things of a tuesday

-Tomorrow is my last day at work. This is scary. Also, I have way too much crap in my office. Some of it doesn't even belong to me, like Dick's Charlambides and Bardo Pond cds. But there are some things that must be preserved, like the coffee grinder and llama finger puppet.

-I bought this external hard drive (specifically, the red one, at 250GB). It really looks like a giant Lego. It worked well and fast, but the user documentation is crap. Seriously, tech companies of the world, hire a technical writer.

-The HR people at work recently created a group called "The Fun Club." Their mission is to plan fun things for us to do. So far that has consisted of "TV show lunchtime," when they show an episode of an old TV show in a conference room. Their selections so far: Bewitched and Charlie's Angels (episode: "Angels in Chains"). Maybe this series has secretly been curated by raynorgrace.

-I'm really glad that giant country in the north of Asia is called "Russia" again. When I was in grade school "Soviet Union" seemed so dull, like the name of a bank or a chemical company. "Russia," on the other hand, kindled ideas of a cold, hard country, furry hats and men doing that squatting kick dance and borscht. And what was with "USSR"? How does "Soviet Union" abbreviate to "USSR"? Ok, "USSR" is most of the letters in "Russia"...maybe they were into some avant garde word jumbling. Anyway, I'm glad its back to Russia.

who sells handmade cards in our fair city?

I need to send out some very tardy thank you cards to the kind people who wrote letters of recommendation for me for my MFA apps. They are brilliant and creative people, so I want to send them something handmade and out of the ordinary. In Boston I saw a few amazing letterpress cards in local gift shops, but for some reason neglected to buy them (probably I was distracted by a shiny object).

I haven't been able to find anything like that in our fair city. At least not the point of the geometric shape that is Ex-industrial Town. Does anyone know where I can get some?

i used to think his avatar was a picture of him in a college play

omg, dickumbrage is back! why am i always the last to know?

i cower before your blogging might, dickumbrage.

complaining about the complainers

In case you didn't know, last week we had several days in a row where the heat index got up to around 110 degrees. That is really fucking hot. Even at night, when it cooled down to 80 or so, the humidity rose to 85%. It was so hot during the day I felt dazed walking to my car from my office. I got mild heat exhaustion after running errands for an hour at lunchtime. It made me cranky (er, crankier), and when I experienced or was recovering from recently experiencing the heat, pretty much the only conversation my melted brain could put together was "mmmrrrmm fucking hot mrrrmm."

Yet every time it gets really hot, some jackhole writes a column in the paper complaining about how people keep talking about how hot it is. Like, "Oooh, look at all those idiots stating the obvious because their wee brains are so wee and feeble!" But I think it is YOU who are the idiot, Mr. or Ms. Columnist! We keep talking about how hot it is because it is the only thing we are thinking about. It's probably the only thing we are thinking about because most humans don't do very well running around in 110 degree heat, and our bodies are suffering and trying to tell us to find a cave or something and lie around until it cools off. Perhaps you lack this evolutionary instinct, and thus will die the next time you wander into the overheated world completely oblivious to the physical danger you face while you gab about Kierkegaard or hedge funds or whatever it is you deem suitable for conversation.

If you're going to complain about something, complain about the red teams.

suburb adventures

This is what a turn on my planned bike route in Sprawling Suburb - where I'm holed up with the 'rents until I leave for Boston in a couple weeks - looks like from a satellite. I did a modified version of this ride with my dad last night, and it took us through some lovely rural area with farm houses and small fields of some sort of late-summer crop (I'm thinking potatoes). That, and a new public library stuck in the middle of a field, cookie-cutter McMansion developments, and a lots of upturned dirt being prepared for building yet another housing development.

The combination (or, I guess, transition of) rural and suburban is fascinating, and it's warmed me a bit to Sprawling Suburb. I really want to start taking photos of it, and now I just have to get my ass outside with a camera in hand. The satellite photo of it is even great. I love the way those suburban neighborhoods look from the sky: like teeth? or a microscopic organism? or a deformed sprocket?

if you want to buy my car, you should not call my cell phone 18 times

because then I won't let you anywhere near my person or property.

not thinking about moving things

As of last Tuesday we are out of our house, having survived the moving out process. All of our stuff is in one of these guys in some warehouse, happily sitting around in a climate that is no higher than 75 degrees. It was all incredibly tiring and stressful, and if you want me to relate the trials and tribulations you'll have to provide me with at least one hearty serving of a delicious and refreshing alcoholic beverage. Barring that, let's talk about something else. Like commuting!

I've already discovered the (not surprising) suckitude of our region's public transportation. I thought I'd worked out a nice plan though: my dad works near the main bus transfer station in the big technology park, so he could drop me off there on his way to work. The bus I'd take goes straight from the main station to the station near where I work, taking only 15 minutes. Then I found out my dad is going to out of town for nearly the entire time I'd be making this commute.

I could use the park 'n' ride at the bus transfer station, but that might end up being more expensive than driving (15 mile trip driving vs. 6 miles driving and $3.20 for the round trip on the bus). But is it worth a little extra to do something good for the environment? And maybe save me the mind-numbing highway driving?