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Thursday, January 27, 2011
You know, she was right!
That's what went through my mind the moment the Volvo got stuck in the snow drift at the end of the driveway.
Aimee had successfully navigated 8 hours of snow induced DC madness in the ChevOldsmoBuiac, thereby proving the value of a good snow tires, front wheel drive, and most importantly, having a clue. She suggested that I take the same vehicle to work today, given the unplowed street.
Knowing that the main road was clear, I elected to take the fuming stench monster Volvo, as I like heated seats and shifting gears. Boy was I pleased to sit in that heated seat, shift in to reverse, and utterly fail to get the car out of the driveway and into the unplowed street. That was totally fun.
The next 1/2 hour was spent digging lots and wishing I had taken her sage advice. The neighbor came over and helped push while I worked the clutch. We got some dirty looks from a garbage truck as we blocked the street. (woops) The car finally came free, and I spun tires all the way up the driveway back to the parking spot. Thereby proving the worthlessness of rear wheel drive, summer tires, heated seats, and complacency.
I waited until the postman came by, then took the ChevOldsmoBuiac to work.
Aimee had successfully navigated 8 hours of snow induced DC madness in the ChevOldsmoBuiac, thereby proving the value of a good snow tires, front wheel drive, and most importantly, having a clue. She suggested that I take the same vehicle to work today, given the unplowed street.
Knowing that the main road was clear, I elected to take the fuming stench monster Volvo, as I like heated seats and shifting gears. Boy was I pleased to sit in that heated seat, shift in to reverse, and utterly fail to get the car out of the driveway and into the unplowed street. That was totally fun.
The next 1/2 hour was spent digging lots and wishing I had taken her sage advice. The neighbor came over and helped push while I worked the clutch. We got some dirty looks from a garbage truck as we blocked the street. (woops) The car finally came free, and I spun tires all the way up the driveway back to the parking spot. Thereby proving the worthlessness of rear wheel drive, summer tires, heated seats, and complacency.
I waited until the postman came by, then took the ChevOldsmoBuiac to work.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Black Grey White Black Grey White Black
The colors my dog cycles through in a snowstorm.
And suddenly!
There is a lot of snow out there.
Not the most ever.
The winter of 2006 in colorado and the winter of 2007 in New Hampshire were the worst. In 2007, I was having serious fantasies about dumping gasoline in the yard and lighting it to see if the ground was still there.
So, this is just a little pile of white stuff.
I watched a tree break and fall over in the back yard, and the entire bamboo stand appears to be leaning against the house. There are some flashes in the night sky from fizzottled transformers.
I plugged in the christmas lights to make it seem festive.
Snow has a different effect on people here than it does in other places i've lived. A snowstorm is some kind of meteorological codeword that spurs mass hystaria and lowers the average IQ to levels befitting people who drink methyl mercury for fun. Given this is a car-culture, you can imagine the show.
I came home to find my nieghbor doing donuts around the cul-de-sac in his pickup. By the time I walked the dog, there were rice rockets poking out of the ditch.
I have been getting regular calls and texts from The Girly. Apparently traffic moves at 0.5 km/hr in DC when stuff like this happens, thus it took her 3 hours to
get 6 miles. Fortunately, she has yogurt and pizza, and I assume she can figure out how to use it. In western DC, it's the second coming, and it's white and heavy. Power lines are going down and lighting things on fire. There are cars spinning out, and people are just abandoning their cars and wandering off.
What is it with people?
Certainly, I understand that it's fun to screw around and spin tires, but when an entire city decides to do it at once during rush hour, it's the trifecta of duche-baggery. My essential message to humanity: Everyone grow up and go easy on the gas.
So that whole situation ruined my scheme for a pizza and alcohol fuelled romantic evening. I'm glad I didn't bother to splurge on steaks on the way home.
I trumped around the yard and shovelled snow until my back and shoulders had enough. I took a quadrillion photos that I'll probably post in short order. The Dog and I wandered out to the main drag and offered to help people push their cars out of the ditch. I cam in side and surfed the web and paid the rent.
And, now, here I am again.
And suddenly!
There is a lot of snow out there.
Not the most ever.
The winter of 2006 in colorado and the winter of 2007 in New Hampshire were the worst. In 2007, I was having serious fantasies about dumping gasoline in the yard and lighting it to see if the ground was still there.
So, this is just a little pile of white stuff.
I watched a tree break and fall over in the back yard, and the entire bamboo stand appears to be leaning against the house. There are some flashes in the night sky from fizzottled transformers.
I plugged in the christmas lights to make it seem festive.
Snow has a different effect on people here than it does in other places i've lived. A snowstorm is some kind of meteorological codeword that spurs mass hystaria and lowers the average IQ to levels befitting people who drink methyl mercury for fun. Given this is a car-culture, you can imagine the show.
I came home to find my nieghbor doing donuts around the cul-de-sac in his pickup. By the time I walked the dog, there were rice rockets poking out of the ditch.
I have been getting regular calls and texts from The Girly. Apparently traffic moves at 0.5 km/hr in DC when stuff like this happens, thus it took her 3 hours to
get 6 miles. Fortunately, she has yogurt and pizza, and I assume she can figure out how to use it. In western DC, it's the second coming, and it's white and heavy. Power lines are going down and lighting things on fire. There are cars spinning out, and people are just abandoning their cars and wandering off.
What is it with people?
Certainly, I understand that it's fun to screw around and spin tires, but when an entire city decides to do it at once during rush hour, it's the trifecta of duche-baggery. My essential message to humanity: Everyone grow up and go easy on the gas.
So that whole situation ruined my scheme for a pizza and alcohol fuelled romantic evening. I'm glad I didn't bother to splurge on steaks on the way home.
I trumped around the yard and shovelled snow until my back and shoulders had enough. I took a quadrillion photos that I'll probably post in short order. The Dog and I wandered out to the main drag and offered to help people push their cars out of the ditch. I cam in side and surfed the web and paid the rent.
And, now, here I am again.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Couch Potato
I spent something like 6-8 hours trying to get my laptop (running ubuntu 10.10) to cooperate with a webcam so I could see if the dog really was sleeping on the couch.
It seemed so simple:
A) Install Zoneminder
B) Plug in web cam
C) Beer!
Instead, it went something like this:
A) Install Zoneminder
B) Plug in web cam
b.1) Check to see if web cam works, discover that Zoneminder doesn't like it for some reason.
b.2) Try every setting available on Zoneminder, to no avail
b.3) Apply some "fixes" to Zoneminder perl. Camera now works with green and black garbage images.
b.4) Crash Zoneminder several times
b.5) Read a bunch on Zoneminder wiki and forum.
b.6) Work through crashes to test every combination of settings, to no avail
b.7) Read enough to piece together that something new has crept into the code that hates the camera/driver combination
b.7) sudo apt-get remove zoneminder
C) Install Motion
D) Beer!
The deep irony is, of course, that The Girly walked in from work, and there was the dog, sleeping on the couch.
It seemed so simple:
A) Install Zoneminder
B) Plug in web cam
C) Beer!
Instead, it went something like this:
A) Install Zoneminder
B) Plug in web cam
b.1) Check to see if web cam works, discover that Zoneminder doesn't like it for some reason.
b.2) Try every setting available on Zoneminder, to no avail
b.3) Apply some "fixes" to Zoneminder perl. Camera now works with green and black garbage images.
b.4) Crash Zoneminder several times
b.5) Read a bunch on Zoneminder wiki and forum.
b.6) Work through crashes to test every combination of settings, to no avail
b.7) Read enough to piece together that something new has crept into the code that hates the camera/driver combination
b.7) sudo apt-get remove zoneminder
C) Install Motion
D) Beer!
The deep irony is, of course, that The Girly walked in from work, and there was the dog, sleeping on the couch.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Surreal
The check I wrote for the reality must have bounced. The reality company cut off service again.
The Dog has suddenly decided to stop eating, and appears to be napping on furniture when we are not home. I found the couch dishevelled and the same pile of dog food that I left this morning.
I was confronted by and endless series of deja vu incidents at work. Even just sitting in my office staring at my writing, it happened. It happened walking the dog. It happened driving.
I went to the lab and was surprised to find it full of people. I thought it was 1500. It was 1300.
The girly's computer went on the fritz.
The rules are all backwards again.
How annoying.
The Dog has suddenly decided to stop eating, and appears to be napping on furniture when we are not home. I found the couch dishevelled and the same pile of dog food that I left this morning.
I was confronted by and endless series of deja vu incidents at work. Even just sitting in my office staring at my writing, it happened. It happened walking the dog. It happened driving.
I went to the lab and was surprised to find it full of people. I thought it was 1500. It was 1300.
The girly's computer went on the fritz.
The rules are all backwards again.
How annoying.
Volvo Dork
I had originally worried that the Volvo would be a pain in the ass for city driving. It is a 4500 lb gutless 5 speed station wagon. The thing wreaks of middle class helicopter mom insecurity at it's finest. However, i have discovered that a) the speed limit is <45 mph all the way to work and b) i really like working through the gears, even if it is in rush hour traffic.
Besides, it'll be warm in a few weeks and I'll be back on the bike.
I put 300lbs of cinder blocks in the back to weigh it down in the snow. My father and I had long discussion about how much was enough. He contended that I needed much more weight, while I held that the ChevOldsMobuiac changed candor with every 50 lb lump that gets added.
This morning was test time. I gave the throttle a sprighly jab after i backed out of the driveway and onto the snowy street. The engine rev'ed and the car surged before the wheels spun. I may need more mass, but at least i am near the desired effect... having the rear bumper chase the front is chimera.
I have been searching for the perfect denigrating nickname. I was going to keep calling it The Brick, but that's not all encompassing. It has more personality. I am particularly taken with it's amazing ability to generate faint burning smells, particularly right after it is shut off and you are walking away. Burning oil, rubber, electronics, barbique, brakes, and leaves... this car likes to smell like burning. Yet, there are never scortch marks.
The CD player is a blessing. I can re-live my angsty youth listening to well scratched Greenday CDs. The heated seats and the cd player are amazing. I roll to work in luxury.
On my way home, fleeing an exciting day of science-dork heroism that involved sitting at a desk and carefully re-writing a document that I have re-writen a thousand times, I was cut off by the umpteenth-moron driving a car made this century. I considered that Volvo station wagons are not very sexy compared to Mercedes, Farraris, and BMWs. That is, of course, until you want a car that you can actually have sex in... Good luck in that Z3. I guess rich people wait until they get back to the mansion. Perhaps that's where Volvo gets the reputation as a family car.
Besides, it'll be warm in a few weeks and I'll be back on the bike.
I put 300lbs of cinder blocks in the back to weigh it down in the snow. My father and I had long discussion about how much was enough. He contended that I needed much more weight, while I held that the ChevOldsMobuiac changed candor with every 50 lb lump that gets added.
This morning was test time. I gave the throttle a sprighly jab after i backed out of the driveway and onto the snowy street. The engine rev'ed and the car surged before the wheels spun. I may need more mass, but at least i am near the desired effect... having the rear bumper chase the front is chimera.
I have been searching for the perfect denigrating nickname. I was going to keep calling it The Brick, but that's not all encompassing. It has more personality. I am particularly taken with it's amazing ability to generate faint burning smells, particularly right after it is shut off and you are walking away. Burning oil, rubber, electronics, barbique, brakes, and leaves... this car likes to smell like burning. Yet, there are never scortch marks.
The CD player is a blessing. I can re-live my angsty youth listening to well scratched Greenday CDs. The heated seats and the cd player are amazing. I roll to work in luxury.
On my way home, fleeing an exciting day of science-dork heroism that involved sitting at a desk and carefully re-writing a document that I have re-writen a thousand times, I was cut off by the umpteenth-moron driving a car made this century. I considered that Volvo station wagons are not very sexy compared to Mercedes, Farraris, and BMWs. That is, of course, until you want a car that you can actually have sex in... Good luck in that Z3. I guess rich people wait until they get back to the mansion. Perhaps that's where Volvo gets the reputation as a family car.
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