goption Brian's blog

Modern life

So, we've been busy, and were a couple of episodes behind in watching Desperate Housewives last week. Some time opened up, and I queued the first one up on the DVR, only to find it had been pre-empted by OBL coverage. What's to be done?

Last night, I downloaded the episode, and then had to figure out how to watch it on a TV — Carole doesn't like to watch on the computer. I wound up copying it to my Droid Incredible, and then hooked it up to the family room TV using the composite cable that plugs into the USB port. Very modern, right? (Although if we were truly modern I'd have the computer hooked up directly to an HDTV...)

A ship in harbor…

Alison Krauss on migraines

Part of the melancholy (Alison) Krauss draws from is a turbulent time in her own life, but equally present was a string of migraine headaches shortly after recording began. "Physically, I felt so badly, I couldn't tell what I was feeling..."

via Alison Krauss overcomes pain to fly with 'Paper Airplane' - latimes.com.

Mitch Hedberg Quotes

• My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana, I said "No, but I want a regular banana later, so, Yeah."
• The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I'll never be as good as a wall.
• I don't have a girlfriend. But I do know a woman who'd be mad at me for saying that.
• I got my hair highlighted, because I felt some strands were more important than others.
• ...and then at the end of the letter I like to write "P.S. - this is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated.
• I think pickles are cucumbers that sold out. They sold their soul to the devil, and the devil is dill...
• I use the word totally too much. I need to change it up and use a word that is different but has the same meaning. Mitch do you like submarine sandwhiches? All-encompassingly...
• I wrote my friend a letter with a highlighting pen, but he could not read it, he thought I was trying to show him certain parts of a piece of paper.
• I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. There's a large out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside.

via the walrus and the oyster: Mitch Quotes.

Haircut

I wouldn't normally write a post about a haircut, but I've been having so-so luck lately, with one notable exception.

I got my cut today from Val, who also cut my hair about six months ago. It turned out just about exactly the way I wanted. Carole said it "looked cute" when I got home.  I'm thinking it might be worth the extra charge to ask for Val in the future, right?

TIL that some post-it notes have semi-permanent coloring

The new blinds I installed above the kitchen sink needed to be shortened, and I marked the last slat to leave in with a dark pink, heart-shaped Post-It&tm; note. Somehow during the process the post-it fell into the left side of the sink without me noticing.

Carole came home from some errands and picked the note out of the wet sink and found a heart-shaped pink stain on the porcelain. It did not come out with normal cleaners, so she's soaking it with a bleach-based stain remover. My fingers are crossed — on both hands.

Moral of the story: don't drop post-it notes into a wet sink.

Finished the patio – mostly

I finally finished putting the new cover on the patio - mostly. The panels are on, so all that's left is some touch-up painting, reattaching the two electrical conduits, and trimming some of the foam padding.

I also replaced the rain bird next to the southeast corner of the house. The northeast corner has a gear-driven sprinkler head that works well, and they are a lot quieter than the traditional rain birds. The rain birds were too loud to run when Justin is sleeping, but the new ones will let me run them at any time. There's a nice period of calm around 4:00am that works well for watering.

There's a lot more to do, but no mandatory major projects are left. I have the option of resurfacing the drive-way, but we'll have to see about that.

Speedflying

This is really cool stuff.

Original video

How to Fold Bed Sheets (Without Ending Up with a Sloppy Mess)

How to Fold Bed Sheets (Without Ending Up with a Sloppy Mess).

6P

I saw my first California license plate beginning with '6P' yesterday, on the I-210 freeway in downtown Pasadena.  I have not seen a '6O' - I wonder if they avoid using the O as the first letter because it looks like a zero?

Temple City ranks high in list of state’s top towns

TEMPLE CITY - At first glance, Temple City - a little-known, nondescript suburb threaded through the endless grey flatlands of Los Angeles County satellite towns - may seem a surprising choice for inclusion in a national survey of top locations to raise your family.

Still trailed by the shadow of corruption that ripped through its city hall in 2009 - and still struggling to pull out of a chronic cycle of underdevelopment - the city's new leaders are making gains toward reinvention.

But in the meantime, through the worst of the recession, the community itself has hummed quietly along - a relatively affordable, safe place to live with top-ranking schools that still offers a shot at the battered American Dream.

This year, Bloomberg Businessweek.com took notice, making Temple City runner up to Rowland Heights, California's top location in its 2011 ranking of the country's best places to raise children, published in December.

via Temple City ranks high in list of state's top towns - Pasadena Star-News.

That’s cold…

We sold our upright freezer.

Moving family on a deadline

Not fun, but necessary.

Skin

I've been trying hard to catch up on my health-care responsibilities, and I went in to see Dr. Voron a couple of weeks ago to have him check on three spots that concerned me. He removed samples from a spot on my forehead, one on my lower right forearm (about halfway from wrist to elbow, posterior) and my left forearm (just below the crook of my elbow, also posterior).

The two forearm spots came back as basal cells, so we scheduled additional surgery to ensure an adequate margin of healthy cells. On the Monday before WFO we did the right forearm, and today, the Tuesday after WFO, we did the left forearm.

The afternoon of each surgery, and the day after, are a little painful. I dug out some serious pain meds from the cupboard, and was able to soldier on.

The spots itch, and it's annoying to have to cover them with Saran Wrap for showering, but it had to be done.