KJToo

We really do have ants. Itty-bitty tiny ones.

First they were in the kitchen. We sprayed and set traps and that seems to have done the trick. Late last week, they got into the cats’ food and water dishes. I didn’t want to spray where the cats have been eating, so I cleaned up both dishes and set up another trap. No dice. The ants, they love the cat food. So I cleaned both dishes and moved ‘em again.

This morning, the ants had not only found the dishes once more, they’d found the main food supply. Crap.

I dumped out the remainder of the food, cleaned up the dishes once again, sprayed in the laundry room (where we keep the cat food), filled the dish with the last of the canned cat food and headed to work. Late, naturally.

I have a feeling I’m going to have to take more drastic action against these tiny invaders. Armageddon!

Posted August 23, 2005 Comments(2)

Pedestrians attempting to walk past the house since Friday have had to deal with this:

Who tears up sidewalk on a Friday?

Despite the fact that Laura was home all day on Friday, no one came to the house to say, “Hey, I’m from [company], and I wanted to let you know that we’re going to be digging up a chunk of your sidewalk.”

I’m guessing it was Comcast, as I saw one of their trucks next to a similar hole about a half mile from the house. Still, it would have been nice to be notified that they’d be digging up my sidewalk and not repairing it for a few days. The hole (as evidenced by the picture above, which I took about 10 minutes ago) is still there today. If it’s still there tomorrow, I’m going to start making phone calls.

“Yo, yo, yo, where the courtesy at?”

Posted August 22, 2005 Comments(6)

Yesterday, I began the process of moving Laura’s stuff into my office and vice versa. The sheer amount of crap1 I had in my office was daunting, to say the least. Nonetheless, I managed to clear out most of the stuff that wasn’t on a desk or bookshelf, vacuumed the floor and hauled in two filing cabinets. That’s in my (old) office. Apart from relocating a two-drawer filing cabinet, I haven’t even touched Laura’s (old) office.

In moving the smaller filing cabinet, I discovered that the underside had gotten wet at some point in the past and rusted, forming a nice, firm bond with the carpeting. I wrenched the filing cabinet out, cleaned it up, then sanded and painted the rusted spots. I also took a stab at cleaning the carpet, but I should really shampoo the whole office before I move all of my stuff.2

Stuff I hauled into the garage until I can find a better place for it:

• Books. Lots of ‘em. MCSE and Network+ study guides, various Linux-related tomes, tons of Star Wars references, and altogether too many role-playing game manuals.
• Two 15″ computer monitors.
• One largely functional Linux PC.
• A box of books on tape.
• A SEGA Genesis with a handful of cartridges.
• Two magazine racks full of magazines (Entertainment Weekly, Game Informer and WIRED).

Before I can start moving computers around, I need to actually clean off my (old) computer desk, which is actually an armoire. The biggest problem will be finding a place to put all the crap that I’ve accumulated over the past ten years. I’ve already thrown away much more than my nature would normally allow, yet I have the feeling that I’ll have to part with more if the desk is ever to be truly cleaned. Maybe I’ll take a picture of the desk in its current state before I clean it.

1. In days gone by, I would have objected most strenuously if my “stuff” were to be so classified, but I’m afraid it really is crap. In the best possible lighting, one might generously call it “junk.” [back]
2. Not going to happen. [back]

Posted August 22, 2005 Comments(8)

I finished up the 1949 Batman and Robin serial over the weekend, and I must retract something I said about it in a previous post. See, I asserted that the 1949 version of Batman had no utility belt. Boy, was I wrong. He may not use any bat-gadgets in the first half-dozen or so installments, but when he finally does, it’s a doozy.

Minions of the fiendish Wizard lure The Dark Knight and The Boy Wonder into a trap, seal them in an airtight room and pump CO₂ (that’s carbon dioxide, kids!) in through the vents. Robin, whose job description apparently reads “fall unconscious at the first hint of danger,” collapses in a heap on the floor. In classic cliffhanger fashion, the episode ends with Batman slumping to the floor as well. Is this the end of the Dynamic Duo?

Of course not. You only think you saw Batman fall face-down beside Robin last week. In reality, Batman knelt next to his sidekick and instructed Robin to breathe through a special device. A device he retrieved from his utility belt. Turns out that big old belt has both function and form. In fact, there’s a full-sized, fully functional acetylene torch on Batman’s hip, complete with ignitor and hoses that lead… well, let’s not think about that. Batman wasn’t really into miniaturization in those days, I guess. After cutting a hole in the door, Batman tucks the torch back into the ridiculously huge holster on his utility belt. How is it that I didn’t notice that thing before? It boggles the mind, really.

You know what? That’s why I love those old serials. The sheer audacity employed in getting the heroes out of one seemingly fatal scrape after another entertains me. I chuckle to imagine the audience going to the theatre week after week to find out how Batman and Robin (or Flash Gordon) managed to escape certain doom. Would there be any cries of “That’s impossible! They were both aboard the plane when it exploded last week!” or “They didn’t have time to get to the trapdoor!” or did the audience simply accept that they didn’t really see the Caped Crusader fall into the pit a week ago?

Even the revelation of the Wizard’s identity in Chapter 15 is a big cheat, but there’s no reason to spoil it for future viewers, is there? I don’t know what the official moratorium on spoilers is (probably less than fifty-six years), but I’m not telling you who the Wizard really is. You’ll just have to find out for yourself.

Posted August 22, 2005 Comments(3)

Laura and I finished watching the fourth (and final) Firefly DVD after dinner last night. Now we’re all set to see Serenity when it is released in theaters next month. I think Laura likes the series more than she lets on, though I’m sure she’ll deny it. One thing we do agree on: the theme song sucks. Not the music, mind you, the music is good. The lyrics (and the guy singing them)… that’s another story. Die-hard Firefly fans get all weepy about the theme, but I fast-forwarded through it after hearing it twice. No thanks. I do listen to the instrumental version that plays over the end credits every time, though. That one I like.

I completely missed Firefly when it was on Fox. Not surprising, since I tend to avoid Fox (except for Family Guy and occasionally The Simpsons) whenever possible. Don’t even get me started on the local Fox news program. By missing Firefly, I also missed the hubbub surrounding its cancellation. I know that there was a massive fan outcry that led to Serenity being green-lighted, but I wasn’t part of it and really didn’t think much of it until I actually sat down and watched the series.

And? It’s a good show. The concept (Stagecoach in space) sounds a little weird at first, but it works surprisingly well. It helps that so much attention has been paid to the look and feel of the universe as a whole. The particulars of the story are very interesting, and the primary cast is quite good. I wasn’t all that taken with Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Filion) at first, but he kind of grew on me. The crew of Reynolds’ Firefly-class spaceship, Serenity, is an interesting bunch. There are nine altogether (including Captain Reynolds), so I’m not going to get into each of them, but my favorites are Book (Ron Glass), Jayne (Adam Baldwin) and Kaylee (Jewel Staite). Book is a mysterious “Shepherd,” a wandering holy man with a hidden past. Jayne is a straight-up mercenary who is entirely capable of selling out his shipmates if the price is right. And Kaylee… sweet, sweet Kaylee is a dream made real, the embodiment of innocent beauty. To quote Wash (the ship’s pilot), “Were I unwed, I would take [her] in a manly fashion.” Yeah. She’s something else. Oh, and I guess she fixes the ship, too.

After we watched the last three episodes and a couple of the special features, I went upstairs and fired up Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption.

Alas, it just wasn’t good night to be a vampire. Christof, Wilhem and Serena were given permission by the Kindred Prince of Prague to enter Ardan’s Chantry to learn more about the disappearance of several humans and Kindred. Ardan is a member of the Tremere clan, and his Chantry is occupied by numerous Tremere Regents, Neonates and Apprentices, most of whom can cast fireballs. Vampires don’t much like fire. After several unsuccessful attempts to defeat the Tremere and their creatures (gargoyles and annoying, frog-like beasties called “hoppers”), I decided to trade in my fangs for spandex and superpowers. I completed a couple of missions in City of Heroes and then went to bed.

Posted August 19, 2005 Comments(0)