Friday, February 28, 2003

Dear God

The ultimate Cardiac Special.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 11:28 AM EST [Link]

 

Thursday, February 27, 2003

PBJ Time!

From my good friend L.D., who gets excited over these things: http://www.pbjdance.com/cupcake.cfm

Posted by Lynniechan @ 10:00 PM EST [Link]

 

Reading material

I wish I read more.

No, really.

I can remember the last book I read. It was Starship Titanic -- sadly, in December 2001.

I'm horrible with dates and times, but the reason I remember this is because I read it in one night, during a vacation, tucked slugly under a crocheted blanket on one of Gramma Millie's old, caved-in, sloping guest-room beds. Vacations are the only time I can devote enough attention to reading a book. When I got home, I started in on The Road to Mars. I think I might have made it to page 5.

I have always had a terribly short attention span. However, I read a lot as a youngster, and it wasn't hard for me to finish books pretty quickly. If I'm bored or undistracted -- which was quite often when I was a kid, seeing as how I didn't get out much -- it's easy for me to get engrossed in whatever I'm doing. I devoured science fiction and fantasy books, particularly humorous ones such as the Hitchhiker's Guide series.

My favorite book series is the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust. It's where my AIM screen name Dragaera comes from. My favorite book by Brust overall is Agyar (which is not a Taltos book).

Now that I'm grown up, I only seem to have time to read magazines -- quick-hit stuff I can skim through. I somehow manage to scrape a few hours here and there to get through Wired, my favorite. And beyond that, I'll flip through Newsweek if I have time.

Oh cool. I see another Taltos installment is coming out in August. Maybe I'll take it to Gramma Millie's with me this year and try to get another book read.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 08:48 AM EST [Link]

 

Note to self

No caffeine after 10 p.m. Was hypersensitive to every twitch and noise the BF made while sleeping. Stared at the ceiling, anxious, until I had to get up to row. Grrr.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 07:47 AM EST [Link]

 

Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Word game

My vote for most irksome -- and ominous -- word used at work: "Opportunity."

Mostly, it's a euphemism for "we need you to do this; good luck."

Posted by Lynniechan @ 09:41 PM EST [Link]

 

Boong-Ga Boong-Ga

We could use a few of these in our office.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 12:33 AM EST [Link]

 

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

I'm their second-favorite designer

A small ray of sunshine, although I learned about it yesterday:

My trip to the newspaper design class is back on. Someone must have dropped out, and I was reinvited.

A friend and I joked that I should wear a name tag that says, "Hello, I wasn't invited."

Posted by Lynniechan @ 05:52 PM EST [Link]

 

From bad to worse

Today is one of those days you just have to chalk up as a total loss and hope to start fresh tomorrow.

I'm not even upset about it; the misfortune is completely out of my hands. I'm just along for the ride, strapped to the hood of the car.


Can't wait to get back to bed so I can make it past this day.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 05:24 PM EST [Link]

 

Monday, February 24, 2003

Kikkoman to the rescue

Thanks to Dave Barry's blog for bringing this bit of silliness into my world.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 04:50 AM EST [Link]

 

Saturday, February 22, 2003

Pubic notice

I knew Japanese women worshipped David "Mr. Posh Spice" Beckham, but this is just weird.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 12:04 AM EST [Link]

 

Friday, February 21, 2003

Depressing

(AP) -- One of the original California condors brought from the wild into a captive breeding program during the 1980s has been shot to death. The bird, a female called Adult Condor 8, was captured in 1986 and released into the wild in 2000 after giving birth to about a dozen chicks. The carcass was found Feb. 13 in a remote area of Kern County.

I will never fathom the "sport" of shooting another living creature. Or just as bad: Ignorant people with guns, shooting things because they have nothing else better to do. That's frightening.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 07:55 PM EST [Link]

 

Wednesday, February 19, 2003

Domestic disturbance update

I finally got around to spraying all the weeds in the yard with Roundup. It wasn't laborious -- just took an act of God to work up the motivation to do it -- and the weather was beautiful both times I went out there. I made my way around the house, starting from the back porch, hunched over and aiming the nozzle like a kid playing with a toy gun: "Gotcha! Hold it right there!" (Squirt squirt) "Who wants it next?" (Skunks around to next target)

It takes very little to keep me amused these days!

I saw that the azalea bushes on the side of the house are starting to bloom. It's a nice time to be outside.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 03:55 PM EST [Link]

 

Where's the duct tape?

The other day, Stephen and I attended a pleasant housewarming party hosted by a rowing friend of mine. As the hostess gave another rowing buddy and me a tour of the house, she pointed out places that needed work.

At one point, we stopped at a vast, deep, narrow hall closet. It was well lit -- almost too bright -- and was two floors high. She wanted to explain that it was once intended to be a stairwell to an attic but was never finished. It was being used as miscellaneous storage in the meantime and had long, contiguous rows of shelving along each wall.

Along two walls were rows and rows and rows of containers that looked like brown coffee cans. The other person on the tour asked what all the cans were for.

"Food," the hostess explained. "Enough food to sustain five people for three months." The other person taking the tour then said, jokingly, "Well we know where to come in case of an emergency!" The hostess quickly shot back through a forced laugh, "Well we won't let you in, ha ha!"

The hostess and her husband are the first people I know who have actually taken serious steps to prepare for an emergency -- specifically, terrorism.

They own a dog that is guard dog first, pet second. It's quite friendly and was wandering the dinner-party crowd that night looking for scraps, as any typical house dog would do. But it has been extensively (and expensively) trained as a guard dog, and it quickly darted back to the host and obediently sat next to him each time he called it.

I also know through past casual conversation that the couple and their grown children have been trained on how to use guns.

The hostess's husband is in the fingerprinting business -- and from the looks of their new house, business is booming. I think he has a lucrative government contract, which wouldn't surprise me given the government's renewed interest in homeland security.

But clearly, her husband is an expert on how to protect oneself.

I wondered after seeing all the steps they've taken whether they're just vigilant, obedient, God-fearing Americans doing their part -- or whether the husband, through his possible government contacts, knows something you and I don't, and I'm just woefully unprepared for the worst.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 01:04 AM EST [Link]

 

Next-gen phone sex

Posted by David Carlson 4:27:26 PM
Erotic SMS in Europe
Here I am in Ljubljana, Slovenia (don't ask). Jet-lagged. It's 2 a.m. local time, and I can't sleep. So I turn on the TV and am shocked to see a beautiful young woman pull off her bikini top. She smiles at the camera and licks her lips as a German voiceover says (roughly translated), "Hot SMS messaging! Sex, Sex, Sex." The screen flashes "Es bleipt erotik. SMS mit 81717." (It costs about $2 per message, as nearly as I can make out -- since my German is limited to one semester in high school.) It just goes to show that if you invent it, the porn industry will find a way to utilize it. Pornographers are just about the ultimate early adopters of new technology.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 12:01 AM EST [Link]

 

Monday, February 17, 2003

An arm and a leg with your Yahoo!

Starbucks customers can now catch up on the office buzz while enjoying a caffeine buzz. The high-tech venture, called T-Mobile HotSpots, features high-speed, wireless connections to corporate and home networks for e-mail, Web surfing and downloading video and audio. Available at more than 2,100 Starbucks outlets in 15 states, the HotSpot service offers a comfortable setting for Web access between meetings, sales calls and classes. To go online, a user needs a laptop or PDA equipped with Wi-Fi 802.11 wireless capability, which is built into many new machines. It can also be added via small plug-in devices costing about $100. Starbucks users can pay either $2.99 for 15 minutes of access or purchase a $29.99 unlimited access monthly plan for a local market. Frequent travelers can get unlimited national access for $49.99 a month.

Three bucks for 15 minutes? And -- I know this isn't likely, but -- what if there are many users in the room? Doesn't the access speed slow with each extra user?

For now, I'll take my coffee to go.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 12:20 AM EST [Link]

 

Friday, February 14, 2003

Finally

As promised, a selection of photos from our frigid but beautiful trip to Blue Spring State Park.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 12:43 AM EST [Link]

 

Thursday, February 13, 2003

Thank you for playing

Oh well. I wasn't accepted into the newspaper design class I applied to. I received a Dear John letter telling me that I was an alternate, and if anyone dropped out, they'd give me a call. In my defense, I think they get a ton of applications, and they only accept 16. But it still sucks.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 08:14 AM EST [Link]

 

Domestic disturbance

This is something I thought I'd never say until I bought a house: I'm worried about the lawn. It's getting overrun with weeds, where it once -- thanks to the previous owners -- was green, pristine and mostly weed-free. The beautiful yard was one of the reasons we were drawn to the house.

It's my fault. Stephen and I have an agreement: He cuts the lawn, and I (try to) keep the weeds in check. I haven't made it out there in awhile because of my schedule and because it's been so cold.

I think our lawn is a perfect candidate for GreenUP. But I'll have to convince the BF it's worth the investment. He's a firm believer in do-it-yourself lawn care.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 08:09 AM EST [Link]

 

The conclusion

Well my run as stroke of my crew ended at about two weeks.

The coach today strongly suggested I go back to 1 seat, or "bow seat" -- a starboard-side position -- and he moved a true port rower into the stroke seat.

We did that during practice today. It went much smoother after that.

I've been fighting with everything since I started rowing port. My technique was getting better with each row, but it was frustrating to think that the other ladies in the boat were being held back because of me. And the boat wobbled back and forth the whole time because I was having a hard time keeping my body weight positioned correctly.

In my defense, I think the coach was impatient. Giving up on me after such a short time isn't fair. I've rowed many years on starboard side, while I've only rowed several weeks on port. It's impossible to erase and relearn years of technique in two weeks.

But I'm honestly not that bitter about it. He said that I just wasn't the same on the other side, and it was a shame to take what he considers to be one of my strong points -- my ability to balance the boat -- out of the equation. I couldn't do that on port side because I was too focused on bigger issues. And I know he has the best interests of the boat in mind.

And I feel more natural on starboard, anyway.

So there you have it. My run at stroke is over.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 08:02 AM EST [Link]

 

If I ever get a dog...

... I'd like to adopt a greyhound.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 07:38 AM EST [Link]

 

Monday, February 10, 2003

Driven

My man got a new car on Saturday. It's a 2003 Nissan Altima. It's sweet. I don't even want to set foot in it for fear of getting dirt on the floorboard.

I wish I had a new car.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 12:26 AM EST [Link]

 

Sunday, February 9, 2003

Random pet peeve #2

The national anthem sung with excessive Mariah/Whitney/Christina-like warbling.

Stop butchering the national anthem.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 08:27 PM EST [Link]

 

Saturday, February 8, 2003

Racial profiling

I finally got around to signing in to the company intranet the other day to take a look and double-check the personal information The Corporation keeps on me.

I was stopped and then annoyed -- as this usually strikes a chord with me -- when I got to "race," which listed me as "Asian/Pacific Islander."

Who filled that in for me?

Does the company want to know what you think your race is or what others think your race is?

If a form asks me for my race, I typically will try to select more than one field or select "other."

If it allows for only one selection -- which is the least accommodating and tolerant -- I normally select "white/caucasian." Why? I'm not completely white. I'm not completely Asian, either. But having been born and raised in the U.S. and being closer to my American father, I mentally identify with being white. So, if pressed, I will reluctantly check "white."

Someone who must have met me during the hiring process took the liberty to choose my race for me, and that's where my annoyance started.

Knowing that -- and the fact that I would have chosen differently -- doesn't make me feel like I was hired solely for my skills, though I know that was a factor. That makes me feel like I'm filling a quota. That I was a tally mark in a computer. That the person who chose my race for me probably thought he was scoring points with the company's "diversity" cheerleaders.

I used to work with someone who was white but had a Hispanic last name. He obviously was several generations removed from his Latin ancestry. The company considered him Hispanic. Clearly it didn't matter to HR that he was tall, lanky and had blond hair and blue eyes. They only needed to see his last name to consider him a minority.

I'm in no way implying that "white" is the more desirable racial group. I'm questioning the need for such firmly deliniated categories and the overzealousness of the company to lump anyone it possibly can into a minority group to meet a quota.

My boyfriend is a similar example. His great-grandfather was from Spain, so he has inherited a Spanish last name. Stephen was born here, as was his father and grandfathers, and has never been to Spain. But the company has gleefully checked "Latin" next to his name. And voila, his department is more diverse. And can someone from Spain -- a European country -- even be considered a minority?

One of my closest friends, who is black, told me before he went away to college that he would not accept any scholarships offered to him that were only awarded to minorities. Offer me money for my intelligence or athletic ability, he said, but don't offer me money for being black. I told him what my dad once told me: "You might someday be offered money or a job because of your race. Hopefully not. But if you accept it, it's up to you to show you earned it, deserved it and prove to them that it wasn't because of what you looked like after all."

I submitted a request through the intranet to change my listed race from "Asian/Pacific Islander" to "other" (I think that was what it was called). I don't like knowing that someone in corporate HR who doesn't know the first thing about me can and will lump me into whatever racial group he wants just by reading a file. lt isn't necessary for anyone to know what my race is, but if they need to know, they can meet me in person.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 05:00 AM EST [Link]

 

Friday, February 7, 2003

Please go away

Gah.

Gavin is being irritating (OK, when is he not) because he thinks I -- who am doing the duties he normally does on Fridays -- cannot handle his workload.

He continually stands over me and asks me, smugly, how I'm doing.

It's not overwhelming, but it's steady, bordering on busy.

If there's anything that's going to make me go Sentinel, it's him.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 08:17 PM EST [Link]

 

Another reason to dislike Dubya

There's a good chance that Bushie's war will break out right around the time I'm tentatively scheduled to attend a newspaper design class. That would likely postpone the trip.

I'd be disappointed. But I take a little comfort in knowing that although I'm just a cog in the machine, the machine needs me to run. There are other cogs whose removal wouldn't slow the machine in the least.

I would hate to be that unnecessary.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 06:39 PM EST [Link]

 

Thursday, February 6, 2003

Rotten tomatoes

To Oddfellows: Congrats that the Gators lost the other day. Sports didn't go for your suggestion. But I'm sure "Anarchy in the UK" will find a place somewhere someday. Of course, it probably doesn't mean much to an old person...

Posted by Lynniechan @ 07:49 AM EST [Link]

 

Wednesday, February 5, 2003

Must have iPod

Posted by David Carlson 12:57:30 PM
My Pocketful of Music
I'm what most people would call a gadget freak. So far, for example, I have six PDAs -- two Palms, two Handsprings, and two Pocket PCs -- and I've had six laptops in the past eight years. None of these items has changed my daily life as much as the iPod I got last December. I know it sounds silly, but this 20GB MP3 player has revolutionized my day. I no longer listen to the radio in my car -- it's the iPod either through headphones or using a nifty little wireless transmitter that sends the signal to my car stereo. At home, I plug iPod into the stereo system and listen to it instead of CDs or radio. I've uploaded 51 albums to it so far, and I've used only 5 GB of space.

Tax return coming soon. I see one in my future.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 11:21 PM EST [Link]

 

Long live the Trash-80

A story from 1999 about how the TRS-80 is still a workhorse in some circles. Awesome.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 07:01 PM EST [Link]

 

Monday, February 3, 2003

Welcome to hell

Number of hours I've been at work so far: 3.5

Number of things I've been able to work on: 0

No decisions have been made; no one knows who's doing what. I couldn't even get started if I tried. This is ridiculous.

I did, however, pay off the balance of my car loan. No more car payments! Whoo.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 07:38 PM EST [Link]

 

Sunday, February 2, 2003

Diet? what diet?

All of this earth-shattering news is wreaking havoc on my diet.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 07:20 PM EST [Link]

 

Saturday, February 1, 2003

Disastrous days

The shuttle Columbia blew up today.

I also saw, with my own eyes, the Challenger explosion 17 years ago.

I was in junior high school, a fat, pimply-faced 14-year-old. Way back then, shuttle launches were still a novelty. People routinely stopped what they were doing, no matter where they were, to watch. In Florida, if the launch happened to be scheduled during school hours, many classrooms emptied to go outside.

Ours did. Although to some kids launches were an excuse to get out of class to socialize, I always looked forward to them. I was a science geek through and through, and they never got tiresome for me.

Our class -- I don't remember what subject it was, but I remember what the classroom looked like -- went outside and milled around the courtyard for a few minutes before it went up. The sky was a brilliant blue, and it was a beautiful, crisp, chilly day. Soon, I saw a thick smoke trail climbing into the sky. Standard stuff. Some kids chatted, never really paying attention. Most of us just wanted to go back inside because it was so cold. I watched in awe.

Then, high up in the sky, the smoke trail forked into a "Y" shape. I mentally noted that if that was the solid rocket booster separation, it was leaving a peculiarly thick smoke trail.

The yammering of the crowd slowly turned to whispers. Eventually, some of the stunned looks on the teachers' faces said that something was horribly wrong. I got a knot in my stomach. The Y-shaped smoke trail, getting thicker and thicker as it disspated, hovered in the sky. The teachers started to usher us back into our classrooms. Many of us knew what had happened, but we hoped we weren't right.

For the rest of the day, everyone in school watched TV. Some cried. The video played over and over. We tried to talk about what we saw, but no one could talk. We just watched.

* * *

The business I'm in is peculiar. When a disaster or tragedy happens, we must leave our loved ones instead of taking refuge with them.

I'm at work now. I'll be here late into the night and probably should consider bringing in a cot. And right now, I don't mind.

Posted by Lynniechan @ 05:01 PM EST [Link]