How to help

First of all, if you're in a position to help anyone, you should really give to the Katrina relief effort. It's just horrible what's happening down there in Louisiana and Mississippi. If you start thinking "I can give Heather X dollars", at least give X/2 to the victims of Katrina.

Second, I wanted to give people some ideas of things they could do for us that don't involve just handing us money. While all donations are appreciated, I honestly feel like it's tacky to ask friends for money, especially since 1) our families are giving us money; 2) we are living very cheaply at Sean's parents' house and are therefore able to put the majority of our paychecks into savings.

But I know that people want to do stuff for us, so here are some things that would really help:

1. Treat us to dinner or something fun. Money is going to be tight for awhile, and we're probably going to go stir-crazy. (You could argue that I'm already going stir-crazy.) If you're local, we'd love to go out with you and just spend time together. If you're not local, you can always send us a gift certificate to something like a movie or a restaurant.
2. Replace the irreplacable. If I've ever given you copies of photos; if you've got a story I wrote on your hard drive; if you've saved email or chat logs...I would love to see that sort of thing again. Send files (of a reasonable size) to my gmail account (cosleia). (You don't need to send me copies of any photos that are currently on my smugmug account.)
3. Clothes. If you've got clothes you don't need that are around our sizes, send them our way. (Steer clear of underwear; I've kind of got a thing about wearing other people's panties.) You don't need to buy us anything new! We can fill in the gaps.

That's essentially it. Thanks to Sam for the inspiration for this post!

Of course, furniture and appliances are welcome--I hardly expected any, but we've already had offers of a couch, a recliner, a day bed, a coffee table, and a dining room set(!). But please remember that we don't have any place to put that kind of thing. If you have something you need to get rid of right away, please just go ahead and offload it. I promise you that we're going to be fine. If you can hold on to it for a little while, at least until Sean and I have time to rent storage space, then by all means, we'd love to take a look.

Thank you so much to everyone for all the kind words of encouragement and the offers of assistance. We're grateful more than words can say.

Quaker Chewy Granola Bar

I found a Quaker Chewy Granola Bar, Chocolate Chip, in my drawer at work. I guess it's the only other thing to escape my apartment intact.

Now I'm going to eat it.

Update

We were able to get replacement drivers licenses and social security cards and debit cards and cell phones and keys for our cars.

I don't want to post contact information here directly, but here's some general information:

We are living with Sean's parents. Some of you may know that address.

Our cell phone numbers are the same as they were before. If you have called me and I haven't returned your call, I apologize. I've been very busy but I am trying to get back with everyone. Dawn, I'm sorry I won't be able to call you, but thank you so much for calling. I saved your message.

We both still have access to our original email accounts. As we don't have a computer yet, we can't respond immediately to email, but we will respond eventually. Several friends have generously offered to let us come over and use their computers. We also both have computers at work. My email is cosleia AT QX DOT net; if you email me there I can give you the other contact info.

Sean's employer very generously gave him the week off, paid, and didn't remove the time from his normally allocated PTO. I took Monday and Tuesday off and right now I'm at work, which is how I'm posting this message.

My mother is sending me a new camera. It's exactly the same as the one I used to have. She found it on eBay.

As I understand it, the Red Cross is actually going to help us in some way. AIMCO, the company that owns Springhouse, is also taking up some sort of collection to distribute among everyone who was affected. In addition, friends and family have been helping out.

We are going to live with Sean's parents probably through the end of the year and just save, save, save. At that point we plan to buy our first house, and that's when donations of furniture and appliances will be extremely welcome. At this point we don't have any room for that kind of thing, although several friends have offered to store things for us if absolutely necessary. We are also considering renting storage. Ultimately, though, at this point we would prefer to not receive furnishings and similar items.

We have replaced our toiletries, and several people have given us clothes. Our wardrobes aren't up to snuff yet but they will be eventually--clothes are still welcome, although you will have a hard time finding things for Sean. We will probably have to buy all of his stuff new. He wears a medium shirt (he prefers polo/golf shirts), and his pants size is 30" X 34". I'm currently wearing XL shirts and size 16-18 pants, not that I have ever wanted to advertise my sizes on the Internet. (I'm not telling you about my underwear and bra.)

I am planning on making a new Amazon list called "Things We Lost in the Fire", which people will be welcome to buy from later--mostly it will just be a catalogue to work from when we go to replace things, and in case we sue or whatever. Sean and I both have ethical issues with suing if it was an accident (in other words, if there was negligence but it was slight), but if there was gross negligence or arson that would be fine.

Sean is ordering us some laptop computers from Dell, but there was an issue with the financing yesterday so he might not get the great deal he was going to get, so we're not sure if we're still getting the laptops. Either way, we don't have room for a desktop in his parents' house. We have to maintain as small a footprint there as possible, meaning that pretty much everything we own has to be stashed away in a closet or drawer when we're not using it, so that it looks like we're not there at all. If I sound a little bitter, it's because I'm petty and can't stop looking gift horses in the mouth.

I may go crazy, but oh well.

I have been keeping myself as busy as possible. Last night when everything I immediately needed to do was done, I had time to really think about it for the first time. Of course I've been seeing things and saying dryly, "I used to have one of those, but it burned up in the fire." But I was keeping myself from really feeling it as much as I could. Last night, I had run out of distractions, and I figured that I should let out some emotions, so I cried for a long time.

Then I was having trouble stopping. Sean wasn't there because he was at a coworker's house buying the laptops online. It got later and later and I was already upset and I started to worry that he might be dead. I mean really worry. I was hysterical. Finally he came back and it turned out that he'd run his battery completely dead talking with Dell customer service and financing on the phone, so he wasn't able to call me back. It took me awhile to calm down and finally be able to sleep.

My long drive to Lincolnton this morning gave me plenty of thinking time, but I reverted to trying not to think about it as much as possible. My eyes are dry and I feel like I could start crying at any moment.

And now it's time to start working.

Gone

So, our apartment burned down last night.

We were awakened at about 2 am by some sort of loud noise. I actually don't remember what it sounded like. All I remember is thinking that one of the air conditioners down below our office window might have blown up (they had been making a lot of racket lately). "What the fuck?" I said (sorry, Mom), running out of the bedroom and into the living room.

Only to see a wall of flame coming through the patio door.

"Shit." (Sorry again, Mom.)

I didn't even stop to think about how the flames were coming through when there was supposed to be a door there. That simply didn't occur to me. I went back into the bedroom and got my glasses and rings and put them on, then came back out, then said, "We need to get our phones," and ran back into the bedroom and got it. I thought briefly that I should go into the office and get my purse and camera...but I figured that someone would put out the fire soon, and I shouldn't endanger my life by going past the fire in the living room, even though it hadn't yet started burning anything inside (that I could tell).

So I went outside and started down the stairs.

Sean was doing something during all this time, I don't know. He came outside with me, and he was the one who thought to pull the fire alarm. But when I started down the stairs I realized he wasn't coming. He was doing something at the apartment, going back in. I didn't see that he had a fire extinguisher. All I could think was that he was trying to save something from the apartment. By this time smoke was billowing out the front door into the breezeway.

"Get out of there!" I yelled at him, repeatedly. It really didn't take long for him to give up on putting out the fire and join me below. A fire truck had already arrived.

We stood and waited while the firemen took their sweet time getting a hose upstairs. Then they paused to bang on the door of the apartment below ours. As if ours wasn't on fucking fire. As if there wasn't time to save our stuff.

At some point we walked around the building to see what it looked like from the back, and then we could tell that the fire had started in the apartment below ours and traveled upward via the patios. We still don't know what exactly started the fire.

The fire didn't seem to be abating at all. There was a fire truck back on that street too, but it wasn't doing anything. "They're incompetent!" I cried. "Put the fucking fire out!"

We stood and watched the fire infiltrate the office, and then the bedroom. We watched our ceiling burn away. We watched the second floor patio collapse and spread the fire onto the first floor.

At some point the truck on the street just beyond us finally started spraying a huge jet of water onto the roof, and the fire was reduced to thick grey smoke within minutes (seconds?). We had already called our parents, and now we walked around the apartments the long way to get to the front entrance where Sean's parents had arrived to pick us up.

All we had were our phones and our night clothes: underwear, T-shirt, and shorts for both of us. We had no shoes. We had no keys. We had no wallets or money or credit cards or drivers licenses. We walked barefoot to Cheryl and Reid's truck and got in and they took us to a gas station to get a drink and then back to their house. We showered and changed into borrowed clothes and sat awake for a long time.

Our apartment, and everything in it, is gone.

We have no home.

We have no possessions.

We don't even have chargers for our phones, and as I discovered today, they don't make accessories for our outdated phones anymore. We'll have to buy new ones.

We'll have to buy new everything.

We didn't have renters insurance.

Yes. Yes, we are stupid. Thank you for pointing that out. I promise you, though, we already know.

My camera, my constant companion and translator of my memories, is gone. (I took today's shots with Brooke's camera.) My computer, with all my saved chat logs from the last ten or so years, all my writing, all my photography, all my archives--and yes, all my anime, is gone. My souvenirs from Japan--my beautiful hand-made pottery tea set, my wallscroll with calligraphy done by my host sister Yoko, my other dishes, my journal that I hadn't gotten around to typing up and blogging--are gone. All my photographs that weren't digital, that were instead shoved into the compartment on one of the end tables in the living room, are gone. All my books--hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of books--are gone. Our DVDs are gone.

Everything is gone.

I'm posting this from Brooke's computer. Sean's parents don't even have a computer, not to mention the Internet, so I may be scarce for awhile. Sean and I are both all right, though, and we'll be in touch.

We are being taken care of. Our families and friends are already pitching in to help us replace our clothes and get new keys for our cars. We're going to be all right.

I'm still in shock/denial. I've only cried once--only let myself cry once. I haven't been alone enough to cry.

I lost so much. But I didn't lose Sean. Last night, all I could do was cling to him.

You could be...Zipping!

Man...ReBoot is so cool.

The bright spot of my day today has been watching my tapes of seasons 1 and 2. Unfortunately they're getting old. Also, somehow I recorded Judge Judy over "When Games Collide", so I haven't seen that episode in ages. (I don't even watch Judge Judy!)

In any case, I love ReBoot. Bob = hotness.

It's funny how two overdraft charges can turn a "bleh" day into a "I wish I had never gotten out of bed" day.

:P

Yakuza change of power

I'm kind of fascinated by the Japanese underworld syndicates, so here are a couple of articles about the recent change in leadership of the Yamaguchi-gumi.

CNN: Report: New head for Japan gang

The Yamaguchi-gumi, already Japan's largest syndicate, grew by 1,100 to 39,200 last year and comprised 45.1 percent of Japan's total underworld members.

Kyodo (by way of Japan Today): Largest yakuza gang holds 'change of power' ceremony

Kenichi Shinoda, the Yamaguchi-gumi's No. 2 man, formally became the sixth boss of Japan's largest crime syndicate in a ceremony held Saturday at its headquarters in Kobe. The ceremony, marking the first change of power for the Yamaguchi-gumi in 16 years, was attended by some 100 leaders and members of affiliated groups nationwide, police said.

Housing bubble

I'd been noticing speculation about a housing bubble on MSN for quite some time. (Here's a quick Google search that will get you a bunch of current articles on the subject, but will degrade as the years pass and be utterly useless to my biographers.) These rumors were dismissed by the Fed, as I understand it.

Yesterday, Alan Greenspan pretty much admitted that yes, there is a housing bubble. (Via Drudge.)

While this is bad news for anyone who hopes to make a profit on their current property, it might work out well for us, should the crash happen before we buy our house. :>

Eeeeeeek.

MSNBC: Tourist perch to be built at Grand Canyon

An American Indian tribe with land along the Grand Canyon is planning to build a glass-bottomed walkway that will jut out 70 feet from the canyon’s edge.

The horseshoe-shaped skywalk, expected to open in January, is part of the Hualapai Tribe’s $40 million effort to turn 1,000 acres of reservation land into a tourist destination that will also feature an Indian village and Western-themed town.

Look at that thing!

How terrifying would that be?!

Of course, I want to go...

I've actually never been to the Grand Canyon. My mom has; when she was growing up, her parents took her and her siblings on a road trip around the US. I've always wanted to do that. I'm pretty sure Dad's been out there too, though I'm not positive. He traveled all over the place when he was a journeyman wireman.

Someday I'll see the West!

The challenge of weight loss

Eric Burns has an inspiring post up about hitting a milestone in his fight against obesity. Congratulations, and best of luck to him!

(My personal weight loss seems to have stalled. What I was doing before is not enough to continue losing weight, apparently.)

What am I doing up so early, and posting?

Originally, I was supposed to be going to a NACA workshop today--that's why I'm not at work. However, Sean worked his 1 to 10 pm shift this week, and it just wasn't possible to get ourselves moving early enough to make it on time for the workshop. Sean's gone back to bed; I'm a morning person, so I'm stuck being awake and websurfing and feeling like I'm playing hooky.

I think the past three days have gotten me quasi-adjusted to being a full-time worker again, so right now it seems like I really ought to be doing something. I have the whole day today to do whatever I want, and tomorrow will be the same way. Crazy!

Next week, I'm going to be working on Saturday, but I'll have Sunday free. I'm still not sure if only having one day off a week will be enough R&R for me. We'll just have to see. I've been thinking of other things I might do, like going in one hour earlier on the weekdays to pick up 4 hours and then either only working 4 hour shifts every Saturday or working a full 8 hour shift every other Saturday, but I don't know yet. I'll have to think about it some more, and of course consult my boss to see if he'd even let me.

Going in an hour early would mean I'd have to leave home at 7, which would be a bit more of a morning rush than I normally like. Right now I get up at 6, get my shower and get dressed, pack lunches and clean the kitchen, and putter around online until 8, then leave for work. On Thursdays it's the same except that I leave at 7:30. I think 6 is about as early as I want to get up in the morning, so going in an hour earlier would halve my morning me-time.

By the way, I really like my new job. I was feeling a little disquiet due to the fact that my new boss reminds me a little of my former boss...but they seem to only be similar in good qualities, or qualities that don't really matter. My new boss is very supportive of my creative efforts, and he treats me like a professional. I truly appreciate that, and it makes me want to do my best. This is the kind of working environment I've been looking for!

If I were to cast Dumbledore...

...I'd look for someone in their 50s or so, with blue eyes, who could invoke the standard anime crazy grandpa. Either he'd already have red hair, or it'd be dyed for the flashbacks. Then, for the regular scenes, he'd wear makeup and have his hair dyed white.

The Dumbledores in the existing Harry Potter movies don't really work for me. Hai has pointed out that the first one seemed way too frail, and the second one seemed young but weird. I think they were both too solemn. Dumbledore is nuts! That needs to come out from the very beginning.

Potter parody goodness

Via the Keenspot newsbox, I discovered yesterday that Filthy Lies!, a comic I don't normally read, is having a fun Harry Potter crossover event thingy. It starts here.

There's some really good stuff in that parody so far.

Meanwhile, Sluggy is also doing a Harry Potter story, as Torg the Lastnameless One returns to Hogglerynth for his third year. (As Torg said to Homogenize Milktoast, "Wasn't second year two years ago?") That parody starts here. It hasn't been as memorable as the Filthy Lies! parody, but today's was excellent:

If you know of any other Potter parodies on the web, let me know! (Yes, I am quite happily aware of this one ;> I wouldn't say no to similar stuff!)

You know what I love though...

They don't ask me to "catch the phones". I don't even have a phone.

Score!

LCD monitors suck

That is all.

3108: BlogDay

August 31 has been named BlogDay by Nir Ofir, because 3108 kind of looks like "BLOG" if you squint and tilt your head slightly to the left.

The idea is pretty neat: on that day, participating bloggers will post about 5 interesting blogs that are preferably from a different country/culture than their own. This deluge of recommendations will be a cultural exchange and provide opportunities for some great reading.

I'm looking forward to participating...with some measure of trepidation. After all, these are supposed to be new recommendations. My blogroll stays perfectly up to date, because it's generated by my RSS reader. This means that I've been recommending the stuff I already read all along. In order to really participate, I feel that I ought to go out and find five all-new blogs to recommend--and really, I'd like to recommend blogs written in English by people of other countries. Right now I don't read very many blogs like that, and all of my Japan blogs are written by English-speaking foreigners who happen to be living in Japan. (Not that there's anything wrong with that...)

So it will be interesting to see what I'm able to find before the 31st.

Are you participating?

[Here is the groovy Technorati tag that I have to put in BlogDay posts to show that I'm participating, even though I think it looks totally goofy to have tags in the body of a post, and I'm hoping that I can find some better way to do it when I switch to WordPress (maybe with categories or something).]

Typhoon makes landfall in Japan

Look at these pictures that accompanied this CNN article. That's just crazy!

Two people have been injured in the typhoon so far.

CNN weather anchor Mari Ramos said Friday the typhoon was weakening rapidly.

She said the weather would improve and the high winds and sea would begin to abate, but the very heavy rainfalls associated with the typhoon meant there was still a danger of floods and landslides.

Kyodo news agency said Mawar was the second typhoon to make landfall on the Japanese archipelago this year.

Best wishes to everyone in eastern Japan. The typhoon may affect some of my favorite bloggers: Jeff Laitila lives in Yokosuka (the site of the first image), and Justin Klein has been visiting Tokyo. (Of course, Jun-Jun-chan is in Tokyo, too...)

American receives mail addressed to "Palestinian Bomber"

Although he is of Palestinian heritage, Sami Habbas has lived in the US since he was 3. Somehow, a credit card company had him on file as "Palestinian Bomber", which is how he was addressed on the envelope, in the letter, and on the phone when he called to ask what was going on:

When he called the company, JPMorgan Chase & Co., provided his ZIP code and invitation number, two operators said to him: "Yes, Mr. Bomber, what can we do for you?"

There is inherent humor in this--the phone operators not noticing the name "Palestinian Bomber", for one thing (reminds me of this story)--but ultimately it's not cool. It would seem that Mr. Habbas was added to a list somewhere by someone who was aware of his heritage. A neighbor? It's creepy to think about.

No comment

The Augusta Chronicle has a story about how the city might not even own the land it's been leasing to Alltel for a cell phone tower. The land is in dispute due to an historic cemetery on the property.

That's not why I'm linking, though; this is:

Jim Wall, a former city attorney, declined to comment since he is no longer the city attorney.

Isn't that the most useless piece of information you've ever seen? Thanks for that hard-hitting reporting!

...and they didn't cane him?

Yahoo!: Singapore locks up U.S. man for possessing porn

Despite efforts to loosen some of its social controls, many tough rules remain in Singapore. "Playboy" magazine is banned, while oral sex remains technically illegal under a law that says "whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animals" can be fined and jailed up to 10 years, or even for life.

In recent years, Singapore has partially relaxed its famous ban on chewing gum, allowed some bars to stay open for 24 hours and ended a ban on the popular U.S. sitcom "Sex and the City."

Meh, they're going soft. ;>

Culture shock

To find out what undergraduate life is like today, a professor at Northern Arizona University enrolled as a freshman and moved into a dorm for a year.

Part of the trick to college life, she learned from good students, was being able to quickly decipher what work needed to be done and what could be skipped. Those management skills helped students balance classes, part-time work and involvement in volunteer or professional groups, Small said.

She found some of the coursework tough and had to seek tutoring for a class far outside her field of study. "It was a hectic life," she said.

Small also said she found current undergraduates faced more pressure to pick a major that readily translated into a job that could pay off student loans.

Travis Shumake, student body president and a senior at NAU's School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, said he sees that all the time — students choosing his program because it provides the "fastest results at the highest income."

Small said her generation wasn't as career-oriented in college.

"It was an era of anti-materialism. It was kind of nerdy then to talk about careers," she said. "Now, different things are nerdy."

I have to wonder if that last bit has something to do with increased college enrollment. In years past, the majority of college students were people with high incomes who didn't necessarily have to worry much about what would happen after college. Nowadays we've got people racking up loan debt left and right.

Great news!

Americans are getting fatter, faster!

-_-

I do like what Dr. Ian Campbell, chairman of the National Obesity Forum in the UK, had to say:

"It really is time that we got our finger out and started making real changes.

"This is no cosmetic irritation, it is a serious medical problem."

This puzzle sucks

Can you figure it out? I sure as hell can't.

I'm starting to think that the solution must depend on some 1960s cultural factoid ;P

Update 2005/05/25 5:50 pm: BoingBoing has posted the answer.

x_x

Wow, am I tired.

Working a full day in a new place is pretty draining.

When I arrived, I discovered that I'd been moved out of the cubicle and into my own gargantuan office.

Isn't that desk nice? (Unfortunately the chair doesn't lower enough for the arms to slide underneath the desk, but you know, nothing's perfect.)

So once we got the desk where I wanted it and I had been made familiar with the passwords and directory structure, we purchased Photoshop and began the two hour process of downloading it :> While that was occurring I set up my account on the computer, cleaned out some files, and searched for stock photos and fonts I could use for web design. This actually killed a good portion of the day.

Once Photoshop was installed and ready to go, I started futzing around with actual layouts. I only came up with two general ideas today, but my brain was kind of fuzzy, and also I had two interesting conversations with the owner (not the guy who hired me) that took me away from my work, so I feel all right about it.

I'm going to the internship tomorrow, and then back to work on Friday. I don't know how long I'm going to be able to keep that up, but I really love the internship and don't want to give it up quite yet. (I'm hoping I can learn more there that I can apply to my new job, too!)

I think once I get more settled in, I'll be able to manage myself and my time better so that I can make designs without going into a coma. Creative work is great and challenging and all, but it's by nature fairly unstructured, so it's hard to keep focused. I think I will try to come up with some guidelines and goals for myself to help me stay on track.

The drive home was nice :) It rained the tiniest bit, but nothing serious, and it was cool out, which felt great. (I should explain that by "cool" I mean it was 88 degrees, with no sun and a breeze. But this felt much better than the arctic temperatures in the office...I don't know who runs the thermostat in there, but it's so freaking cold I was shivering. Maybe I'll take a sweater in on Friday.)

In any case, I snapped a couple pictures of the lake again, and they came out a little better due to the sky being overcast, so here's one:

There's a lumber yard along the way, too; here's a shot of some wood!

There's a new subdivision being built along Washington Road in Columbia County. I guess it's technically Evans; it's not far from Eagle Pointe shopping center (I think that's what it's called), which is not far from the big Evans shopping center where the Super Wal-Mart is. The subdivision is called Village at Greenbrier. I wonder if that would be a good place for Sean and me to look into...

I went to Wal-Mart on my way home and got some necessities, and now I'm just relaxing. My eyes have finally come unglazed, thankfully :) I'm going to just enjoy myself for the rest of the evening and not worry about anything!

Beyond awesome

BoingBoing links to a short film featuring five immediately recognizable Hollywood voice actors. I love how they put the animated films guy in a white suit and made him out to be a dork ;>

I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, that explains why I haven't posted all day.

...wait, it doesn't? I'll elaborate:

I was awakened this morning at 11:16 am by my cell phone ringing. I didn't recognize the number. Leaping out of bed, I forced myself as much into awake-mode as possible--this is something I'm usually able to pull off, although when it happens with friends I generally let the facade slip about halfway through the conversation, prompting a "Did I wake you up?"

This time, I was determined not to sound like an unemployed loser who'd been planning to sleep past noon...for this time, a potential employer was on the other end.

"This is so-and-so with X Corporation. We received your resume this morning."

"Yes," I said. (Maybe the facade isn't as good as I think it is.)

"I was hoping to get together and talk."

"Sure! Great!" By this time I was finally in the office. I always head straight to the office when I get an Important Call. I sat down in my lovely Aeron chair, and was suddenly able to think straight. "I'm free any day this week except Thursday."

"It's really up to you," he said. "I'm here all week."

"How about today, then? I can be there in a couple of hours."

The rest of the conversation involved how to get to the place, and what his name was (I'd not caught it properly during the forcing-myself-awake phase). Then we hung up and I practically leapt into the shower, forgetting my normal routine of Potty, Scale, and Pills. (I took my medicine after the shower, and decided not to weigh myself today.)

I took some time collecting samples and reviewing what the job was, so I could hopefully demonstrate that I was the right choice. I also fussed about what to wear, finally opting for the same outfit I've worn to all my other job interviews lately. (Brooke knows which one I'm talking about...)

Then I did my makeup, put on some earrings and slid a clip into my hair, grabbed my huge briefcase (or, as Brooke calls it, my "luggage"), and headed out. I was taking along some hard copy samples of flyers and such from 2go-Box, plus the laptop with screenshots of various web designs.

X Corporation is located in Lincolnton, Georgia. Basically I drive northwest on Washington Road for about 40 minutes, and then I'm there. The drive is really nice--beautiful trees all around, and those old-timey convenience stores you often see in rural areas. Plus, towards the end, I got to drive right over Clarks Hill Lake (also known as Strom Thurmond Lake). The road meanders along, a thin strip bisecting the lake, until finally you're shunted through a big beautiful green bridge.

(Okay, this is cheating. I actually took this picture on my way home. But you get the idea.)

Seeing all that water was really energizing. I was beaming from ear to ear as I continued on to Lincolnton.

The place was really easy to find. I gathered up my stuff, turned off my phone (which apparently couldn't find a signal anyway), fixed my hair (with no air conditioning, I have to drive with the windows rolled down), and headed inside.

After a brief uncomfortable moment in which I stood in the lobby staring through a window into an office area while no one helped me, a young (well, older than me, by maybe five years, but still young) man burst out of one of the offices, glanced at me, and said, "How you doin'?"

"Good," I said.

"Are you waiting for me?"

"Are you So-and-So?"

"Yup! Just hold on one minute."

And so I did.

Presently I was ushered into So-and-So's office and invited to sit on a brown leather loveseat. So-and-So slouched back into his desk chair and we started talking about the job.

It was strikingly similar to having a conversation with my old boss, Robert. He was very enthusiastic about what he wanted to do and made the company's needs clear. I asked implementation questions and made suggestions and basically got a good idea about how it was all supposed to work. Yes, I could do this. It would be fun!

The interview had never seemed like a normal interview--that is, I never felt like I was being grilled. If anything, it felt as if I were interviewing them. (I've heard that this is a good strategy for interviews, actually.) But at a certain point, I realized we'd moved past anything remotely resembling an interview, and we were now at the point where I was ready to get started on the project. He realized this too, because not long after that he said, "I guess it's time to talk about money."

I stated that I wanted to be fair, that I was basically entry-level despite my abilities, and that I wouldn't claim to have ten years of experience when I really didn't. Then I named a figure, and he agreed to it.

I think my figure was pretty reasonable. In all, I feel that we both made off well with that figure. I know I could scarcely have hoped to make that kind of money at any other job...

"When can I start?" I asked.

"Whenever you want."

"How about tomorrow?"

And so it was settled. Then it was just a matter of logistics. "I'll need Photoshop," I said.

"I'll buy whatever you need," he replied (which was amazingly thrilling, I must say). I asked to see my workstation, and he led me out to one of the cubicles I'd seen earlier from the lobby. He told me I could have my pick of two of them.

"Are the computers the same?"

"No, actually, that one's much better."

"I'll take that one, then."

He had to get the monitor for me; it was plugged into the server. Then he logged me in and I took a look around at all the software. As we'd suspected, the previous user, a web designer who hadn't quite worked out, had installed plenty of software but not registered any of it. I cleaned out everything I wasn't going to need, then made a list of what I did (which for now is just SmartFTP and Photoshop). I also made myself a list of things to bring in tomorrow.

Once the software issue was squared away, I asked him about cameras. He said they had two, and I'll get to look at them tomorrow to see if they'll work for me. If they don't, he said he'd buy whatever camera I think would be best. I might also just use my own.

After that, I told everyone that I'd see them in the morning, and took my leave.

I managed to restrain myself until I'd pulled out of the driveway, but then I screamed, loud and incoherently. I spent most of the drive back alternately laughing and crying, and haphazardly snapping pictures (of which that bridge one above is the only one worth sharing). Then, inexplicably, I drove to my in-laws' house, let myself in, called everybody, and played with their Pomeranians until they got home. (I then stayed for dinner, and watched House with them in a state of euphoria.)

I have a job.

I have a good job.

I have a job that pays good money.

I am really looking forward to getting started.

And it all happened within a matter of sixteen hours--I applied for the job at midnight, was called at 11, and had interviewed, been hired, and had my desk set up by 4.

It's totally surreal.

Not to mention awesome.

I think I'm really going to enjoy this.

Stupidity

Sunshine and her mom (who, as you will recall, live in Mosul) have both written about an inspection of their home by the U.S. military, and their reactions to the behavior of one soldier. From Sunshine's post:

We heard that some houses were damaged , so we were afraid that could happen to us .
I believed that if we cooperate with them & welcome them, they will check our house with more graciousness.
Every time I hear people saying that the soldiers broke this & did that , I would say: come on they are targets all the time , they expect attacks in every minute , certainly they will be nervous.
But if they see a co-operative family they will be nice!!!!.
Give me a reason i am confused...

From her mother's:

My kids used to believe in your soldiers & their courage .When terrorists invalidate Mosul &then you came to help us they were very much amazed. But now after they saw that soldier behavior they got confused &disappointed.
I wanted to write about that to stoop the stupid guys in the military forces from offending the relationship more &more between the Iraqis & the soldiers .I want to stop the hate that is increasing even among the most peaceful Iraqis ,due to such irresponsible behavior, such soldiers affect the reputation of the American military forces ,whom already have enough scandals.

The printing process

I did have a good and productive time at the printer's. From my arrival until around 1:30 I took a tour with Dave, one of the business managers. After that I was given helpful tips and tricks in various software packages by the job planner, Tim.

The tour of the facility was my favorite part; I wanted to ask if I could take pictures of everything, but I was too busy taking notes. I saw

Account Management, where sales reps/customer service reps take care of client business;

Preflight, where client files are received from the Account Manager and checked for completeness, image quality, and whether or not the files on disc match the client's proof;

Planning/Management, where jobs are received, set up and scheduled;

Quality Control, where images are evaluated based on how they will appear on the type of paper required for the job and edits are made as necessary;

Processing, referred to as "the Mac Operators", where the jobs are meticulously assembled--I was told this was frequently unnecessary on jobs from the company for which I intern, as we do most of that work ourselves;

Imposition, in which the pages are laid out--this is tricky, as you don't always print the pages right next to each other. It depends on the binding how everything will flow;

Proofing, where a regular printout is made to check that everything is set up properly (and there are two types of proof, a low res version that is cut and assembled the way it will look as a finished product, and a high res version that is printed on the paper that is to be used for the job, to check how the ink will look);

Plating, in which literal plates of metal are created from the job files after the proof has been approved by the client; and

The press room, where it all happens. There are 2-, 4-, and 8-color printing presses, and each of them has a "perfector" unit that flips the paper over so that one run through the machine can result in printing on both sides. The plates are wrapped around cylinders inside the presses. Ink is ferried down to the plates by the inking rollers, a set of cylinders that begins at the very top of the press. (The ink levels have to be just right, or the color will be incorrect. This is not an exact process, meaning that workers must constantly check the color output and adjust the levels. Temperature and humidity are both key factors.) By the way, printing ink looks like this:

That's the one and only picture I took at the printer's.

The plates are moistened with water. Only the spots on the plate where ink is to go do not hold water; the rest of the plate does. This ensures, for the most part, that ink won't get where it's not supposed to be. The plate cylinder rolls up against what's called a "rubber blanket", which absorbs/deflects the water and catches the ink. The rubber blanket then rolls across the actual paper, leaving the imprint of the ink.

There is one plate for each spot color. As you may know, there are four of these: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). So only one color goes onto the page at a time. A 2-color press only has two plates in it at a time and is used to run monotone or duotone projects. A 4-color press can do 4 colors at a time, and an 8-color press can do 8. While I was there, the 8-color press was being put to work on a 3-color project because that particular project was on a tight deadline; paper was whizzing into that thing.

Once the page has been inked, it passes through an infrared dryer before landing in a stack with the other pages. This dries the ink and keeps the pages from sticking to each other.

As you might have guessed, the printing presses are the coolest part. They are controlled by a computerized apparatus that looks fresh from the 1960s (okay, maybe the 1980s): a long bay of red LEDs (or maybe they're just regular lights, I'm not sure) is spread out along the bottom of an easel upon which the printed pages are laid by the operator; he can then check the colors against his handy-dandy Pantone chart to make sure they're correct, and if they're not, he uses buttons beneath the red lights to increase or decrease the ink levels on any portion of the page. I find old computers like that to be incredibly funky and cool.

Beyond the presses, there were areas for storing printed pages to await the next step in the processes, cutting the pages with dies, and storing old jobs. Adjacent to the presses was

Binding, where machines sort the pages and stack them, then score, fold, and bind, then finally chop away the excess paper, first top and bottom and then along the side.

All in all, I left the tour mildly wishing I could stay and work in the press room.

My software tutorial thingamajig went fine, although I yawned rather too much and felt very sleepy towards the end. Tim gave me some good tips and some definite things I needed to know about sending files to the printer, which of course was the purpose of the visit. Here are a few things I learned:

1. monotone: a picture in a single color other than black
2. duotone: a picture done in a single color plus black
3. InDesign rules, QuarkXPress drools
4. Turn ON facing pages if you're doing saddlestitching (staple binding); turn them OFF if you're doing perfect/square binding.
5. If you have 96+ pages, staple binding doesn't look nearly as good as perfect binding, due to creep.
6. Keep content at least 3/8" away from the binding; 1/2" is better. When you have more pages, stay even further away.
7. Extend bleeds 1/8" past your cutlines.
8. The Control Palette is your friend.
9. The best way to view Pantones is under a 5000K light, or outside in the sun.
10. Don't color grayscale images in Quark; do it in Photoshop or InDesign.
11. Don't mix paper types in your color swatches!
12. Drop shadows (and other effects, presumably) act like raster images.
13. CMYK rules, RGB drools
14. Never use a stroke width less than .0028".
15. Always set your document raster settings to 300 dpi.
16. Never use the color swatch "Registration" for anything! This swatch contains 100% of all colors used in the document and will easily oversaturate the paper.
17. Ink saturation should be below 320% for glossy/treated paper, 280% for uncoated paper, and 220% for newsprint.
18. Always package your fonts and support files!

Hope that wasn't too boring for those of you with no interest whatsoever in graphic design. It was a nice review for me, at least ;>

On my way out of the building, Dave showed up again and introduced me to some more people, including Mike, a manager. When Dave told Mike who I was, Mike said, "Oh, I hope I didn't say anything bad! I thought you were a new employee." So it would appear that either:

1. My outfit choice made me look like someone who would work at a printer.
2. My outfit choice did not make me look like a client.

Or, you know, it could be both of the above! I was wearing sneakers as well as the khakis and white shirt, so I didn't look particularly professional, that's for sure. It was nice to think that my clothes made me fit in, though! (I totally obsess about what I wear...;P)

In any case, it was a nice, educational trip. I had fun.

Hate

You know what I hate? My car.

You know what else I hate? My car.

By the way, I hate my car.

And let's not forget my car. Which I hate.

...Okay, fine. I don't really hate my car. I just hate the fact that it's fucking broken.

Right now it's sitting in the Sam's parking lot. I was sitting in it, myself, for over half an hour trying to get the damn thing to start. Unlike the time this happened in Aiken, it wasn't particularly hot. A cool breeze was blowing, and it had rained. I don't know if the car itself was hot from the drive back from Columbia, or if there's some factor other than heat that causes the starter to not function. I do know that on my way up I turned it off to gas up and it started back just fine.

I guess it's just "finicky".

In any case, I walked home.

If anyone knows where I can get an ignition switch for a 1986 Subaru GL two door hatchback, let me know. ;P

To the printers!

Today I'm going to Columbia to spend a little over half a workday learning about the printing process. This will help me optimize my graphic designs for print.

I'm pretty excited (and nervous) about it. I should learn a lot, and that is very cool. But, of course, it involves going to a new place and meeting new people, so, you know.

I'm beginning to rethink wearing a white shirt. This could be bad. I was thinking that surely they won't expect me to dress up, because it's a printers for goodness' sake, but I didn't want to look crappy either so I put on khakis and a white shirt. Now, though, I'm thinking darker colors might be better, in case of an ink accident...

But meh. I don't feel like changing clothes, and I don't really have anything I feel like changing into anyway. (Famous last words?)

In any case, I'm going to take my camera, so hopefully I'll get some interesting pictures of the printing process :) No promises, though--even if I am allowed to take photos, they may not want me putting them on the web. We'll see!

..."Torg Potter and the President from Arkansas"

*DIES*

Are you NUTTY? Want to be in an ad campaign?

There are open auditions this coming Saturday from 8:30 am until noon for somebody to act like a complete freak in an ad campaign. It's best if you have something of an open schedule, so you'd be available to show up for photo shoots and such during the day. Yes, there will be monetary compensation if you're picked. (I heard it's something like $200.)

If you live in the CSRA and are interested in auditioning, find my email address hidden somewhere on pixelscribbles.com and email me, or leave a message in the comments with a way for me to contact you privately. They're open auditions, but they're discreet open auditions. ;>

Getting the word out

A piece in the Augusta Chronicle about native Augustan Lt. Col. Stan Heath, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, points out a major issue in rebuilding:

"Many people believe that the Americans can do miracles, and cannot understand why there is no security, no electricity, no services and so on," Mr. [Hamid] Alkifaey[, leader of the Movement for a Democratic Society in Iraq,] said in an e-mail. "Many people do not believe the Americans when they say they are there to help Iraqis. ... People believe the message when they see there is a difference in their lives, and this has not happened."

It's Lt. Col. Heath's job to let Iraqis know that work is being done.

Although Lt. Col. Heath has worked with reporters from CNN, Fox News and The New York Times, he said he's had more success getting his message out in Iraqi newspapers such as Al Sabah, Al Taakhi and Addustour, and on Al Iraqia TV and the U.S.-sponsored Al Hurra satellite channel.

This alternative press

not only reports on the incessant insurgent attacks, but also picks up Lt. Col. Heath's news releases about the Corps' work on water plants, electrical substations, military bases, hospitals, railroad stations and bridges.

Of course, there is another problem:

When he sends them news releases, he doesn't list the districts or towns where projects are under way, lest they be targeted by bombers.

"It's not like the Marshall Plan," Lt. Col. Heath said, referring to the rebuilding of Europe after World War II. "We're doing this while we're still fighting this counterinsurgency battle, fighting against these saboteurs and these insurgents. It's a tough mission. Let there be no mistake about that."

They're fighting an uphill battle over there.

I don't care that Israel is rescuing cats and dogs from Gaza!

For the past week, every time I have opened Bloglines, there it is: a piece on Yahoo! about Israel saving the kitties and doggies.

Every. Single. Freaking. Time.

I've seen the story four times today.

It's the same headline. It's probably the same freaking story. I don't know, I have never, not once, clicked on it, not even the first time I saw it.

Maybe it's happening because the picture they send along with the story each time keeps changing. Did you notice they're doing pictures in the RSS feed now? Yeah, it's pretty cool, unless that's causing me to see "Israel to rescue cats, dogs from Gaza settlements (Reuters)" every time I check for news, in which case I will gladly go without them.

I mean it. Seriously. Make it stop. Just make it stop.

I don't care, Yahoo! Leave me alone!!!!

"Website" = correct

It was Will who pointed out to me awhile back that "website" is not the proper spelling. Ever since he let me know, I've noticed the doofy spelling "Web site" everywhere, and it annoys the hell out of me.

"Website" is better. It's faster, and doesn't look stupid. People who actually have websites use "website", I promise you.

A Google search for "website" gets 1,080,000,000 hits, while a Google search for "Web site" (as a phrase) gets 888,000,000--and Google asks me politely, "Did you mean: 'Website'".

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition has this usage note:

The transition from World Wide Web site to Web site to website seems to have progressed as rapidly as the technology itself. The development of website as a single uncapitalized word mirrors the development of other technological expressions which have tended to evolve into unhyphenated forms as they become more familiar. Thus email has recently been gaining ground over the forms E-mail and e-mail, especially in texts that are more technologically oriented. Similarly, there has been an increasing preference for closed forms like homepage, online, and printout.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary chimes in:

It always takes a little time for new words to settle to a standardized form. Our most recent dictionary, the revised 11th edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, published in July 2004, shows website as the standard form, and future dictionaries will reflect this.

We recommend capital initials for Internet, World Wide Web, the Web, but not for individual sites.

So, you see, the spelling is more than accepted. I think it's only the AP Stylebook that's living in the freaking Dark Ages.

My copy of the AP Stylebook (The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, 2002), donated graciously to me by Kevin, states the following under its "AP Internet Guide" entry for "World Wide Web":

The shorter the Web is acceptable. Also, Web site (an exception to Webster's preference), and Web page.

But webcam, webcast, webmaster.

I have no idea what the current AP Stylebook states, but if news articles are any indication, the "exception to Webster's preference" hasn't changed.

Give up your sad devotion to that ancient spelling, Associated Press!

(It's funny how I develop these spelling prejudices...ever since I was a teenager I've railed against the generally accepted spelling "alright", because to me it looks lazy. [See, it's wrong!])

If you're posting a comment, please sign your name in the body of your post

Blogger's comment thingy doesn't seem to be working right--I've had people tell me they put their name in, only to come up as Anonymous--so please do me a favor and let me know who you are in your post. Thanks.

The New Hampshire effect

Eric Burns and the Magazine Man are both from New Hampshire...and both of them are also extraordinarily prolific and fabulous writers. Is there something in the water up there?

I never thought it would happen

Tycho's gonna be a father.

I always kind of assumed that Tycho wasn't the type to have kids, that the closest he'd get to parenthood would be corrupting his niece, and perhaps Gabriel the Younger. So this post (scroll down to "I Have An Announcement To Make") took me completely by surprise. Of course, he wrote it with that intent, didn't he?

Congratulations, Tycho and Brenna!

Tiny, spartan, yet fully functional homes

The Micro Compact Home (via BoingBoing) is available anywhere in Europe.

The micro compact home [m-ch] is a lightweight, modular and mobile minimal dwelling for one or two people. Its compact dimensions of 2.6m cube adapt it to a variety of sites and circumstances, and its functioning spaces of sleeping, working - dining, cooking, and hygiene make it suitable for everyday use.

Further details are available here.

It'd be hard to host a party in one of those...

I find the idea of a tiny house, with just as much room as you need and nothing more, very appealing. At the same time, this flies in the face of everything I've grown up believing (bigger is better, etc.), so I have a hard time reconciling myself to the notion.

Why Mi Rancho rules

Mi Rancho, at Belair and Columbia Road, is awesome, and here's why.

I had "La Favorita", which is a chicken enchilada, a beef burrito, and something with beef and beans and a pile of guacamole. (I may be wrong about which was the enchilada and which was the burrito...I'm not really a connoisseuse of Mexican cuisine.) I had water to drink and fried ice cream for dessert.

Sean had a half order of Nachos Supreme, which, for a half order, was still quite a few freaking nachos. He had iced tea to drink.

Service was fantastic, as usual. Our meals arrived promptly, and we of course had plenty of chips to enjoy in the meantime.

Our bill, for food that totally and pleasantly filled us to the brim? Including tax and tip?

Fif. Teen. Dollars.

$15.00! We could have easily paid double that amount at another Mexican restaurant, for similar or even inferior food and service.

Sean and I were just sort of staring at our check, wondering how it could possibly be right. We found our entrees, each around $5. Drink, $1.50. Dessert, $2.00. ($2.00! T.G.I. Friday's would have charged at least $3.95 for that ice cream.)

The check was right...Mi Rancho had done it again. Fast, attentive service, delicious food, and low, low prices.

For dinner at a sit-down (not fast food) restaurant, that's tough to beat.

The Horiemon Coup

Ampontan at Japundit has a fabulous (as always) run-down of what's happening politically in Japan right now. Koizumi has thrown up quite a few nontraditional candidates to run against the LDP members he ousted, including several women and a popular entrepreneur, Takafumi Horie.

It would be nearly impossible to find a candidate anywhere in the country guaranteed to attract as much media attention as the man they call Horiemon. A high-school dropout and self-made millionaire in his early 30s, Horie is the president of the Internet company Livedoor. He first gained public attention last year during the furor over the planned contraction of Japanese League baseball teams from 12 to 11 (and possibly 10). Horie offered to buy one of the teams, but the owners, led by the autocratic Tsuneo Watanabe, rejected his bid out of hand. The public viewed the baseball owners' rejection of Horie's offer (and their efforts to contract the league) as perversely stubborn and typical of the shortcomings of the old way of doing things in Japan. This created a classic old/new, hidebound/progressive contrast that won Horie public and media sympathy and support. A new baseball team was eventually formed after two others were merged, and Horie, though denied the chance to buy the new team, was widely credited with rekindling public interest in Japanese baseball.

Media interest in Horie more than redoubled earlier this year with his 80s American-style attempt to take over the Fuji Television network. Backed by the American firm Salomon Brothers, Horie made his move by buying up stock during off-hours trading. The entire process became a continuing daily soap opera on Japanese television and a media sensation. Though Horie failed again, he forced Fuji to make concessions to shareholders, and Livedoor and Fuji formed a business partnership in May.

It's not easy to compare Horie to public figures in other countries, but try to imagine a combination of the star power of a young, ungeeky Bill Gates with wide public support and a Donald Trump who wasn't such a jerk.

Global Voices Online mentions Horie in a roundup of Japanese blogs.

All I can say is I'm rooting for Koizumi. The man is brilliant. Plus he's got balls the size of the moon. He's just what's needed to shake up the Japanese political system. It's very exciting and inspiring to me to see this kind of reform taking place in a government that has too long suffered from bloat and complacency. I'd rather like to see something similar happen here in the U.S., but I'm not sure that's really possible.

Yet another gambler leaves her baby to die in a hot car

Japan Today: 6-month-old girl dies from heat in car while mom plays pachinko

A new, cheaper way to fight kudzu

Peachtree City is looking to bring in a new weapon against the kudzu threatening the life of its trees: goats.

The city is trying goats because it is believed they will be cheaper than using chemicals to fight kudzu, an ever-expanding weed considered a pest in much of the South.

The chemical approach would cost $16,750 per acre a year if 100 acres were treated, according to research by the City Council's staff. But the goats would cost only $2,500 per acre.

Sounds like a plan...

You've gotta really want it

I've heard that only 1% or 2% of Japanese people actually ever climb Mount Fuji, though I have no idea if those statistics are accurate. Whatever the true percentage, an Internet apparel retailer seems to be seeking to raise it.

The company will be sending executives up the mountain on August 24. Anyone hoping to get a job with the company must come along--interviews will take place at dawn at the summit.

"We are aiming to be the No.1 Internet retailer, so the No.1 mountain in Japan is very suitable," said Yoshifumi Tsunada, head of public relations for Image Co, the parent company of ImageNet Co., which will do the hiring.

"A lot of people have said we are strange though."

Out of sight, out of mind

It's easy for a lot of people to pretend that global climate change is not occurring. The hot summers we've been having in recent years can be explained away as flukes, or dismissed because "it's been hotter". Other possible effects--mild winters, an increase in tropical storms--can also be ignored, because they don't have a significant effect on people's lives, or they don't affect a significant amount of people. Shortsightedness is rampant and even understandable; when all's said and done, global climate change isn't all that apparent in the 48 contiguous states.

This is not the case in Alaska.

In many ways, this separated US state is the frontline in the global warming debate. Environmentalists say the signs of climate change are more obvious there than perhaps anywhere else in the US.

Dan Lashof, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defence Council, a respected Washington-based group, told The Independent: "People in Alaska are starting to freak out. The retreat of the sea ice allows the oceans to pound the coast more, and villages there are suffering from the effects of that erosion. There is permafrost melting, roads are buckling, there are forests that have been infested with beetles because of a rise in temperatures. I think residents there feel it's visible more and more, more than any other place in the country."

[...]

Mr [Lindsey] Graham, a [South Carolina] Republican, said he had been moved by what he had seen. "Climate change is different when you come here, because you see the faces of people experiencing it. If you go to the people and listen to their stories and walk away with any doubt that something's going on, you're not listening."

I don't think it's arrogant to believe that what we do has an effect on our environment. We have profoundly changed the face of our planet in the thousands of years we've been here. While we might not be in a position to fully understand the effects of our actions, we must be diligent in evaluating them.

By now, clinging to the idea that we're not causing any harm is the same as clinging to fossil fuels. Neither of these notions will serve us in the long run. It's well past time for us to grit our teeth and take some hits in the name of preserving our children's future.

Be afraid

Slashdot links to this just-for-fun quiz: Is Your Boss a Psychopath?

Don't let this line work on you, ladies

From Slate's Dear Prudence:

Prudie would like to take this opportunity to state that oral sex is sex. There is some kind of new-age thinking among kids that oral sex is not sex. This is like saying that shoplifting isn't stealing because you're not robbing a bank.

I used to know someone with that opinion...

:>

I'm sensing a pattern

I haven't done a thorough analysis or anything, but I'm starting to wonder if there isn't a trend in my comments. Every now and then, all kinds of strangers will start posting out of the blue (and yes, three people is "all kinds" to me. My readership is small). These people typically only post once (to my knowledge) and then never return.

I've wondered why that is for some time, but it only occurred to me today that it might be directly linked to whenever I post about hotly contested current events. While these people don't necessarily comment on the shackle-raising post, they may choose to linger for a bit to see if there is something they want to comment on. Finding such, they do comment, but then find nothing further to hold their interest, and surf away.

This is highly probable, I believe.

The idea of doing searches for blogs that discuss a particular topic, and then going there to post a comment and never return seems pretty boring to me. I'm typically not interested in reading someone's blog unless it's something I'm willing to subscribe to. (By this I mean that the blog is both well-written and engaging, and no, well-written does not mean it has to be grammatically perfect.)

I can't imagine trolling zillions of blogs all day just so I could share my opinion. I'd rather just post my opinion here and be done with it.

In any case, for awhile I was concerned about the readers I was failing to entice to stay, but now I don't think I care all that much. Trolls belong on forums ;>

BTK killer needs to just die

Apparently it's news that the BTK killer referred to himself as "a monster".

Well, of course he did.

Do you honestly think he feels any real remorse? If he did, surely he would have killed himself by now. No, he's saying he's sorry because he wants to live. He's trying to escape being killed in prison.

If he could be, he'd still be out there. He admitted himself that he already had an eleventh "project" planned before he was caught. He's not worried about whether or not he'd kill again. He's just worried about dying.

It's too bad the death penalty can't be applied in this case.

SHOCKER: Americans do not blindly follow the media

Astounding! According to a new study by Stefano DellaVigna of the University of California, Berkeley and Ethan Kaplan of the Institute for International Economic Studies at Stockholm University, the introduction of the Fox News Channel into the market had no statistically significant effect on who people voted for, or voter turnout. (Via Drudge.) Apparently, people can think for themselves! This is bad news for those on either side who like to use the media as a scapegoat.

When they made statistical adjustments to hold constant differences in demographic characteristics and unemployment, and looked at differences in voting behavior between towns that introduced and did not introduce Fox within the same Congressional district, the availability of Fox had a small and statistically insignificant effect on the increase in the share of votes for the Republican candidate. Thus, the introduction of Fox news did not appear to have increased the percentage of people voting for the Republican presidential candidate. A similar finding emerged for Congressional and senatorial elections.Voter turnout also did not noticeably change within towns that offered Fox by 2000 compared with those that did not.

[...]

Why was Fox inconsequential to voter behavior?

[...]

The professors' preferred explanation is that the public manages to "filter" biased media reports. Fox's format, for example, might alert the audience to take the views expressed with more than the usual grain of salt. Audiences may also filter biases from other networks' shows.

The tendency for people to regard television news and political commentary as entertainment probably makes filtering easier. Fox's influence might also have been diluted because there were already many other ways to get political information.

I'd like to see a few studies on the Internet's effect on voting. I think that's where the real story is.

Missed bellydance again

I was all confident and determined back in this post, but I haven't gone to class since. I'm pretty sure I know why: the week I went, Sean was on his 1 to 10 pm shift, and I had nothing to do. Since then, he's been on 9 to 6, meaning that he gets home around the time bellydance class starts. During the time I would be getting ready and driving to class, I'm usually starting dinner.

(Last night's dinner was fantastic, by the way--I made a roast with vegetables, mashed potatoes, and Mom's homemade rolls, which turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself.)

So anyway, I'm not sure how I want to deal with this. Do I want to try to make dinner early and leave it for Sean while I go to class, or do I just want to give up on going to class? It's only one night a week, so I feel kinda stupid missing it, but at the same time, it's kind of an accomplishment for me that I've been getting dinner ready at around the same time every night, and I would hate to throw that out of whack.

Cool science in the news

Crocodiles may hold the answer to HIV. (via Drudge)

A new liquid camera lens that doesn't require electricity to activate may make cameras and cell phones leaner and meaner with sharper images. (via Slashdot)

A new infrared survey confirms the existence of a bar of stars at the center of our galaxy. (via Slashdot)

I want to climb Mount Fuji

When I went to Japan for the first time in 2001, I had no idea how out of shape I was. I mean, we walked on that trip. Everywhere. I would collapse into bed each night sobbing from the pain of my blistered feet. And sometimes I was simply incapable of moving any further, and I'd have to stay behind while everyone else saw the sights. (I missed seeing Tokugawa Ieyasu's grave because of that.)

It was humiliating.

Since then I have felt strongly that I need to be in a better physical condition so that I can truly enjoy my travels and experience everything possible. I didn't really start doing anything about it until after my second trip to Japan in 2003 for our honeymoon; I became incredibly exhausted walking through Akihabara and realized that I hadn't improved at all. Even now I'm not exercising much, though I know I need to. Old habits die hard. I've spent at least ten years training myself to sit in a chair all day.

But I want to climb Mt. Fuji, and there is no way I can pull that off the way I am right now.

My biking endurance is pretty high now (although I haven't gone biking in awhile), but I haven't worked on my walking at all. What I need to do is start hiking in earnest, for hours at a time. I need to build up some serious stamina. And hell, there are mountains in northern Georgia, maybe I could practice.

I don't think I'll ever be a serious mountaineer, scaling sheer cliffsides in snow and ice, but I would at least like to think I can hoof it up an ash-covered hillside without needing medical attention.

Our instructor on the 2001 trip, Todd Stradford, was an avid hiker who typically spent his weekends in the hills of Wisconsin (in the company of his large dogs, if I'm remembering correctly). I need to take a page from his book and spend more time in the great outdoors.

Here are some people whose testimonials have inspired me to aim for Fuji:

Jeff Laitila climbed the mountain in 2000 and 2003.

Justin Klein climbed Fuji three weeks ago. (Check out that video! And then please click his Google ads ;> Oh, and speaking of climbing volcanoes, Justin also just went to Mount Aso. I visited the Nakadake caldera in 2001.)

Andy Gray went in 2002 (I think) and again this year.

The Cynical Traveller also went this year.

I understand that Chris will be climbing it at the end of this month, but I haven't heard more about that yet.

So, obviously, Fuji is the thing to do if you're a gaijin, and I want to do it too!

Harry Potter speculation site

Even hovering over the link to the website can be spoilerific, so if you don't want to risk your enjoyment of Half-Blood Prince, don't hover over this link, let alone follow it.

Here's the link.

There's some pretty interesting stuff on that site, including some clues I hadn't noticed, and a few conclusions I didn't think of making. I especially like the "Unanswered Questions" page.

I can totally relate

Today's Sluggy rules.

I love the punchline so much I'm tempted to just reproduce it here, so I can express quite clearly how well I understand the sentiment.

Instead, I'm going to force you to read the comic.

Then read this post (and the beginning of the fifth paragraph of this post) to see why I like it so much.

Style issues

Overall, I like how clean and functional the new smugmug default Style (called, conveniently, "smugmug") is. It's easy to navigate and looks great.

However, I do take issue with the colors.

Here's a screencap one of my galleries, in black:

And here's the same gallery in white:

I like the blue color they use on the white scheme much better than the green on the black one, but I prefer a black background. So I decided to replace the green in the black style with the blue from the white style. While I was at it, I edited some of the buttons, adding pink highlights to them instead of green. I couldn't seem to get the cart graphics to render properly as gifs, and I can't upload pngs to smugmug, and I don't feel like hosting smugmug graphics here...so I'm just leaving those as they are, with green on them. I'm also leaving the smugmug logo alone because I don't feel like messing with it.

Here's what my current style looks like. It's only available in black; you're not allowed to change it!

I could theoretically reproduce the pixelscribbles look over there, but I really don't feel like trying to deal with that.

As of right now I seem to have an issue with the "slideshow" and "map this!" buttons disappearing, but I realize they're still working on things right now so maybe it's not my fault. I'm going to stop messing with it, in any case; it's as good as it's going to get at the moment.

...and they're back!

And wow. Okay, browsing my own site, everything looks the same until you're actually inside a gallery. Only then does the crazy green color come into effect.

If I can just change all that green to the blue seen on other pages, I will be happy. Time to poke around and see if I can do that.

smugmug: FUBAR

What was supposed to be a quick, feature-rich update has turned into hours and hours of downtime. Professional photographers are losing money; the smugmug people are remaining cheerful, somehow, but they've all been up for over 24 hours trying to get it working.

Here's the latest update:

For the technically curious, one of the new features required restructuring and reindexing our main image database.

Since that's over 32,000,000 photos, we conservatively thought it would take many hours to complete.

It turns out we weren't conservative enough, and it's taking many many hours to complete. I suspect some sort of hardware problem we haven't seen before, but we won't know until it's finished.

We think the feature will be a great one - you'll now be able to add geography information to your photos, allowing you to view your photos overlaid on Google Maps and Google Earth. So you can quickly and easily view your latest trip to Hawaii, for example, complete with a timeline animation that moves from photo to photo in the order you shot them.

I think it's worth mentioning that our track record for our schedule maintenance window , up to this point, has been pretty stellar. That doesn't excuse this morning - nothing does, and we'll take steps in the future to make sure this never happens.

Thanks again for your patience, and we'll continue to post more as we get it.

Don MacAskill
CEO, smugmug

I'm excited about the upgrade. Really excited. The new default theme looks pretty slick and feature-rich, and I'm even starting to want to create my own CSS for my galleries. (I'm sure that once this upgrade is in place, users will be able to create all kinds of styles, and hopefully submit them to a central database where everyone can use them.)

smugmug's getting some negative feedback due to their lack of foresight, and I hope that doesn't hurt them too badly. I hope it does, however, inspire them to establish systems for upgrades that don't require the site to be offline all day, and encourage them to give users--all users, not just people who've altered their stylesheets--a fair amount of warning before massive upgrades.

After all, shit happens.

My dreams are so transparent

I had lots of dreams last night that I found preferable to reality ;P One major event in my dream involved me getting a job from a woman who really needed an assistant; at first it seemed like it was going to be typical assistant stuff, but then she handed me a book called Pantone something (Pantones are standard colors used in design work), and it became obvious that I was going to be doing design work with her, too. I was so psyched.

I was also going to be starting classes at ASU the following week, and the lady--whose name was Gloria, obviously after one of the tracks on the H2 soundtrack--was very eager for me to continue my schoolwork and to arrange my work schedule to fit my school schedule. Gloria also told me to name my own salary, and she hinted at somewhere around $10/hr. (When I told Sean this in the dream, he said, "$5 is enough, really." :>)

There was a subplot involving me driving around some city--maybe New York, because I was near Central Perk/the Friends' characters' apartments, and I was finally figuring out where the two places were in relation to each other, which made me very happy. ;P Anyway, my cousin Carl was there, and so was my mom. Mom had her van, and Carl had a cute little orange car that I recognized. Apparently I had purchased the car at some point, but I had never taken it home with me from Kentucky, and now someone else seemed to be handling the payments. This made me feel bad, but at the same time I was thrilled because that meant I owned a new car.

Sci-fi silliness

MSN's got an article up entitled "10 Dumb Moments in Sci-Fi Cinema". I'd like to respond to some of the sniping!

There aren't a lot of good reasons to be a science fiction freak.

Sure, the genre gets respect, not to mention box office yield, but the poor innocent fans are still depicted as lifeless, dateless, and wearing Vulcan ears.

But, and we say this with love, sci-fi fans often deserve the reputation. Once people overhear some pale guy with wizard hair explaining how a light saber simply isn't possible, as the exposed plasma from the device would irradiate every living organism with a 5-kilometer radius, what are people supposed to think? "Sexy?"

Um...yes, actually.

(Although that's not my understanding of lightsaber physics...)

Did anything in "The Fifth Element" make sense? No. Did it kick ass? Yes.

Hey! It made sense...

No, really, it did! ;P

So, the same company that brings you the dark side of the force and the death star decides that tall, slow, off balance elephant thingies with laser beam-shooting tusks are the best way to ferret out the rebels from their underground fortress?

...okay, I'll give them that one.

Seriously, the list is pretty good, and funny:

"The Fly" was a movie with the world's easiest gimmick: Watch a guy turn into a fly. There should be more movies like this. Watch a guy turn into a lobster. Watch a guy turn into an oyster. This is what science is all about.

Yes. Yes it is!

More robots!

Japanese researchers say they have created a robotic skin that can sense temperature and pressure simultaneously.

The University of Tokyo scientists say their breakthrough has the potential to improve how robots will function in the real world.

And they add that there is no need to stop at simply imitating the functions of human skin.

"It will be possible in the near future to make an electronic skin that has functions that human skin lacks," the researchers write in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Future artificial skins could incorporate sensors not only for pressure and temperature, but also for light, humidity, strain or sound, they add.

I think it's Peanut Butter Jelly Time...

Go.

...

What with all the blogs crying out that Bush is being insensitive and evil for not seeing Cindy Sheehan, I assumed that he'd never spoken with her. But that's not the case at all! Not only that, but Sheehan originally stated:

"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting. "I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."

And now she's saying he was callous to her during their meeting.

What, exactly, is she trying to prove here? And why is she using her son's death to do it?

No wonder her husband filed for divorce...

He grieves

Newsweek: 'I'm So Sorry'

Unsatisfactory accomplishments

I just did a lot of chores.

I started with the usual dishes. I do those pretty much every day. Empty the dishwasher, load the dishwasher, wash stuff that can't go in the dishwasher.

When I was done with that and I'd set out the stuff I need to cook tonight's dinner, I decided to go ahead and deal with an issue that's been bugging me for several days: the laundry room/pantry needed to be swept and mopped out.

After the apartment guys took the washer and dryer we were renting, I discovered not only the expected dust and lint bunnies but also a lake of spilled liquid detergent that I had to scrub out by hand (I used paper towels). When I'd finally raked up the majority of the goop, I swept up what I could of the dust and then mopped the closet floor. After that I went ahead and mopped the kitchen floor too.

Then I decided to finally get the stupid laundry off the dining room table--as if doing that would somehow change the fact that my table is in chaos, pushed up against the wall so it's out of the way for moving in a new washer and dryer and covered with all the junk that had been sitting on the original washer and dryer.

So I put the laundry away, and then I sorted all the dirty laundry into three baskets, lights, whites, and darks, so that when the new washer and dryer arrive--or when we run out of clothes and I have to force myself to go to the coin laundry behind the building--I will at least be organized in advance.

Then I rearranged the junk on the dining room table and tried to convince myself that it looked better. And then I vacuumed the floor where the apartment guys had tracked dirt and lint.

I don't really feel a sense of accomplishment or happiness, probably because my dining room is still retarded and because none of this has solved the real problem in our lives, which is money.

Mildly amusing

Google "a house day", and my blog appears twice in the results, currently as number 6 and number 15. The phrase, adopted from my friend Brooke, does not seem to have caught on elsewhere with Brooke's meaning.

Robots help stroke patients regain movement

Robots!

Also in operation at the Baltimore Center is the "MIT-Manus" robot, which has been proven in clinical trials to help stroke patients regain movement of their arms.

During therapy, a stroke sufferer sits at a table with the patient's lower arm in a brace attached to the arm of the robot.

A video screen prompts the patient to perform an arm exercise such as connecting a series of dots or drawing hands on a clock. If movement does not occur, the robot moves the person's arm.

If the patient initiates movement, the robot provides adjustable levels of guidance and assistance to facilitate the person's arm movement.

In the first clinical trial of the robot, researchers found that stroke patients who used the machine four to five hours a week improved faster than those who did not receive robot-assisted therapy.

The research, carried out during the past decade, concluded that manual manipulation of a stroke victim's disabled limb aids recovery of use of that limb.

"There had been a great deal of intuitive belief that this works, but our research provided conclusive objective evidence," MIT professor Neville Hogan said.

How awesome is that?

Koizumi's approval rating keeps going up

In just a week, it's climbed from 46% to 51%. Of course, a lot has happened in that week.

People seem to like Koizumi's maverick actions. His postal reforms may actually stand a chance.

Deep-seated hostilities

It's been 60 years, and Japan keeps apologizing. That's not enough for most of Asia, it seems.

Today's Japan is not Hirohito's Japan, just as today's Germany is not Hitler's Germany. But the victims of Japan's World War II atrocities have long memories.

I think, too, that there is an aspect of jealousy at work--jealousy of Japan's highly favorable relationship with the U.S., of its economic successes in the past six decades. Maybe it doesn't seem to Japan's World War II victims that the country has suffered enough, due to how well the country is doing now.

With the anti-Japan propaganda that saturates the lives of people in many parts of Asia, I'm not sure if even the passing on of the people directly involved in the war will have any effect on tensions among the countries. I only hope we're not seeing the beginnings of a new Israel and Palestine.

Hilarious

Apparently the protesters outside President Bush's Texas ranch are inconveniencing the president's neighbors. One neighbor in particular decided to stage his own little demonstration.

Anti-war protesters outside President Bush's ranch here were startled Sunday by gunshots fired by a Texas rancher frustrated by the group's presence.

"Well, I'm getting ready for dove season," Larry Mattlage, 62, told reporters of the shots fired around 10 a.m. (noon EDT).

Funnier still, this guy used to be sympathetic to the protesters' cause.

Rickshaws deemed "inhumane"

Communist officials in Kolkata, India, are banning rickshaws.

"Westerners try to associate beggars and these rickshaws with Kolkata's tradition, but this is not our tradition," Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told reporters, adding that the ban would come into effect within five months.

Chinese traders introduced the hand-pulled rickshaw to Kolkata in the early 20th century and sinewy, barefoot men pulling the vehicles are still a common sight in the city.

They are in especially great demand during the monsoon when flooded streets make it hard for commuters to use taxis or cars.

China banned hand-pulled rickshaws after the communists took power in 1949 and Kolkata is one of the only places left in the world where such rickshaws are used as everyday transport.

The only place I have ever seen rickshaws is Japan: in Takayama, Nara, and Kyoto. The rickshaws were tourist attractions, and there were both bicycle rickshaws and hand-pulled rickshaws. I have a nice picture of a young man pulling two girls in a rickshaw (and totally flirting with them) in Kyoto from our honeymoon, but I haven't uploaded those pictures yet.

In any case, none of those were anyone's primary mode of transportation. They were similar to the horse-drawn carriages you'll find in American cities, like Louisville, Kentucky.

I think rickshaws are a unique part of Asian heritage. As I haven't seen them the way they are apparently used in Kolkata, I can't say whether or not the hand-pulled, public transportation variety is truly inhumane. I am glad, however, that rickshaws won't completely disappear from that city, but that officials plan to replace them with motorized and bicycle versions.

Japan Airlines safety concerns

In recent weeks JAL has come under more and more fire over safety issues. Here are a few of the problems that have appeared in the news:

On June 15, two front tires fell off a JAL plane as it landed in Haneda.

On July 23, a JAL Airbus A300 took off from Haneda with a known malfunction in one of its two air pressure regulators, only to make an emergency landing at Tokushima when the failing device caused oxygen masks to deploy in the cabin.

On July 24, fire and smoke were indicated by instruments on a JAL Boeing 747 on its way to Narita. The plane landed in Manila, but no traces of fire or smoke were found.

On August 11, a fiberglass panel fell from a JAL Boeing 777 that had just landed in Narita from Singapore.

On August 12, in the most damning incident of all, a JALways plane suffered engine trouble shortly after taking off from Fukuoka on its way to Honolulu. After one of its three engines burst into flames, the plane turned around and returned to Fukuoka. It has since been discovered that approximately 600 fragments of the plane were strewn across residential Fukuoka.

Japan Airlines Domestic Co convened an emergency news conference at Fukuoka Airport and apologized for the incident.

"We are very sorry as we have to report this incident to you just after we have vowed to ensure safe flights" on the 20th anniversary of the 1985 accident, said Haruyuki Egawa, head of the airline's Fukuoka Airport branch.

20 years ago, a JAL Boeing 747 crashed into Mount Osutakayama in Gunma Prefecture and killed 520 people. One op/ed piece published today revisits the crash and stresses, "Let there never be another major air disaster". This past Thursday, a group of bereaved family members called into question the official explanation for the cause of the crash, and demanded the release of survivor accounts. According to this group, the official explanation, that a poorly repaired bulkhead caused a change in air pressure that ripped off the airplane's tail, is not supported by witness accounts.

Off-duty JAL assistant purser Yumi Ochiai, who was 26 at the time and onboard as a passenger, was interviewed. The records show she was asked which direction the air flowed when the cabin air pressure decreased.

"There was no air flow," she answered on Aug. 27, 1985.

However, the transport ministry's panel had concluded that pressurized air from the cabin had flowed into the rear part of the fuselage through an opening in the pressure bulkhead partitioning caused by metal fatigue.

Whatever the truth is in this case, it is apparent that distrust for Japan Airlines is growing. Miya Tanaka writes in even more detail for Japan Today about JAL's continued problems this year alone, and further evidence of passenger distrust.

None of the problems and serious incidents has resulted in severe injuries to passengers, but JAL said they have started to affect its business, with cabin attendants also feeling a sense of distrust spreading among passengers.

Setsuko Onishi, 52, a JAL cabin attendant for 31 years, said there was a case in which a passenger warned a crew member that her voice was too quiet during safety checking procedures in the cabin.

Tanaka cites deregulation and overseas outsourcing as major issues in JAL safety.

To JAL's credit, there have not been any fatal accidents since the disaster in 1985. And the company is definitely being careful: it cancelled flights in July to repair small cracks found in components of two Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft which serve regional routes. However, given the numerous negative opinion pieces appearing lately, this record alone does not seem to be fostering passenger trust.

It's likely that the recent problems, especially the smaller incidents, are inflated in the minds of the public due to the anniversary of the accident. This is not entirely fair to JAL; however, it cannot be denied that there are issues that need to be addressed within the company.

[Cross-posted to Japundit]