saturday.  This may add a couple more options to the day.  I may actually get up to go see the "Prognostication" at 7:07am, but I wouldn't expect anyone to make it out by that time (though you'd be welcome).  I went and saw the movie a couple of years ago, and that was fun to see it with other folks from town, but I own the DVD and normally put it on anyway.  So seeing it in the theater at 10am is also an option, though again it is early.

Several people have expressed interest in the Chil Cookoff (Noon).  I have been open to submitting an entry in the past but just never got to it.  So ..... we'll see what happens.

The tour (1:30pm) is usually fun and interesting.  The first year I went, Stephen Tobolowsky gave the tour, and that was BY FAR the best and has never been equalled.  I could probably give the tour myself if needed.  Weather often dictates this one; it is usually FREEZING COLD!!!

There's a Movie Symposium at 3pm, but I have no idea what this event is: a discussion of the movie???   That could be fun.

Anyhow.... If you're reading this post, YOU'RE INVITED!!!!  I only ask that you try to let me know, either by replying below or emailing me or .... I may send out an Evite, but I don't necessarilly have everyone's email.  And hopefully I'll have a much better handle on the food situation than I did last year - sorry about that!

( Schedule of Groundhog Day events... )

This Friday is once again our company Christmas lunch at Port Edward.  King Crab Legs here I come!

It's 1:30am and there's not a chance of sleep in sight.  I have a monster headache that 5 tylenol and half a glass of whiskey won't kill.  And my mind refuses to shut down and let me rest.  I've been avoiding making a decision for weeks now on what to do over the holidays.  On the one hand it's my perceived expectations of what people expect of me versus what I expect of myself and there's all kinds of petty little personal hangups I have, but dammit I can't help feeling this way.  I got in a tiff with my mom about it about a week ago;  it upset me and when I called her on it, she got very upset, too.  I know I need to work through this stuff both internally and externally.  I actually thought of calling my parents, but .... it's the middle of the night and it would upset them and I just don't do that type of thing.  I've been considering just going over and talking but I worry about upsetting my dad's heart condition or my mom's high blood pressure or my own.  Anyone reading this who doesn't know me very well probably thinks I'm insane and have gone over the edge.  Those who know me can make a good estimation of what some of this is about and thanks for putting up with me.  lol  It's really strange how much I've grown to dislike this time of year when it used to be my absolute favorite (Christmas, birthday, etc.)

Anyway, off to try to get some sort of rest.......  Oh yeah, and work also absolutely sucks in December because my boss takes pretty much the whole month off and I have to do his job as well as mine.....  Yippeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Halloween photos.  Only 8 of them are mine; the rest are taken from terani and Robbie and ..... maybe other people, I forget.


    (Click on the pic)


(Update: I changed the link.  I figured out how to transfer all my photos over to photobucket, since I already have an account. Though snap preview doesn't seem to be working anymore.)

So I got in my car and had just gotten just down the street when my phone rang.  T was calling to say that she had to reschedule our lunch because she had to take her mother to the hospital.  Her mom's artificial hip had apparently "popped out" (again).  She apparently has two artificial hips and this happens ..... occasionally.  She said, "It's my turn to take her to the hospital."  I haven't heard back from her yet.  Though this does limit potential times since luminousx's Halloween Bash is next weekend.