it's not really easy

Bottom line, couples that are truly right for each other wade through the same crap as everybody else. The only difference is they don't let it take 'em down. One of those two people will stand up and fight for that relationship every time, if it's right and they're real lucky.
Dr. Cox (Scrubs Season 1 Episode 15)

Unusual for Dr. Cox, but he has a good point.

kind sir

(yet another dialogue)

Landlord: "Hello, kind sir. What can I do for you?"
Assistant: "'Kind Sir'?"
Me: "Thank you for the 'kind' words."
Landlord: "I'm testing out being nice. I thought I might try it, but it's not permanant. Don't get used to it."
Me: "Kind words can go a long way..."
Landlord: "What can we do for you, kind sir?"
Me: (Rolls eyes knowing she's not known for being pleasant) "I'd like to make a move-out appointment."
What I wanted to say: "I want to move the FUCK off your property ASAP."

nuts

Me: "Hey, could I get some tuner-style lug nuts?"
Mechanic: "Yeah, twelve by one point five?"
Me: "Yeah, it's a Honda, but just four... got twelve others on my car. Suckers are expensive."
Mechanic: "Yeah, they are. Hang on." (time passes) "Here you go." (places them on the counter)
Me: "Those look funny, you got any with the driver in the middle instead of around the outside?"
Mechanic: "Nah, they stopped making those. Stripped off too easy."
Me: "Shit. Well can I get an adapter for these?"
Mechanic: "Hang on." (walks away, time passes . . . puts a bag of nuts and adapter on the table. There are clearly 16 nuts in the bag) "Here, how's this work?"
Me: "Uh..."
Mechanic: "Does ten bucks sound fair?"
Me: (realizing they usually cost at least $2 each from this place) "Yeah, sure, damn! Thanks man."
Mechanic: (blowing it off) "That way you can bring your car up to date."

I wanted to hug the guy. Last time I bought such "tuner style" lug nuts and an adapter it cost me fifty bucks (ten for the adapter, which is now obsolete).

a good day

Today is a good day. I have funding for next semester! YAY! I won't have to get a job and drop out of school!

no purchase necessary

The common promotional giveaway line now mocks us, "No purchase necessary." What ever happened to the freebie giveaways? You used to buy a Pepsi (ack!) and get a chance at winning another Pepsi or a million bucks simply by redeeming a "winning game piece" or cap. That was always nice, now you have to go to some stupid website, give them your private info, and type in a code!

Is there really "No Purchase Neccesary?" I claim that you have to buy access to the web in order to win. You could argue that it's the same as simply buying gas or a bus ticket to the store, but can't you also walk?

Today the vending machine got the best of me. I bought a pack of Skittles, but it didn't drop down. So I bought a second one and (thankfully) got both. They're promoting a "use the force" Star Wars thing with "collectable packages" and codes inside to redeem. The package is adorned with "Win Instantly!" Frankly, aren't all wins instant? You are not-winning, and then SUDDENLY, you win. Only this time, I have to wait longer and give out info about me before I can determine if I won instantly, or rather ten minutes ago when I bought the snack.

And how do I know this code has even a remote chance of winning? It is a waste of my time to go fill out a web form. Shame on you snack and soda industry. Shame.

so rich

I'm the 676,688,228 richest person on earth! Discover how rich you are! > >

How rich are you?

bob's married

Another one of my friends (Bob) got married over the weekend, so RAM and I went to the Iowa wedding. It was a pretty nice (and huge!) service, with a rockin' party. Only sad thing about the party was the DJ: he didn't have any music that most Dee-Jays have, such as Van Morrison, the chicken dance etc...

While we were there, RAM spotted a pizza spot:



The name of which was ironic, since we were at Bob's wedding, and the following day were going to visit RAM's uncle Bob.

So we visited him, and it was nice. Ames, Iowa is pretty much like Bloomington, Indiana. A college and a few other people. Granted, Iowa State has a rockin' agriculture program so they've got better food and scenery. We went to a garden and saw flowers and butterflies.

lego turing

Wow. This dude made a turing machine out of legos! Brilliant!

a mind system

I tried an anagram generator on my name... ended up with

A mind system

Excellent.

book shopping

Went book shopping with RAM on Saturday. We found lots of good stuff, unfortunately we didn't buy anything. I guess I need free time before more books can enter the picture (I've got a stack of five to read already).

1. The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks.

Kind of a conspiricy/old society/mystical book, it looked to be one of those books I would get lost in, just like House of Leaves. This book looked pretty darn cool (add it to the paranoia category), but it was the back cover that really got me.


2. The Preservationist by David Maine.

This was a fun alternate look at Noah and the ark. I've always liked reading those books that re-visit a story from a different point of view (Grendel, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, etc...). This seems to take the Ark story from many points of view. I must pick this up sooner or later.

3. The Code Book by Simon Singh.

Yet another one I've been meaning to read for ages.

misspelling rebel

It looks like this "artist" forgot to bring OED with them. I found this spray-painted on the side of a Fifth-Third branch as I went in to cash a check.

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