Like that's news.
Spent the last two days cutting down trees. We had an ash that was failing and ugly, and a locust that was failing and ugly. They've both been diced.
I've got a pile of firewood on the front lawn, and quite a few piles of brush yet. Fred's been loading the brush into the pickup, and I've been dumping it at the yard waste facility where it will be ground up and turned into compost.
I'm tired, sore and need a vacation. Again, like that's news.
On the other hand, I have the new Triumph the Insult Comic Dog dvd, which will result in hilarity and gasping for air.
Life is generally good. Despite the physical labor.
Due to a HUGE run of comment spam on Tuesday, comments are temporarily turned off while I contemplate my options.
Time to get the downstairs computer center set up, I think. I need my web server!
in a new direction. Politics, that is. We all know what we believe, politically speaking. How about talking about what we feel instead?
Which Presidential candidate would you do, and why? Feel free to twist that in any way you prefer. You are also free to bring in the candidates' spouses, running mates, or any other politicians you care to. Heck, you can even tell me who you wouldn't do on a bet.
I dare you. Confess your innermost feelings.
I bought a food dehydrator Saturday. No, I'm not going all granola and rainwater on you.
The tomatoes are finally ripening, due to the hot weather. We're becoming inundated with them, which is normal for two guys with five tomato plants. So I need a way to store them for future use. I'm not interested in canning them, so I thought I would try dehydrating them.
Originally I was going to get a couple of cheap furnace filters and tie them to a box fan. And then the special cheap magic that is Walmart shimmered in front of me. While buying some clothes hangers for Fred, I found a dehydrator for fifteen bucks. Sold.
I did a batch of tomatoes on Saturday, which was interesting. The house smelled like, well, like tomatoes for a day while they dried. In the end, they were dessicated little flaps of tomato. I bagged them and tucked them into the freezer. We'll see how they turn out later.
After Fred made a plea for banana chips (which he apparently loves yet never told me about,) I bought a bunch of bananas. Sliced 'em up and spread them on the trays. Within an hour the house smelled like banana bread. I will try them tonight and see how they are.
I also have a request for jerky. Fred likes the stuff, but can't eat store-bought jerky because of the preservatives/nitrates/MSG. So I'll be carving up some beef, marinating it and drying it. We'll see how well that goes.
It's Talk Like a Pirate Day. Avast!
Fred is ready to kill me, er, keelhaul me. He be annoyed by all this pirate talk, me hearties. Arrrr!
I'm tired and cranky, Fred's on edge because he's been learning a new job for a month, the cats are stir crazy, my diet's in a holding pattern, and my desk is a mess. I'm running out of disk space for my website, my home web server is taunting me, the ethernet connection into the basement refuses to go above 10Mb, the ash trees are dropping their leaves in the most slow and annoying way, the temperatures alternate between 85 and 45, the tomatoes are taking over the beds, the rocks still haven't been moved, the lawn needs fertilizing, the busses are running erratically, the garage is a mess, and the back flowerbed is nothing but weeds. The old garden is overgrown with junk, the front hosereel leaks, there are mice, the downtown area is plagued by kids with facial piercings trying to get me to vote for Kerry, the lower half of the state is flooded, France sucks, North Korea is still insane, and Dan Rather hasn't been fired yet. The squirrels have been chattering far too loudly, the dog next door barks like an idiot, the grackles are gone, the car has muffler problems, and the garage door is being sulky about opening.
Thanks. How are you?
Apparently, viewing a jpeg is now dangerous.
Is there anything that Microsoft can't screw up? Good lord. Now fucking jpegs can be tricked into running code.
It's a wonder we're not all up to our armpits in viruses. Oh, wait...
I know that somewhere, someone is actually interested in this blog. Has to be. I keep getting viagra spam in the comments.
I went to the Minnesota State Fair twice this year. Fred and I went on the first Monday, and had a grand time. The weather was beautiful, the crowds were immense, and the scenery was damn fun. We had a great time, and were completely shelled when we got home.
I went again on the second Saturday, early in the morning. (Pictures are here.) My purpose was two-fold; I wanted to get some interesting photos, and I wanted to try riding the Eclipse. I had been denied a ride last year, and had heard that I might be able to ride this year. Sure enough, I was able to ride. So I did. Five times.
The Eclipse can be charitably described as the ADD-afflicted big brother of the Tilt-A-Whirl. Holy cats, but that thing can throw you around. I was being whipped in circles so hard that my cheeks were rippling backwards. (The cheeks on my face. You perv.)
At the end of five rides, I was pretty woozy. It was a delightful woozy. And then it went not-so-delightful. I exited the Midway, and found a park bench, and breathed hard for about twenty minutes. I came very close to having a protein spill.
This is the first time I've ever gotten sick from a carnival ride. Alas, I can no longer marathon ride like I used to be able to. Not on flat rides, anyway. But I'll still be riding them.
I'm already looking forward to next year, when the abuse should be upped a bit. I expect that I'll be able to fit on nearly everything. At last, I'll be able to conquer the Top Scan.
One last thing. I'd like to point out that I beat Lileks by a full YEAR. Bwah-ha-ha!