Archive: September 2003
« August 2003 | Main | October 2003 »
Monday - September 29, 2003
Campus Watch #1
I love the daily campus crime report. It seems like I can count on getting a good chuckle out of something some doofus has done at least two times a week. This appeared in today's report:
Leaving the Scene Collision
A UT student lost control of his red 1997 GMC Yukon and ran over a fire hydrant and a stone retaining wall on the northeast side of the Arno Nowotny Building, 709 East Martin Luther King Blvd. He then left the scene without leaving notice. The front license plate of the vehicle was left at the scene. Repair cost: $8,000.00. Occurred on 9-26-03 at 10:50 am.
Oh me, oh my. He left his front license plate at the scene. Heh heh heh.
Friday - September 26, 2003
Sign update
I drove past the old Bevos restaurant last night and saw that an update is in order. We have a new name. And, an updated sign:
I like how it's not re-centered. And, how the "s" isn't really in line with the rest of the text. By the by...beso is the Spanish word for kiss. Isn't that nice?
UPDATE on my update. I've been told that the owners have commissioned a set of pursed lips to balance out the sign. So...nevermind 'bout my comment on the centering issue.
Friday - September 19, 2003
Tsk tsk
Two or three months ago I was driving home along I-35 and noticed a sign for a new restaurant. It looked something like this:
I was rather surprised to see such a thing and wondered how they were getting away with using the name and longhorn logo. After all, UT is awfully picky about that logo. And, frankly, I couldn't imagine them giving someone permission to use it...along with the name of the UT mascot...on a restaurant that clearly wasn't affiliated with The University. I really wondered about it. And, every time I drove past it, I wondered anew.
Until about three weeks ago when I read in the student paper that UT had, in fact, come down on the owners with some sort of cease-and-desist letter. The quotes from the owners were very entertaining. They talked about how this is just a little family restaurant and they'd tried to find out if it would infringe on UT's copyright but they couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone at UT. (On that note, I'll just say that I went to Google and searched for the term "longhorn logo" and guess what's the first entry?...that page I've linked above...so I guess they didn't try all that hard.) There was also some amusing justification for the name...that it was sort of like the way you'd say "drink" in Italian. They claimed that, initially, they were going to open an Italian restaurant but ended up going with a more traditional and "home style" menu but they'd already decided on the name and didn't want to have to find something else. Oh, and, by the way, since the longhorn logo was in blue, rather than burnt orange, they really didn't see a problem. They weren't sure what was going to happen but they'd spent $20,000 on the sign and menus and what not and really couldn't fight the big bad mean university and [insert hand-wringing here]. Too funny.
I haven't heard anything else about it. But, I was driving home along I-35 again a couple of days ago (I usually only drive that route two or three times a month so this was my first "drive by" since I'd read the article) and saw that the sign had been changed. Now, it looks something like this:
So, now the question is, of course: does the new name infringe on the BeOS trademark? Heh heh.
Oh. And...argggghhhhh!!! Ahoy, matey. Etc. Etc.
Saturday - September 13, 2003
5 gallons
I stopped on my way to work yesterday morning to donate blood. I'm a regular donor. It's one of Mom's "things" and she can't donate at the moment so I made an extra effort to make sure I got in for her birthday. As it happened, it was my 5-gallon day. That means my accumulated donations come to 5 gallons. They gave me a nifty hat/lapel pin to commemorate the occasion. Cool.
Once more, with feeling: happy birthday, Mom!
Friday - September 12, 2003
Mom
Happy Birthday, Mom!!
Monday - September 8, 2003
To buy or not to buy
Oh...man!!! Now Apple's gone and done it.
I was perfectly happy telling myself that my 20 GB model was good enough. Its primary drawback is that it can't hold my entire library. I still have about 100 CDs that I haven't ripped 'cause I don't have the space. I suspect 30 GB can handle those CDs but wouldn't leave much room to spare. Since it wouldn't leave much room to grow as I added to my CD collection, I was relatively happy with my decision not to upgrade. I mean...really...the 30 GB model didn't have enough more there to warrant upgrading. And, now? The 40 GB model's got some fancier software and is actually smaller than my 20 GB model. But, the battery won't last as long and that's important to me. I play my iPod all day at work. Every day. It'll go nearly 10 hours on one charge. The newer models won't do that. They'll probably last somewhere between 7 and 8 hours. Oh...the pain. Now I have to decide. Is double the storage enough more to make it worth it to me? Is it?
Saturday - September 6, 2003
Unhappy spin cycle
So...here's the icky story for the day. I decided to do some laundry this evening. I opened the lid of the washer and caught the movement of something inside the tub out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was some sort of bug but it disappeared under the edge of the agitator before I had a chance to focus on it. I wasn't even sure I'd actually seen anything. It was just a flicker of movement. Maybe. Hmmm...what to do? Since I wasn't even sure I'd seen anything, I went ahead and turned the water on. Sure enough, after a couple of seconds, a little gecko-type critter about 2 inches long scurried out from under the agitator. I turned the water off as I tried to figure out how to get the critter out. And it quickly disappeared back under the agitator. Hmmm...
I decided if I added enough water, it would try to get away by going up the side of the tub. And then, at least I'd be able to see it. So, I turned the water back on. And, the tub slowly filled up to the point that the critter should've been seeking asylum on the side of the tub. Alas...no such luck. Then it occurred to me that it might be able to escape the water inside the agitator. So, I drained the tub. Still no critter. And, now the question was: could it have gone down the drain? That seemed extremely unlikely. Should I just do my laundry and not worry about it? I didn't really like that idea. I mean, the thing could end up squished in my jeans. And, then baked in the drier. Not a pleasant thought.
So, I turned the water on again. This time, I filled the tub with about 6 or 7 inches of water. Still no gecko-like critter. Back to the spin cycle to drain the water and start filling tub again. And, out floats a...sadly...dead critter. I scooped it up with a plastic cup and flushed it down the toilet. Ick.
I'd seen a bigger one earlier in the evening when I checked the mailbox outside the front door. It was about 5 or 6 inches long. And, it gave me a fright as it darted out from behind the junk mail reminding me of an almost identical incident a few years ago. I ended up grabbing a gecko by the tail as I picked up the mail one day. When I realized it wasn't a rubber band under my thumb...that it was a live gecko (!), I jumped back and dropped the mail. Sadly, I dropped it in the house (instead of tossing it away from me and out the door) and the startled gecko dove for cover under the TV stand. It took me about 30 minutes to capture it and send it back outside.
Back to this evening. I don't know what the little one was doing in the clothes washer. The washer is out in the garage, though, and it's easy enough for critters to get in there. I hope its little gecko friends learned their sad lesson and that they stay away in the future! Again I say, though: ick!
Wednesday - September 3, 2003
Football tickets
I had an entertaining email exchange with Steven on Friday. I meant to write about it at the time but forgot. I was just clearing out my inbox and noticed the messages so am sharing the exchange now. I sent him a note on Friday and asked as an aside if he was all ready for football season.
His reply: "I am ready for football season. My UT season tickets are in the horseshoe..."
I (ever the sympathetic friend) wrote by return email: "So...in another 20 or 30 years, you might be all the way to the 15 yard line, eh? :)"
To which Steven said: "Only if die and they spread my ashes there."
Heh heh.
Monday - September 1, 2003
Talking past each other
A conversation with my grandma.
First, though, a bit of background. My parents grew up in Magdalena, a very small town in New Mexico. The kind of town where everybody knows everybody else. They went all through school together. Their parents knew each other. They both went away after high school and then hooked up and got married. I never lived in Magdalena but spent many a summer vacation or Christmas break there with both sets of grandparents. Of the grandparents, only my dad's mom survives. And, she still lives there. My mom is the youngest, by far, of five children. I really don't know my oldest cousins on her side of the family at all. One of them, Tommy Gene, is probably at least 10 years older than I am. If he walked up to me wearing a name tag saying, "Hello, my name is Tommy Gene," it probably wouldn't occur to me that he was "my" Tommy Gene. I'd guess I was only about 10 years old the last time I saw him. Or 12, maybe. That's about 30 years ago and is just a guess. I really can't remember the last time I saw him.
Back to the conversation. I got home about 5 this evening and the phone rang about 5:30. Here's the conversation as best I can remember it. G is Grandma. J is me.
J: Hello.
G: Hi, it's me. I was hoping you'd be home.
J: Hi, Grandma! Always good to hear from you.
G: Well, I wanted to call you earlier but I had to be sure about the news and I didn't know if you'd be home. Tommy Gene had a massive heart attack this morning.
J: That's terrible. Where was he?
G: At home in Socorro.
J: I didn't know he was living in Socorro.
G: Oh, yes. He has been since he married <insert name I can't remember>.
J: Huh. I didn't even know he'd gotten remarried.
G: Yes. You remember, he married <insert name I can't remember>, Carlotta's daughter. I heard this morning that he'd had a heart attack but wasn't sure so I waited to call you until I knew for sure. Mercy called to check and it's true. So, I sent an email to your parents and then called you.
J: So, I guess you called Ginger and Roger?
G: Well, I'm sure Ginger knows since she's there with Mercy. I haven't called Roger yet.
J: So, is Tommy Gene in the hospital in Socorro? Or in Albuquerque?
G: Neither.
J: Neither? He can't be at home after a massive heart attack, can he?
G: No. He died.
J: Oh my gosh! That's terrible.
G: Yes. I don't know any of the arrangements yet or anything. I can't remember if he had any other family.
J: Well, of course, there's Tommy Roy. [Ed. note: Tommy Gene's son.]
G: Oh yes...of course.
J: So, how's Vera? [Ed. note: Tommy Gene's mother.]
G: I don't know. I ran into her outside the grocery store on Saturday but we didn't talk much. She was coming out and I was going in.
At this point, the conversation went off onto other topics. But, then, as we were getting ready to hang up, I came back to the subject of my cousin.
J: Well, I guess I'll send a note to Vera. I'm sure she's very upset about everything.
G: Vera? Why would you send her a note? Wait a minute! Did you think I was talking about Tommy Gene?
J: Well, yes.
G: No! I was talking about Tommy GREEN.
J: Who's Tommy Green? I don't know any Tommy Green.
G: I told you who he was. He was married to <insert name I can't remember>, Carlotta's daughter. [Ed. note: I believe Carlotta might be one of my father's cousins which would make the person who's name I can't remember (although it might be Stella) my second cousin.]
J: Well, geesh. I thought you were talking about Tommy Gene.
G: (starting to laugh) I wondered why you were asking about Vera!
J: (also laughing) Well, it was the logical person to ask about since her son had just died! And, I also mentioned Tommy Roy and you didn't say anything about that.
G: I don't remember that! Gosh, it's a good thing you mentioned him again before we hung up. That would have been terrible if you'd thought Tommy Gene was dead.
J: Indeed.
G: So, you don't even know who Tommy Green was? I thought you'd remember him.
J: Nope, Grandma. I have no idea who that was. Sorry.
We chatted for a few more minutes and then signed off. Too funny. Well, not to Tommy Green's family, I'm sure. But, this is typical for me and Grandma. There was a time, when I was in college and for a couple of years just after I got out, that every time I'd go visit her, someone in my father's extended family had died and I'd end up going to a funeral with her. It became somewhat of a joke for us. And, now she frequently calls to tell me when someone else has died. And, in general, I don't have any idea who she's talking about. In her mind, I grew up in Magdalena and know all of these people. But, really, I only visited. And, when I did, I really didn't hang out with anyone that wasn't a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or first cousin. Ah well...