Monthly archives for February, 2007

The creepy-crawlies

Feb27
2007 Written by Andrew

I asked around, and no one’s heard the previous entry’s quote before. I’m going to go ahead and take credit for it, then. Damn, I’m good.

After a brief invasion in my computer room and then an established beachhead in my kitchen last spring in which I used chemical weapons to drive them back, the ants have returned to my apartment. It’s pretty much exactly a year since their last attack (March 1, 2006 by my reckoning), but at least this time I know how to deal with them. I’m not particularly fond of using chemicals to deal with insects, but it’s the only way to show them who’s boss and get them the hell out of my bathroom. On the bright side, my bathroom has a fan in which to disperse the sickly-sweet chemical odor of the can of Raid I still have from last year.

And on that note, I’m very curious why they chose my bathroom this year. I’ll keep an eye on the other rooms in case they try and outflank me again. Bastards. Hopefully I can skip the squishing stage and move straight to the chemical warfare–I prefer the smell of bug spray over the light smell of formic acid.

Hanne had a lot of work to do this weekend, so I was on my own for most of the time. It was nice, though, because I got a lot of work done. I raked up about 1/5 of the leaves in the driveway before I filled up the yard debris can my landlord dropped off for me, I cleaned my bathroom, I took some stuff to FreeGeek, I just generally got stuff done I’ve been meaning to do. And I played games, but who am I to turn down the beta of the Lord of the Rings Online MMORPG? I am a geek, after all. I can’t deny my true nature.

I also got my new Media Center PC up and running, albeit in a temporary home. While I was at FreeGeek I picked up a $5 case, and I tossed all my parts into it so I could at least get it set up and configured. Just about everything is working the way I want it, though I do have a few quirks yet to work out. But what can I say? It records TV in HD, it plays music from my desktop computer, and it’s plenty fast. I did end up having to spend a bit more money on it today to buy parts so that it runs a bit quieter (both for my ears as well as Dan and Kristine since they’ll be sacking out in my living room this weekend), but it’s done. It’s not completely assembled, I’m still waiting on several parts, but it’s up and running and working.

This week is going to be somewhat interesting. I work only three days this week, I have jury duty on Wednesday, then I’m off on Friday so I can pick up Dan and Kristine at the airport. And what does the weekend hold for us? The coast one day if it’s nice, maybe a trip to Powell’s…lots of beer…some good food. The sky’s the limit. Unfortunately, since it’s sleeting out as I write this, the prospect of going to the coast doesn’t look good. I had the good fortune to wait at a bus shelter this morning that was exposed to the wind and sleet. Blast. My pants are just now drying out.

I’ll just have to see what the weather’s doing this weekend before I make any plans, though.

Posted in Geekery, General, Hanne

Mystery quote

Feb23
2007 Written by Andrew

I woke up this morning with a quote in my head. It was the first thought I had of the day besides “6:30? Already?”

When the dogs of war fall upon the land, Man blames God for his misfortune, yet when peace reigns it is due to his own providence.

I don’t remember ever reading or hearing that quote, and Google came up with nothing even close. I suppose it might actually be an original thought from my own mind in the infancy of today’s consciousness, but it doesn’t sound like my writing, and in all honesty, I’ve never referred to God as a deity in my writing before.

Has anyone ever heard that quote before? Or something similar?

On a possibly unrelated note, that’s the last time I fall asleep after reading The Economist and Neil Gaiman.

Posted in General

Grumpiness, self-destruction, and geekiness

Feb22
2007 Written by Andrew

I was in the foulest mood on Tuesday, and I wasn’t sure why. Being essentially called a chain-smoking alcoholic Republican by my mother didn’t even phase me! But there was something about the day that just got to me. I had a good Monday, the day ended well, I got plenty of sleep, but for some reason I was just antsy and grumpy all day long. I really wanted to go for a run but the weather was supposed to be rainy so I didn’t take my gym bag to work. After a morning of grumpiness, I pretty much cracked around noon when I was walking around and I noticed it was bright and sunny out. Normally such a thing would have brought a smile to my face, but it just pissed me off on that day.

Around 12:30 I just had to get out of there, and I decided the only thing that would get rid of my negative energy would be to go home and go for a run, so I told my manager I was taking a long lunch, I took the bus home (almost forgetting my keys, which would have made me really grumpy when I got home), and I went for a run. Of course, the weather changed to rain as soon as I got home which didn’t help my mood, and when I got back the sun came out again. What’s a guy to do, anyway?

On the bright side, my run got rid of my negative energy. I was still grumpy, but I had no energy anymore. I realized around 5 PM that it was Mardis Gras/Fat Tuesday/Pancake Day (I learn all sorts of things by dating a Brit), so instead of my usual dinner I invited Hanne over so she could make pancakes and I could eat my own Italian-style pancake. With cheese. And Italian sausage. And mushrooms. And crushed garlic. And onions. And kalamata olives. You might call it more of a “pie” than a pancake, really, but it seemed appropriate. And I drank beer and ate my “pancake” and the world seemed right again. Not being religious myself, Fat Tuesday was just Tuesday where I ate something that got me fat. But I needed a break from the grumpiness, and it worked beautifully. Pizza and beer cures all.

At what point does taking enjoyment in another person’s misery become tasteless? I ask because there’s been a bit of it in the news lately between Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears and a few I’m actually acquainted with, and I’ve always taken pleasure in their misfortune because, well, I can’t stand them. I think that occasionally taking pleasure in someone you secretly or not-so-secretly dislike is acceptable, but when it crosses the line to mental breakdowns or death then perhaps it’s time for pleasure to turn to pity.

I guess the bottom line is that watching someone you hate in a slow downward spiral is enjoyable for awhile, but when you see they’re not coming back up you feel a little guilty for how you felt in the first place. There’s been one person in particular I took a secretive enjoyment in watching self-destruct, but now I’m not so sure anymore. I’ll guess I”ll have to see how far the implosion goes.

My Media Center PC project took a hard left turn, and it’s driving me nuts. The place I ordered the case I wanted from canceled my order because they were out of stock…and so did the second place…and the third. The fourth place I ordered it from put a hold on the order because they could only ship to my billing address, but I found a guy selling them on eBay for almost 1/3 of the price of the 4th place I ordered from. Alas, after purchasing the case I got an email from him saying that while he has the case…he doesn’t have any of the power supplies that go in the case. WTF? So I’m getting $30 knocked off the price and I have to buy my own power supply. I just can’t win. I had hoped to have the whole thing assembled last weekend sans case until I realized I had no power switch, then I had hoped to have it done this weekend. Now I’ll be lucky if I can have the thing assembled by the time Dan and Kristine arrive next weekend. Aarg!

And naturally, since I canceled my TiVo service, it wouldn’t let me do anything with it, like schedule recordings or play music. I never realized just how much was tied to the money I paid them every month. On the bright side, though, the final cost of my system comes in at just a hair under $800–the cost of a Series3 TiVo. That I’m happy about.

Rain be damned, I’m spending my lunch hour today running around the bridges. Unless it’s really raining, in which case I’ll spend my lunch inside the gym plodding in place. Either way, Fat Tuesday’s has to come off.

Posted in Beer, Family, Food, Geekery, General, Hanne, Running, Work

Bad and good and bad and good

Feb19
2007 Written by Andrew

I prefer it when weekends aren’t stressful and go well. How Friday night goes is usually a good indication of the rest of the weekend, though if I were to judge my weekend solely on Friday night, my weekend would have been much, much worse.

Bad: Finishing up a project at work on Friday, and expecting to be out of there by 6:30. Three and a half hours later, I was more than ready to leave, and looking back at my timecard I left in a bit of a hurry at 9:49 PM when we finished up, for better or for worse. I hadn’t even eaten dinner yet, but I conned Hanne into coming downtown and having a drink with me while I ate dinner. I was so hungry and so ready to be out of there I didn’t care where we went, so we just wandered down the street to Rock Bottom. After relaxing with a Caesar salad (like I was going to eat something heavy that late in the evening) and a few beers, I was in a much better mood. We walked home because I wanted to, but that meant we weren’t back in my neighborhood until 12:30 AM.

Bad: The first thing I did when I got home? I clocked back in and went to work. I had work to finish before the night was out. I restarted a server and was scared for a moment that I’d have to leave and go back to work since it didn’t seem to be restarting. It came back up, but I restarted it again. And another one. I was just a glutton for punishment, it seems. I didn’t get to bed until 1:30 AM.

Bad: Up at 6:30, clocked back in to work.

Good: Finished my project, I don’t have to think about it again for quite some time.

Good: Breakfast in a restaurant.

Bad: People who don’t look as they pull out from a cross street and leave big scratches on the passenger side rear fender where our cars collide. It could have been much, much worse, but she slammed on the brakes in time. Given the condition of her car, I don’t think it was the first time that had happened, and even though it was superficial damage I took her number, anyway. The dirt hides the scratch well, and frankly, I just don’t care.

Good: Getting a haircut. Same guy who’s cut my hair a number of times in the past, featured in the Willamette Week once upon a time. Word.

Good: Taking my car into Car Toys for them to adjust my car alarm after more than two and a half years of my bitching about the sensitivity and auto-arming.

Good: Finding cheap books at Powell’s.

Bad: Being told Car Toys probably couldn’t fix the auto-arming because it’s a funky type of alarm.

Good: The assistant manager knowing someone who works for the company that makes the alarm. “Bring it back next week, I should know how to do it by then and we won’t charge you again,” he says to me.

Good: 65 degree sunny weather in Portland in February. Running 10k on the waterfront. Walking to the grocery store so I could make Hanne a belated Valentine’s Day dinner. Sitting on my front porch, smoking a cigar, and drinking a Rogue Dead Guy Ale.

Good: Game hens, wild rice, potatoes, and wine.

Good: Getting a lot of things accomplished in my apartment that I’ve been meaning to do for some time, and finishing the day feeling pretty good about the weekend despite a crappy beginning.

Sometimes that’s all that you need to happen. Of course, the firm lost a bunch of email over the weekend thanks to a botched project (not mine, though I was helping with it Friday evening) so things are a bit tense at work today. I love being the firm pariah. At least I can go home after work today, grab a sandwich and some beer from the store, and then settle in to watch the new “Heroes” and “Studio 60″ like I do every Monday.

And the week will continue, both good and bad.

Posted in Beer, Food, General, Hanne, Running, Work

Let me ruin your experience

Feb14
2007 Written by Andrew

Inspired by the funniest–and only, to my recollection–email chain that just went around the firm, allow me save you some time when watching movies.

1.) Darth Vader was Luke’s father
2.) Charlton Heston was on Earth the whole time
3.) Soylent Green IS people
4.) The woman was really a man
5.) Bruce Willis was dead the whole time
6.) Kevin Spacey was Keyser Soze
7.) She’s her daughter AND her sister
8.) Rosebud was his sled
9.) In “Murder on the Orient Express,” they ALL did it.
10.) The Titanic sinks

It all started when someone asked what happened on last night’s episode of “House,” so someone responded and said they didn’t know, but did anyone know who shot J.R.? It went downhill from there, so I emailed everyone and told them I’d save them some time and gave (most of) the above list.

For a bunch of busy attorneys and assistants, we know how to have fun now and then.

Posted in General, Work

Saint "Make You Feel Like a Heel" Day

Feb14
2007 Written by Andrew

A few times now I’ve gone running during my lunch break on the waterfront, which is infinitely better than plodding along on the treadmill across the street at Bally. What I keep forgetting, though, is that a five-mile run at lunchtime and then going back to work after cleaning up means that I’m pretty much useless for the rest of the day. Sort of like how you feel after a nap, but without the grogginess. I was ready to go to bed last night around 6 PM when I got home from work, but I rode it out until 10 or so and then I crashed hard. Was I really running more than six miles twice a week just a few months ago?

Still…it’s a nice break in the work day. Now if I could just speed it up a bit so that I could squeeze it all in and be back in an hour, I’m all set. I haven’t been timing myself lately, but I should really find out if I’m even approaching my one timed 10k run I finished in a hair over 45 minutes.

Ah, Valentine’s Day once again. I don’t even remember what I did for Valentine’s Day last year. I looked back in my blog, but all I found was my obituary to Andreas Katsulas. Valentine’s Day, however, means it’s time for my yearly diatribe on why I despise Valentine’s Day so much. I thought I’d just sum up instead:

I don’t like Valentine’s Day because I don’t think there should be a specific day dedicated to how you should treat someone the other 364 days of the year already. That, and I hate how the entire thing is practically trademarked by See’s Candy and Hallmark. It’s bullshit.

There, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Regardless, society dictates that I have to do something, but it doesn’t say what. I’m not big on the whole eating out thing on Valentine’s Day, anyway. Why not put in the personal touch if you’re trying to show someone that you care for them? I guess a lot of people can’t cook well, though, so I have a leg up on them. Tonight, though, I’m taking Hanne to…McMenamins. That’s right, we’re doing our usual Wednesday night plans and spending it together drinking beer, eating fried foods, maybe playing a round or two of pool.

Oh relax, those aren’t our Valentine’s Day plans. Sure, that’s what we’re doing tonight, but since A) it’s impossible to get a reservation at a nice place on Valentine’s Day, B) I’m broke until tomorrow’s payday, and C) I’d rather cook, which means I need time, I’m going to make her a nice dinner on Saturday night instead. I haven’t decided yet, but I have a few ideas.

Yeah, that’s about it.

Posted in Beer, General, Hanne, Running

My unusual style of writing and living collide

Feb12
2007 Written by Andrew

OK, I have spent way too much money building a replacement for my TiVo unit, but I think in the end, it’ll be worth it. I’ll have to add up everything that I purchased for it, but I’m pretty sure that when all is said and done it’ll take the equivalent of about 6 years worth of TiVo monthly fees to make the cost back. Hopefully I will have spent less than the amount of a new TiVo Series3 HD box ($800), but then again, if I’d done that I’d still be paying a monthly fee at the same time, too. I hope this thing lasts for six years, but then again, how many computers last for six years? Something’s going to die in the meantime.

But it’s a pretty sweet setup. I finally found a beautiful case to have in my living room, I already have the RAM, CPU, motherboard, and video card, and earlier this week I bought the hard drive, DVD burner, and operating system (Windows XP Media Center 2005). I changed my mind today, though, and bought a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium. When all is said and done, this little PC sitting in my living room will be just about as fast as my desktop PC and running a more advanced operating system to boot. So to speak. Some might say I should have just built a low-powered PC and then used an Xbox 360 to use as my Media Center Extender, but really, when would I ever use an Xbox 360? I barely have enough time to play the games I already own, and as stylish as an Xbox is, it’s a bit pricey to use just as a front-end to TV shows and movies.

So yeah, a lot of money, but it’ll be worth it in the end. I hope. If not, this will be the most spectacular waste of money I will have ever undertaken, so I’d better make the most of it.

I had a pretty good weekend, which isn’t exactly uncommon, but it was uncommonly good. Allow me to explain.

Friday night Hanne and I decided to go out and get a few beers, and so we hooked up on the bus after I got off work and rode up to the New Old Lompoc brewpub in NW Portland, and had the saltiest fries I’ve ever tasted and a few pints of good beer. Good conversation and good beer is always a nice end to the week.

Saturday, however, was the real gem, and it’s humorous how happy the evening’s events made me. Hanne found it just as humorous, and every time I grinned after I got home Hanne just laughed. For dinner I decided I wanted an Andrew Special #2. Or was that #3? Anyway, sandwich, chips, and beer. Regardless, I went to Zupan’s, found a very close parking space (unheard of in that neighborhood on a Saturday night), and bought my sandwich. Then I went to Belmont Station, a nice beer shop up the street and found a parking space outside the door. It must have been my lucky night! I picked up a few bottles of beer I wanted to try (including a 750ml bottle of Imperial Younger’s Special Bitter from Rogue Brewing that I might return for), but I thought I’d ask the question I’ve asked at least four times at John’s Marketplace: “Are you guys ever going to get any more bottles of the Stone 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA?”

Heather and I bought a couple of bottles of that beer last summer–I think it was for Labor Day–and it was probably the best IPA I’ve ever had. I know my IPAs, too. It wasn’t overly bitter like most IPAs tend to be, it was flavorful, it had a hell of a kick (10% ABV), and the best bottle design I’ve ever seen. I thought about saving the bottle just because the logo was so well-done, but I had recycled it before that thought occurred to me. In any case, I bought the beer that one time, but I could never find it again. I went to John’s about a month or so later and it was nowhere to be found, and when I went back a month or so after that, I made a point of asking about it. Since it was a special brew, they sold what Stone made and Stone wasn’t ever going to make any more to sell. A once in a lifetime beer, so to speak. They’d make another Anniversary Ale next summer, but it would be a different recipe and a different beer. But I knew–I knew–that someone had to have a few bottles or a case or two squirreled away somewhere.

Which brings us back to Saturday night.

“Are you guys ever going to get any more bottles of the Stone 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA?” No, said the guy behind the counter, but I should go down the street and check out Sindee’s Market, this little hole in the wall Mom and Pop convenience store that was getting ready to close. Apparently, they had a few bottles of it the previous week, but Saturday night was their last night open–ever–and they would probably be sold out of most things. Hanne and I hightailed it down the street, I found a parking spot right outside the door (lucky night, remember?), and I marched in to check out the cooler.

There, sitting in the cooler, was a solitary and lonely bottle of Stone’s 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA. It was like it was just waiting for me! Six months of searching for the beer, and all the time it was sitting up the street from me at a place I’ve jogged past dozens of times. I grabbed the last bottle from the cooler, walked up to the guy behind the counter, and promptly asked: “Do you have any more of this?”

“How much do you want?” was not the answer I was expecting.

To make a long and rambling story short, I walked out of Sindee’s Market with probably one of the last cases of Stone 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA available anywhere. It was the last night the store would ever be open, so I got a 25% discount on the case, too. My timing, my parking, and my ale selection were all impeccable last Saturday night, and thus, it was a very good night.

And yes, the beer was just as good as I remembered.

Sunday I made soup and bread. Blah blah blah. I gotta say, finding that beer was the high point of my weekend. Admitting that makes me a little sad, but in my defense, it’s a damn good beer.

Speaking of beer, good company, and good conversation, Dan said that both he and Kristine will be in Portland the first weekend of March, so I’ll have to start thinking of some things for us to do. Dan admitted to me that he’s been disappointed to find that there just isn’t a good selection of brewpubs in the Boston area, but he’s in luck! We have more than enough here to go around, but I’d prefer that we didn’t give any of ‘em up. A trip out to Edgefield, perhaps? Or maybe to Lincoln City? It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the Lighthouse Pub.

Back to work. I just needed to get that funny story off my chest. I’m still laughing about both finding the beer and how I had that big ol’ grin on my face throughout the evening. I guess when you look for something for six months, finally finding it is worth the wait.

Posted in Beer, Beloit, Geekery, General, Hanne

They sang to me this song of hope

Feb07
2007 Written by Andrew

The song of the day is apparently “Come Sail Away” by Styx. I heard it this morning–twice–as I shuffled my way through the Classic Rock playlist on my iPod, and then once again when I grabbed a sandwich for lunch at Big Town Hero. I’m not exactly sure what the Rock Gods are trying to tell me quite yet, but if I hear it again I’ll flick a Bic above my head and pray for guidance from the eternal ones: Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, etc.

I had a song stuck in my head for the last two weeks or so, and it was with some difficulty that I finally tracked it down. It wasn’t the whole song, mind you, just the chorus. I didn’t know the name of the song, nor did I remember who sang it–hell, I didn’t even know what the words being sung were–and I spent the time I had it stuck in my head digging through my music collection trying to figure out what song it was. The problem is, I have a lot of new music by artists I’m unfamiliar with, so it requires relistening to a lot of music trying to find it. After churning through Muse, Radiohead, Dredg, and a number of other artists that I’d only made it through once, I finally came to The Cooper Temple Clause and the mystery was solved. I made a notation in my mind if the song were to ever play on endless mental repeat again.

Last week ended not with a sigh of relief but rather a more unfamiliar feeling of satisfaction. I wasn’t quite certain how to put my finger on why, but Friday afternoon as I ended my work day, I was feeling relaxed and accomplished, not my usual clock-watching Friday self. To be honest, I’m not even sure what it was that I manged to do on Friday to give me such a sense of satisfaction, but whatever I did it must have been important enough to make me confident but subtle enough that I have no memory of doing it.

Thus began a pretty good weekend, too. Friday night I was itching to go somewhere and have a drink, but not do anything particularly exciting such as dancing or karaoke. Hanne felt roughly the same way, so I gave her five options to choose from off the top of my head–with, of course, the caveat that she was welcome to suggest her own ideas.

In the end, Hanne picked the Alameda Brewhouse, so we rode the bus up to Northeast Portland and had a few beers–once we could find a place to sit. The place was packed, so we had to sit at the bar. We started off by ordering a small plate of onion rings, and though we ordered a small and they charged us for a small, I’m convinced they brought us the large plate. We didn’t even have to order dinner since we just filled up on onion rings. It probably goes without saying, but let me remind you that both a dinner and breakfast the next morning made up of 100% fried foods have a tendency not to sit well. Oog.

Saturday night I went and caught Pan’s Labyrinth and then split a pizza and some beer at Vincente’s with Hanne. That was one twisted movie. It’s definitely a fairy tale for adults. Very well-made, very stylized, but not for the light of heart. The woman sitting behind me was vocally squeamish, so if you’re not accustomed to war movies or minor scenes of graphic violence against fairy-tale creatures, I’d wait for a sanitized version. Which might be awhile. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.

Sunday I watched the Super Bowl and bought furniture, though not in that order. On Saturday Hanne and I slogged (it was quite wet out) down to City Liquidators so she could look for a desk and I could look for…whatever…so we went back Sunday with wheels and a backseat to haul our finds back to our respective apartments. I didn’t end up with the bed frame I originalyl had been looking for back in September, but I did end up with something I saw in October that I thought would be a good addition to my apartment. Nothing terribly special, just a nice entryway table with a tall mirror. Perfect for a place to rest one’s beers if I can ever get my dartboard hung in my living room.

Hanne convinced me to go for a run on Sunday before the game. It was quite nice out, I don’t know why I was dragging my feet about running in 55-degree weather. I mean, that’s absolutely perfect for a run! It might have had something to do with all the chips I ate for (not with) lunch, but eventually I pulled myself together and went the distance.

I guess there’s not much else to say about the Super Bowl except that it was probably the dullest Super Bowl I’ve ever seen. Good halftime show, bad game, bad commercials. I probably would have been happier watching the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet. There was one funny story from the day, though. Hanne has literally split her life between England, where she was born and grew up, and here in the States, and after 12 years her accent has gone away even if her unfortunate habit of adding a “u” to some words and a love of sports games with arcane rules hasn’t. She told me once that her accent only reappears when she talks to her parents, and so I was able to immediately guess who she was talking to when I came back into my living room after moving my laundry and heard her talking in a thick British accent on her cell phone. It was surreal.

It was even more surreal when she hung up and resumed her American accent as normal speech. I’m not sure which accent is “real,” but either way it means she’s a hell of a linguist.

Wednesday means Barley Mill, Barley Mill means beer. What can I say? It’s a good way to celebrate the work week being half over, and it’s something to look forward to.