2:14 PM
My grandmother's in town for the week, so we all went out to dinner last night at Marie Calendar's. They've got some good meatloaf over there, but the sauce/gravy was a little too thick for my taste. I like just plain meatloaf with either a little ketchup or A1 on the side.
I was on call last night, and I didn't get much sleep. This whole week is turning out to be a pretty weird one. I'm taking the next two days off for the holiday, then I'm coming back to work to try and get some work done in an empty office!
2:28 PM
Tammy and I didn't go to Disneyland last night like we have the last two or three years. We were just too pooped. We did see the fireworks from the 57 freeway when we were driving home, though!
We will be there on Tuesday night for New Year's Eve for sure. I'd wager that December 31st is consistently the most crowded day at Disneyland year-round.
Everybody's excited to be there, nobody cares too much about going on rides, and everyone has a good time! It's definitely not a regular day at Disneyland though. Last year Small World Mall had a DJ blasting techno music through Fantasyland.
We might spend this year over at DCA though, depending on what kind of mood we're in. There will be no less than five bands playing south of the esplinade, and I'm sure the place will be deserted as always.
4:36 PM
Somehow my Nokia 5165 wasn't recognizing my security code. It didn't prevent me from using the phone, but apparently you have to use the security code to clear out all of the messages in your inbox at once.
Here's the thing though...I never changed that security code, and the default (12345) was apparantly not the right one!
So I did some research and found a secret programming menu on the phone!
If you've got a 5165 or any similar Nokia phone, go to the main screen and press *3001#12345#. That'll get you into the secret NAM programming area. Scroll down to 'security' and you can view (and change) the current code.
Strangely enough, it showed my code as being '12345'. I reset it to be '12345' anyway, and now it works.
I never have to use that security code for anything, so I'm guessing the EEPROM must have got scrambled up somehow over the past few months.
11:05 AM
Don't forget! Sci-Fi will throw a Farscape marathon on Christmas Eve Day - next Tuesday! They'll play the first 11 episodes of season 4 from 8am to 7pm.
8:00 AM CRICHTON KICKS
9:00 AM WHAT WAS LOST -PT 1: SACRIFICE
10:00 AM WHAT WAS LOST -PT 2: RESURRECTION
11:00 AM LAVA'S A MANY SPLENDORED THING
12:00 PM PROMISES
1:00 PM NATURAL ELECTION
2:00 PM JOHN QUIXOTE
3:00 PM I SHRINK THEREFORE I AM
4:00 PM A PREFECT MURDER
5:00 PM COUP BY CLAM
6:00 PM UNREALIZED REALITY
The remaining as-yet-unaired 11 episodes will air sometime next year, then it's lights out! :(
12:05 PM
We put up some Christmas lights on our house this weekend.
The previous owners had installed some clips underneath the awnings that made it super easy to get those things up. Otherwise I didn't know how I was going to make it work.
It sure rained hard yesterday!
We're borrowing a ladder from Tammy's parents, so next weekend I'm going to make it my mission to explore our attic, which I haven't even seen yet. I'm hoping to install a discone antenna up there for my scanner at some point, but that'll involve spending money that I don't seem to have right now! Doh!
11:39 AM
I got the DSL all hooked up last night at the Anaheim house last night.
We're paying for 768-1500 down and 256 up. Speed tests show about what I'd expect...1200 down and 240 up.
I just wish cable modems were available out there. I get like 1500-1800 down in Palos Verdes on cable for about ten bucks less than equivalent DSL speeds. Can't have it all I guess!
2:58 PM
I would like to take this opportunity to mention that the political opinions expressed here are my own, and in no way reflect Tammy's opinions. In fact, we're pretty much opposites when it comes to that stuff.
Tammy would like you to know that:
"I fully support my country and any decision my president makes."
11:39 AM
"Highlighter pens" should be called "Highlight for a week or so, then turn into regular yellow marker pens."
ATTENTION highlighter pens! I bought you because you were neon yellow color. I would appreciate it if you didn't change. It is a form of false advertising.
1:12 PM
A brief rundown on the current Iraq situation.
Gulf War ends
World Trade Center goes down
President says "Anyone making nukes is bad, and we'll take all them suckas out. That means Iraq too, bitch!"
Iraq's all "Where did this come from? You beat us down less than ten years ago. We're clean!
World says "WTF is wrong with you, America? Iraq hasn't hurt anyone since the Gulf War. Is it a crime to possess nuclear weapons or something? We don't even know that they're making nukes to begin with!"
America's all like "We have proof! It's secret proof, but we'll show it to Britain."
Britan's all "Yup, seems good to us!"
(North Korea reveals they have nuclear weapons program. America somehow does not notice.)
The UN's like "Ok, we're gonna shut you up, Bush! We'll send in some inspectors, just don't go attacking anybody yet ok?"
President Bush goes "What the...you can't do that! We're America! We'll do what we want when we want! You can talk to the hand, biatch! But we like the perks of this UN thing, so we'll just lower our weapons - for now - as long as the inspections are on our terms!"
UN goes "FINE. Done! Now shut up and go away!"
Inspections go on. Nothing (yet) is found that could be used to assemble a nuclear device.
America ships thousands of troops to the Gulf "just in case."
Saddam sees troops coming and pees his pants. He's all "God damn. What's it gonna take? We don't have anything! How many times do we have to say it! These guys are frickin' nuts!"
Iraq does everything humanly possible to avoid any kind of armed confrontation with the United States:
* Iraq fully complies with the UN resolutions and gives inspectors full and complete access to the country.
* Saddam issues international apology for invading Kuwait at the start of the Gulf War.
* Iraq releases 11,000 page document to prove it's on the up-and-up.
President Carter says publically that as long as Iraq continues to cooprate, there is no need for war.
President Bush continues to move more troops to the Gulf area.
So that's my take on the whole situation. I probably got some parts wrong because I get most of my political news from network television and hippies on NPR. Anyway, no matter what happens with the inspections, I'm pretty sure that President Bush will figure out a way to launch an assault against Iraq and piss off the rest of the world in the process.
12:07 PM
The DSL modem is supposed to arrive at the new house before Wednesday this week, and the phone jack in the room where it will go was dead silent when we moved in. The previous owners had a second phone line that they used for dial-up in there, so the jack needed to be re-wired to work with our one line.
I spent about an hour on Saturday teaching myself about telephone wiring and managed to do it on my own, saving about a hundred bucks in the process. The phone company charges something outrageous like $81 for the first hour plus $25 for each additional hour for a service call.
Saturday night Tammy and I went with some friends of hers from work to Disneyland. Stacy and Steve dropped by too, and we all got dinner at the French Market. We watched the snow and everything that night, but man oh man was it crowded. Every day in December is pretty packed over there, and with good reason!
Sunday morning Sears came out to deliver and install our new washer and dryer. Sunday night we headed out to Tammy's uncle's place to watch the Huntington Beach boat parade with family and some friends.
We still have a lot of boxes to unpack and organize, and slip covers for our couches are a few paychecks away, but our home is shaping up pretty nicely!
4:29 PM
For some reason I really can't wait for my new shoes to arrive. I think it's because the pair of New Balances that I'm wearing now are totally worn out.
The other night as I was fading in and out of sleep I saw a commercial for these new shoes from Land's End called "Trekkers." In my sleepy haze I thought they were awesome, and I needed a new pair of shoes, so I bought a pair today!
There are no laces! That seems to be the trend in sneakers these days, and I think it looks dumb, but I figured I might as well get with the times and start wearing what the kids are wearing!
The price is right, too! $29.50 for a pair of sneakers is less than half as much as I'd expect to pay at a Foot Locker for a pair of Nikes or New Balances or whatever!
I'll let you know how they are when they get here!
4:18 PM
I would say that about 80% of the junkmail (not e-mail) that I receive are credit card applications. I usually mail back their postage-paid envelopes with nothing in them, but that gets annoying, and it stops feeling satisfying after the first month.
The solution? Call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT and you can elect to have your name removed from the four credit agencies' mailing lists permanently. That means you'll see a significant decrease in the amount of junk mail that you receive. For real!
Call today! It's totally automated. Don't freak out when it asks for your social security number. That's how credit agencies identify you (obviously!)
10:06 AM
I spent all of last week helping Tammy move in to our new house. I think she's pretty much all set! I don't move in until August, but I'll be spending my weekends there for sure.
This way I can tell people that I also have a 'weekend home' and I won't be lying!
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