BP spills coffee

well that was quite the thursday

My day was mostly centered around work. For various reasons, I decided to work a longer day than usual, so I got to work at 6:30am. The day went by mostly quickly, so that was good. I make it a habit to not really talk about work on here, so that's where I'll leave that. I wanted to stay until 6pm, but I could only stay until about 5:30 before I was burnt out.

During the day, we got this spicy piece of news: Colorado accepted an offer into the PAC-10. In case you aren't keeping up or haven't heard, the Big 12 conference is falling apart. The Big 10 wants Nebraska and maybe Missouri. The Pac 10 is trying to make a move on 6 other Big 12 teams: Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Poor teams like Kansas, Baylor, Kansas State, and Iowa State are going to get left out in the cold, and will probably have to join a minor conference such as the Mountain West or something. We might hear news as soon as today about other teams accepting the bid into the Pac 10 conference. That would mean that we would be in the same conference as USC, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, among other teams. Some good academics there, and some good football programs there, too. Speaking of USC, do you remember that whole Reggie Bush scandal from 4 years ago? Well the NCAA finally punished USC, and did they ever. USC cannot partake in postseason games for 2 years. That's right, folks. For the next two years, USC is forbidden from going to any bowl game. Serves them right for running a corrupt athletics program. Sucks for the current recruits, but they should have thought about that possibility before making a decision on a university.

I got home and messed around a little bit with FF7 and my bass. When Andy got home, I taught him some motorcycle basics for an hour. The first part is always the most stressful for a new rider, because you are trying to get used to using a manual on a motorcycle, and you're afraid of doing something that will cause you to fly or fall off. Once he got the hang of the friction zone and getting up to speed, we practiced getting your feet up on the pegs, second gear, third gear, braking, and turning. He picked it up pretty quick, but it's actually not as hard as you'd think. If you know how to ride a bicycle, you'll know how to ride a motorcycle. The only "hard" part of a motorcycle is learning the muscle memory of shifting with the left side of your body, and braking with the right side. I think he had a good time.

Lookin' good, sir!

Once done with our little training session, I got in my car and went to Taylor's. "But wait!" I thought. "I'm hungry, I should get some Wendy's!" What a mistake that turned out to be. I was in a left turn lane (no light at this intersection), waiting to turn left because of oncoming traffic. Some guy trying to turn left onto Braker apparently didn't see me, and just drove STRAIGHT INTO ME. That's right, someone drove straight into a car that wasn't moving. Apparently if your car isn't moving, it is invisible to some people. Here is a little diagram to better explain what happened. Red is me and what I wanted to do, blue is them and what they did (click for a slightly larger version).

Obviously those cars in the satellite photo are irrelevant. So I am the red box, politely waiting to make a left into Wendy's. I was debating between a Spicy Chicken Sandwich, a Grilled Chicken Sandwich, and their Bacon 'n' Blue, which was pretty good last time I had it. Before I knew it, Mr. Blue Box was pulling out of that driveway. When I first saw him, I thought he was being a dick and was just going to cut across me, even though he didn't have the right of way. Then I noticed he was cutting too close to me, instead of out in front of me. Then I noticed he was literally driving right into me. I honked, and he hit me. It was pretty marvelous.

I wasn't upset at all when it first happened, I thought it was both stupid and funny, and in fact I was laughing when I got out of my car. The other guy was throwing a really awkward temper tantrum in the middle of the road, obviously really upset at the fact that he's a complete moron. I calmed him down a bit, and we went back into the parking lot where he originated. We exchanged insurance information, and then it occurred to me that this guy could lie his ass off to the insurance company, and without witnesses, it would just be my word against his. I thought about how ridiculous it would be if the insurance companies couldn't find blame, without witnesses. How shitty would that be? I'm sitting there, waiting to make a left, and some dude drives straight into me out of no where. Then, because he could have lied to the insurance company about his story, it would be a push and my rates would go up. That would be some bullshit right there. So I decided that we needed to call the cops. I had Taylor head over and call them over on her way, because this guy was clearly a bit unstable. He was a pretty big guy, probably 6'3", maybe around 250 pounds, but big as in fat. Now that I think about it, he might have only been like 17 or 18, hence how immature and retarded he was acting. Anyways, I decided that he would go apeshit if I called the cops in front of him, so I had Taylor do it, and while she was heading over, I told him that I was going to get the cops involved so they could assess the situation and get an official police report. That's when things got a bit more tense. He clearly didn't like that idea because he was worried about getting a ticket, and probably realizing that he was gonna get screwed by his insurance when they find out how terrible he is at driving. So he started going on about how it was my fault for being "in the middle of the road" and how he was going to tell them that it wasn't his fault. Yeah, good luck with that one, man.

The police came, I told my story to one of them and he told his story to the partner. It didn't take long for me, and they were still discussing something over with Mr. Douche Nozzle, so we just started chit chatting with the officer. He was actually one of the coolest cops I've dealt with. He was crackin' some funny jokes, telling us some stories, and we even took the time to ask a few unrelated questions that he offered to answer. After about a half hour, they told me that they cited him for "failing to yield right of way from private driveway." Hallelujah! I'm not out of the woods yet, but I think that strongly solidifies my case with the insurance companies. I'm pretty sure there won't be any question about who is at fault because he was cited for a violation. I just called his insurance, and now I'm awaiting the rest to unfold.  As always, click to enlarge:

My poor, innocent bumper

Moron's car

what the hula hoop

The new iPhone is here!

Details can be found here

Basically, here are the major selling points:

• New, more powerful A4 processor
• Crazy-high resolution screen
• New form-factor (stainless steel edges used as an antenna to improve signal)
• Support for wireless N
• iPhone 4 OS, which includes a type of multitasking, among other things

I expected I'd get this phone, but I didn't expect that I'd get it around its release date, June 24.  Why?  I am only one year into my two year contract.  However, Apple and AT&T are offering "early" upgrades for anyone eligible for an upgrade in 2010, which I am (in September).  I'm not a big fan of Apple or AT&T, but the truth is that there isn't a smartphone out there as good as the iPhone... yet.  I'm hoping the Android phones catch up, and they seem to be, but it probably won't be for another couple years until they are strong competition.

Why do I want this phone?  Well, that's a silly question; it's a nice-ass phone!  Do I need this phone?  No, I don't need it.  However, if there is one thing I use all the time (that isn't my computer), it's my iPhone.  My iPhone is the 3G model, which is now two generations old (the new one is the iPhone 4, and last year's was the iPhone 3GS). It is running an older processor which already bogs down sometimes when doing different things.  Also, it won't get all the features that are being rolled out by the new iPhone 4 OS update.  Since I'm not really paying extra for an "early" upgrade (well, technically $18), I figure I might as well just do it now, instead of September.  I use my phone a lot, and enough in my opinion to justify $199 for a much improved version (speed and otherwise).  I'm not thrilled about being locked to AT&T for another two years, but if I end up hating them that bad in the next year or so, I will just pay the early termination fee and leave.

What does that mean to you?  Nothing, unless you want an old iPhone 3G!  If you already have an AT&T plan, it might only cost you an extra $15 a month for their cheap data plan to switch to an iPhone.  I don't think you'd have to make any other changes, but I'm not an AT&T rep so I don't know for sure.  If you're interested in my old iPhone, let me know, since there isn't much else I can do with it.

New way of sharing links

As you know, I like to share links to all sorts of things: news articles, youtube videos, funny pictures, etc. Well in light of that, I have added a little box to the right that will have my shared links from Google Reader.

I use Google Reader to aggregate all the sites I check regularly (food, news, tech, culture) into one easy-to-check view. In fact right now I have 44 sites that I'm subscribed to, and that's how I'm able to keep up with all the happenings in the world (or more correctly, just the things I care about). If you're interested in more info about Google Reader, leave a comment and I'll help you set it up. Right now I scan through literally 500-1000 headlines per day, expand the headlines that spark my interest into full articles, and then obviously read those. It's actually really nice, and will broaden your internet-horizons.

As an added bonus, Google Reader can follow your favorite blogs, like mine!

Cliff notes: don't forget to look at my shared links to the right

Here is a little screenshot of mine, in case you want to know what a fully-stocked Reader looks like (click for full-size):

some unfortunate pictures of birds caught in the oil mess

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

Just sad, isn't it?

let's get our blog on!

So what's up, Habibi? Man I don't know, I don't feel like so much happened the past week. Most if it consisted of a long Memorial Day weekend (4 days!), and I can't say I accomplished much.

I started riding my bike more seriously, that's one thing of note. Timewise, I might have actually ridden my motorcycle more than I drove my car last weekend. Unfortunately, the inspection sticker is expired and I haven't taken care of that, yet. I also played a whole helluva lot of Final Fantasy 7, the best game of all time (maybe), for the original Playstation. Man, what a good game, even if it's 10 years old and has crappy graphics.

Saturday night, Justin, Andy, and I went to meet up with a few of Justin's friends for a short while. I played some pool against Andy, and I think I came out 2-1. But really, it should have been 1-2 but Andy scratched on the 8 ball in one of those games. Suckaaaa! We went back to the house and had some people over for shananigans.

On Sunday, all I really remember is that we grilled some food. I had chicken, Justin had hotdogs, and Travis, Taylor, and Andy had steak. I grilled some asparagus which was partially fail (some parts were undercooked), but overall it was yummy. Chicken tenders are so much easier to cook than steak. With all the variables of our charcoal grill (heat from the charcoal, type of steaks, covered or uncovered), I can never get a steak exactly how I want it. I learned this method for cooking steak in an oven w/ a cast iron skillet, and that has actually worked pretty well for me because it removes a lot of the variables. My cast iron skillet rusted, though, so I should invest in a new one.

Monday... what happened Monday?  I think maybe some laundry.

So you know how I play kickball on Wednesdays? Well maybe not, but I do. We ended the season 4-3, and unfortunately didn't make the playoffs. No matter though, we have now signed up for the summer season of both kickball AND softball! Softball will be on Thursdays, starting next week, and kickball will be on Wednesdays, starting the following week. Here's to a good tan this summer.

In other news, Maverick is still scratching himself, but I have a dilemma: I'm not sure if maybe he's scratching a normal amount but now I'm just way more observant of it (so it seems like it's worse than it is), or if he's actually scratching himself an excessive amount. I took him to the vet to have them take a look, and that exam costed $50. All she did was prescribe benadryl for dogs, but at least I found out that he doesn't have any signs of fleas or worms. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like the benadryl is helping, but maybe I haven't been consistent enough with it. I think I'm going to try to be consistent with the remainder of the benadryl to see if I notice any difference, and if not I guess I'll take him to the vet again for another look. It's gotta be rather frustrating to scratch yourself as often as he does. Not to mention that 2 days after I vacuum my room, there are tufts of his hair everywhere already from all the scratching. Yuck!

But I'm just so damn cute!

I was actually going to write a post yesterday bitching about stuff, namely people on the road. But who really wants to hear me bitch? I bitch enough as it is. Plus everyone knows people suck on the road. Yesterday was a bad day though.

One last note: I miss LOST! I rewatched the finale again this past weekend (oh, there's something I forgot about until now!), and I was re-saddened. I actually enjoyed the finale even more the second time through, because I could appreciate the "flash-sideways" for what it actually was. The "flashes" that our characters were experiencing were not just some strange link to another universe, but rather the characters realizing they were dead and remembering their lives, which is a very emotional experience (and conveyed very well by the characters). Taylor started rewatching it from the beginning recently, and I want to partake, too, but I'm stalling. I know in the end I'll be sad yet again. I think I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again: I feel bad for the people who get into Lost, but can no longer watch it live to get the same experience that we, or I, got.  I have watched Lost live since the 4th episode, so it's been quite the ride. Someone else put it into better words:

As I’ve spent the last few days pondering the finale another thing has crossed my mind. The idea that ‘Nobody does it alone’ applies not just to our characters but also to the ‘Lost community’. We have all been enthralled with the events and characters of this epic saga and now we are in our own ‘Flash Upwards’ world – needing to process what has been, needing to find others, needing to remember, needing to let go. By writing and reading and commenting on this very article we are all engaging in our own awakenings and epiphanies. I’ve watched virtually every episode of this show alone with my wife. It has been a precious thing for us. There are others in my life, friends and family, particularly my sister, who I have spent six years debating and discussing every detail of the show with. And increasingly online I have engaged with many of you and many other recappers and bloggers and theorists. We all would have enjoyed this show alone, but it is has been infinitely better and special doing it together. Everyone else who engages with this story in the future will not have the privilege that we have had of working it out together. The final scenes will be on Youtube, the plot summary will be on Wikipedia and the key story parts will infiltrate popular culture so that no-one will be able to approach LOST with fresh eyes again.

I'll leave you with some links to junk to make up for my lack of recent updates:

• Some people are gay, get over it [image]
• How Lost should have ended [image] (see this video first, so you get the joke)
• We are very small in this universe [image]
• 8 month old deaf baby reacts to cochlear implants [video]