Saturday, March 15, 2003

Soo Uninspired


Aint there a song called "Uninspired"? Bleh.. too uninspired to find oot.


On the rotation

Earth, Wind and Fire - September
And by the same group - Boogie Wonderland and Lets Groove Tonight

Funk for the blues.


JPennant: *bleh*
JPennant: <-- feeling uninspired
McClint: i know what ya mean. last weekend was the first time in months I actually felt like getting off my ass and doing something productive
JPennant: yeah.. just a *bleh* feeling, right?
McClint: yeah

Bleh.

julez: still no new pictures on your site :-) *twiddle*
JPennant: *grump* back off, woman :-P
julez: if you get to nag me... ;-)
JPennant: feelin uninspired
julez: bummer
JPennant: actually, I think thats what I'll post..
JPennant: My brain fries if I process more than 10 images in a row
julez: hehehe
julez: wouldn't want your brain to fry
JPennant: eh, no sense calling the fire department when the house has already burnt to the ground
julez: awww don't say that
JPennant: *woosh*
JPennant: I realized what it was
JPennant: Im not telling stories anymore
JPennant: doesnt tie into the images
JPennant: Im caring more on how the images look instead of a sense of place
julez: nod
julez: you enjoyed tying it to a sense of place
JPennant: yup
julez: i think your readers enjoyed that too
JPennant: yah. *bleh*
JPennant: <--- strums on country guitar.. "Now its all gone, my sense of place is allll gone.." (cue howling hound dog)
julez: hehehehehe
julez: your new avocation :-)
JPennant: <-- *twangs*

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Waait a minnit.. I havent been going out for coffee and donuts in the morn, cuz its too far!

Damn, I KNEW coffee and donuts were essential to creativity and general well being...



---
Ok, fine. Pictures.
What did I do? Oh yeah, I went shopping the other day...

I went to the Berkeley Discount Outlet.. here is stuff I didnt buy







Couldnt justify buying spam, not even with..*sniff*.. cheese in it.




Corn Flakes? I actually love corn flakes, but nah.

Didnt buy much of anything else.. milk, cheese, bread.. thats was pretty much it.

The San Francisco supermarkets are anything but cheap, compared to the midwest and most of the east.

As with gas prices, I do believe there is a fair amount of ongoing gouging going on.

(Over the years reported cases of price gouging and profiteering in the western states are quickly settled with a fine and its business as usual.
I only know this cuz I used to read the Wall Street Journal. Funny how this stuff rarely gets into the main papers..)

With the gas shock.. check this out..

3/2/2003




and 3/7/2003




No wonder Im feeling this guy.




Oh yeah, where was I? Shopping. Ok.

Freaked out by the prospect of living at the mercy of the Safeway's, Andronico's, Whole Earth Foods and its ilk.. I sought the advice of the CASH-STRAPPED locals who all said "Go to Berekeley Bowl, honey! It's got the BEST produce. And the cheapest bulk foods."

Aha. What I wanted to hear.

SO, now - when all I have is a fiver to my name.. I go to the Berkeley Bowl.. and this is sorta what its like..
















And the produce is indeed good and indeed reasonable.

Pity I dont eat much produce.






Oh yeah, and the customers more often than not look like this..




And the cashiers?







Oh yeah.. and Costco

Reality check: Unless youre running a business and buying in bulk - Costco is no cheaper than your average supermarket. At least the West Coast Costco's stock stuff like this..







Mochi ice cream.




Sun hepped me unto these sublime ice-cream balls covered in rice-paper back in New York, but I could never find 'em as she couldnt remember the name or where the market she went to was in Chinatown .
And I sure as hell couldnt find it in the warrens of Chinatown.

Costco.. wasnt cheap. 9 bucks for ice cream, y'all.

But, damned fool am I .. I bought it.




Sublime.

Sun recommended the green tea flavor, which is surprisingly good, and the red-bean flavor tastes like strawberries.. but oh man - gimme the mango flavor any time.

Next time, I'll try to find it at Ranch99.


So, yeah, shopping.


"It Just Works"

Me: Ok, so are all the files on the hard drive copied to the external drive?
Mac: Yessir.
Me: Are all the backup of the backup of all the files on the hard drive copied?
Mac: Yessir.
Me: Ok, Im gonna wipe the original drive now.
Mac: Yessir.

Later

Me: Ok, Im restoring all the files.. where are the files that were on the desktop?
Mac: Oh. You wanted to copy those too?
Me: Yes. All the files that were on the hard drive.
Mac: Those werent copied sir.
Me: Werent those files on the hard drive too?
Mac: Yes. But those werent copied.
Me: *strangled noise* ...rrrrrrr! Ok. Fine. Show me the desktop folder, so I can search for the files myself.
Mac: Im sorry sir. That folder is invisible. I cant allow you to see that.
Me: You mean, I can see it over a network, but I cant look at it on the machine in front of me???
Mac: Yessir. The government can dial into your machine and see all the files you have,even the invisible system ones but Im not allowed to let you see, touch or modify those.
Me: So the files on the desktop werent copied, and are all gone now.
Mac: Yessir.

You tell me... the Mac - "quirkiness" or "incompetence"?

Its no wonder the Mac was brought into this world by Californians and a Frenchman.

---------------------------
JPennant: There are times I want to strangle Steve Jobs
McClint: everyone says that. why you?
JPennant: If I want to copy everything on a mac drive.. I select everything and drop it onto a another drive, right?
McClint: define "everything"
JPennant: every single effing file
McClint: generally yes. but there are a few invisible files on the root of the HD, and dont forget the Desktop
JPennant: which of course, isnt copied
McClint: what are you trying to do?
JPennant: back up a drive
McClint: OS 9, right?
JPennant: yup
McClint: internal HD to an external?
JPennant: yup
McClint: well what isn't getting copied that you want copied?
JPennant: all the files that were on the desktop
JPennant: And I went ahead and wiped and redid the internal drive
JPennant: I even have the invisible files that were in the root of the drive. Even THOSE got copied over. But not the invisible DESKTOP files.
McClint: ahhh. well if you wanted to do that kind of "backup" all you have to do is drag the internal HD icon into the external HD window. then it will copy 100% of the files on that drive
McClint: when you just select the folder inside the HD window, those are the only things you're selecting
JPennant: so the desktop files are are gone eh
McClint: yep
JPennant: jesus
JPennant: This guys work for the last 3 years is gone, cuz he put them all on his desktop
JPennant: we thought they were backed up
McClint: that's just bad practice anyway because problems can actualyl creep up if you have too many files in the Desktop Folder
JPennant: Yeah, I told him that. But its my fault for not telling him to specifically back up all the files on the desktop too.
JPennant: I wanna strangle Steve Jpobs
McClint: hahahah
McClint: let me guess.... he never made any copies on disk?
JPennant: All on the desktop so he could get to them
JPennant: Im gonna try disk rescue
McClint: i jump down the throat of teachers at ***** who put ALL their stuff on the desktop
McClint: heck... i jump down their throats if they have more than 15 things on the desktop
JPennant: Oh yeah, I tried running disk rescue
JPennant: not everything
JPennant: but a lot of things
McClint: even if you were to run norton unerase, you're too late because my money says you already overwrote the sectors on the disk where those files used to be
JPennant: yeah.
McClint: when I accdently erased my hard drive and lost all the digital pix i took with my camera, I ran norton unerase and managed to recover a shitload of software but only 5 pictures
JPennant: oy. I feel sick
McClint: dont beat yourself up though, I've actually done the same thing you did before a couple times
McClint: if anything it will teach the user PROPER use of the computer
JPennant: yeah


Oy, I feel sick. On my Mac, and other people's Macs.

Here, Im writing on a Dell that is literally falling to pieces, and is still running strong.

You tell me..

"It just works".

Jesus Christ.

Monday, March 10, 2003

Heehee.

Life in New York, via The Best of NY's Craigslist. Thanks, Manuel.. :-)

My favorites so far..


I Drive a Crappy Car (Why do you keep breaking in?)


Dear George (I thought you loved me)

Flirting on the "F" train - Was it love or did you give me the finger?

Mr Screaming Snow Shovelling Chinese Man - Call Me

We Missed Each Other At The Empire State Building

Love on the L Train

Enemies Wanted, References required.

Oh, and the zen-like perfection of Please Everyone, stop sleeping with my ex-girlfriend..



Oh man, these should be Country Songs.

Order today!

Addicted to The Game of Life

Even tho I havent played Chess seriously in over a decade, the thrill of combat never fades.
Im still addicted to it.

.
But.

Frankly, my game sucks now.
My Old Person's Brain(tm) cant keep up with the mental demands of being able to think 10 moves ahead , so I dont even try.

I gotta tell you, the Berkeley folk can PLAY.. no shit. Sneaky mofo's too. You'll be coasting along and all of a sudden theyve got Piece Advantage over yo ass, threatening to leave you with That Look On Your Face(tm).

But, I havent lost any games as yet, save the first one I played.

Why?

Apparently, being older isnt such a disadvantage.

I dont have to think 10 moves ahead anymore. Eh, 2 moves ahead can do just fine, if I dont freak out when things dont go my way.

Cool. Thats the advantage of being a little bit older and deeper in debt.

Oh, and the fact that - I. Dont. Like. To. Lose.

Heehee. I take secret pleasure in watching the facades of Cali passive-aggressives crack as they get increasingly pissed when they keep losing games theyve calculated they shouldve won.

You know, they get terse and short with ya.. instead of being so so so reasonable. Hee hee.

I especially love it when they react with shock as I go walkabout with my King, ostensibly the most vulnerable piece on the board, and BEAT them senseless with it.

Well, shit - do I LOOK like a walking p****? Im not about to roll over even when Im down.

So what if my game sucks... I. Hate. To. Lose.

Yup, the game of life.
-------
Zen-like cliche's learned from The Game Closest to Life

- Play the player, not the board.

- Its about Time and Distance.

- Force hard choices, choose, then make the best of the consequences..

- Its not always about how many pieces you have, you can still win or lose.

- Be prepared to lose, but expect to win.


Zen. A universe of enlightenment in one small statement.

Heh. Comes in handy playing the game of life, or playing Total Annihilation. *kekekeke*

Books could be written on each of those.
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