December 10, 2002
So, apparently, there's this club devoted to the growing of Handlebar Moustaches. Guess what? They've got a photo galltery. I just have to say that some of those men have very scary amounts of hair growing off their faces. Repeat. Scary. Amounts. Of. Hair.
December 7, 2002
We can all rest easy now. It has been mathematically proven that criss-crossing your shoe laces is the best way to lace your shoes. Whew. Don't you feel better knowing it's been proven? I know I do.
And, on a completely unrelated note...candidate for most entertaining subject line on a piece of email SPAM: "Discrete Extramarital Dating." Uh-huh. Okay. Just what I've been looking for. 'Gotta love the idea that anyone actually targets SPAM, eh?
November 21, 2002
I had some errands to run after work tonight and knew I'd be getting home late so
I pulled through the BK drive-thru. Yes...I know. But, it's quick and I can eat
on the road rather than wait until after 8. And, I only allow myself one or two
"drive-thrus" a month. Add the fact that I didn't have to come up with something
to cook when I got home and it was a no-brainer.
Anyway, I got my Whopper Jr., small fries, and Coke (no ice, thankyouverymuch) and pulled away. As I waited for a break in traffic, I reached into the bag and pulled out a couple of packets of ketchup. Back into the bag for a couple more. Ummm...that seems a little excessive for a small bag o' fries, doesn't it? Okay. Whatever. So, back into the bag and...even more packets of ketchup. Geesh...do I look like some sort of ketchup freak? More and more packets came out until there were 10 packets next to the bag. 10. Yikes! That's a picture of 'em. Count 'em. 10 packets. I exaggerate not!
November 11, 2002
Back to the new car...two things that are surprising and/or interesting about it.
First, it's got an automatic transmission. This is the first car I've ever owned with an automatic transmission. My fifth car since 1980 and no stick! I didn't know if I'd like it or not. I don't feel like I've got as much control without the stick but I'm getting used to it. I never reach for the clutch but there have been several times that I've backed into the garage, shut the car off, and been unable to take the key out. Why? 'Cause I didn't think to put the transmission into the Park position. It seems that having the car in Reverse should be enough. I mean...it has been enough for the past 22 years!
The second thing is the speedometer. Look at it. Notice the maximum speed? Isn't that a hoot? 140 mph? Puh-lease. I will, of course, never get the chance to test that maximum. It makes me laugh, though, which is a very good thing.
October 30, 2002
So...I'm quoted in the school paper again today. The online version of the article is rather garbled. I sent a note to the webmaster about it. It'll be interesting to see if they fix it or not.
Anyway, I think the quotes are pretty accurate. There have been times in the past when something I said was printed without any context and I felt a bit uncomfortable about it. While talking to the reporter, I stressed that my words were my own and that I was not speaking for the Staff Council. I'm not sure that's too terribly clear in the article, though. Oh well.
October 15, 2002
'Took a picture of Emily the other day showing off her lack of teeth. Too funny, eh?
October 8, 2002
Overheard as I walked past a conference room a few minutes ago:
"I meet with you guys one or one-and-a-half times a week."
Here's what I want to know: how does one meet half a time? How does one measure half a time? Or...maybe...you keep one eye closed throughout the course of the meeting? Heh heh.
October 2, 2002
So...the esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed an ulcer (possibly a duodenal ulcer?) and the colonoscopy showed diverticulitis. So, is the ulcer a result of the bacterial infection? Where'd the infection come from? Regardless, things should be much improved now that diagnoses are in and treatement can begin. At least, that's my fervent hope. 'Love you, Mom.
October 1, 2002
I made it to Arlington this weekend! No car crashes...no need for rescue from the little sister...just a normal trip. Got to see Pete and Melissa's new house (very nice) and have a slumber party with Emily. 'Then helped set up the swim party and snapped a few photos before high-tailing it back home. On the way home, I decided to stop and check out the scene of the accident. There were 4 or 5 sets of really good skid marks. Oddly enough, none of them seemed to be mine. As near as I can tell, I must've travelled between 3 and 4 tenths of a mile (probably a little closer to 4 than 3) from the time the tread flew off the tire and the end of the ride. 70 mph to zero mph in that distance translates to how many seconds? Maybe 10 or 15? It really is amazing that nobody hit me...that everyone managed to come to a stop. I'm feeling really lucky all over again.
September 26, 2002
So, I bought an iPod a day or two after the new (larger hard drive) models were announced. As soon as I ordered it, I started ripping my CD collection onto my iMac's hard drive so I'd have plenty of songs to transfer to the iPod once it arrived. I think I had about 1,300 songs ready on that day. It's been great fun hearing songs and artists I hadn't thought about in years because their CDs were gathering dust while I'd listen to, for the most part, CDs I'd purchased within the last year. That's all changed. I've now got about 4,800 songs on my iPod. Way cool. I had it spinning a couple of days ago and heard "Lines Around Your Eyes" by Lucinda Williams. Man...I just love that song. And, I proabably hadn't heard or thought about it in at least 4 years. 'Love my iPod! I heartily recommend getting one.
. . . . .
And on a completely unrelated note...
Overheard as I walked into my building this morning:
"We really just need to police each other."
This, from a couple of girls...probably 18 or 19 years old. And, that's all I heard. 'Wonder what they're up to that needs policing? Hmmm...
September 18, 2002
Ummm...oh yeah...the new car! I did everything you're not supposed to do. I walked in, took the first one I saw for a test drive, and said I'd take it. I got approved at the credit union at 5.75%. The dealer, not knowing that, offered 6.25%. After hearing about my pre-approval, he came back with 4.9%. And, they'd knocked another $500 off the total cost of the car so I jumped. 'Got pictures posted for you. Purty. Purty. Purty. And, fun to drive, too!
September 11, 2002
I still hadn't heard anything from the insurance company (I was supposed to hear back within 24-48 hours and it had been about 52) so I gave them a call after lunch. I was put on hold. So, I hung up and called back a little before 5. Here's how the conversation went (S - Stephany, J - me):
S: How may I help you?
J: I'm calling to check on a claim.
S: What's the claim number?
J: <Insert claim number.>
S: Hold on... <10 seconds pass.> So, it's a total loss?
J: I don't know. I haven't heard anything. That's why I'm calling.
S: Oh. It's a total loss.
J: Okayyyy....
S: So, now we'll be transferring your claim to the total loss department. And, I'll try to answer any questions you have. If you don't hear from the total loss department within 24 hours, you should give them a call.
J: Okay.
S: So, do you have any questions?
J: Well...I don't suppose you can estimate how much money I'll be getting?
S: No. That'll come from the total loss department.
J: Okay, then. I guess I don't have any questions. Thanks.
So, it's a total loss. I guess it's safe to go shopping for
some new wheels.
September 8, 2002
I was in a rather spectacular car accident yesterday. 'Prompted me to create a new Notebook entry. I'm fine. No...really. I am. You've seen the news magazine stores about the Ford Explorer/Firestone Tire tread-separation roll-over accidents, right? Well...I own a 1993 Ford Explorer. I'd replaced the Firestone tires that came with my Explorer about 4 or 5 years ago...a couple of years before the accidents started hitting the news. I've read about other tires doing the same thing, though. That's what happened to me yesterday. Go on...go read about it.
And, what about the redesign? Well, I'd started working on it last week. 'Seems like a good time to go ahead and debut the thing. I decided to switch to CSS for layout control. If anything looks odd, please give me a shout out. Thanks. I'll gradually be converting the rest of the stuff 'round here to CSS as well. That might take awhile, though.
June 20, 2002
Those Longhorns are amazing, eh? 'Makes me wish I had time to do something about my Baseball Page. Alas...no time. They're the best team in the nation right now. Okay...I haven't actually seen all that many teams. But, I saw a lot of "quality" teams in Arlington for the Big 12 Tourney, and here in Austin for the Regional and Super Regional. I saw 20 games (first pitch to last) in those last three weeks before the CWS started. And, UT out-shone all the other teams. They're just a notch above...sometimes 2 or 3 notches. UT does all the right things every time. Someone told me they're lucky. Nope. They make their luck by doing the right things every time. The pitcher runs full-speed to back up the first baseman every time a ball gets hit toward second. Every time. Other teams only seem to do that 50% of the time. And, none of them hussle as much as the Texas pitchers when they do it. That's just one tiny example. These guys are for real. Hook 'em!
November - 2001
My email address at work (the one I use for 90% of my email correspondence) was the target of an email worm over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It was a rather traumatic experience. You can read about it on my work website if you're interested. Things have calmed down, now. Thankfully.
joanna@joanna.org
URL: http://www.joanna.org/archive/Nov2001-Dec2002.html
Last updated: August 15, 2003