dewd!! they are bringing back 'reboot'!!

I hope, I hope this is true...I *loved* 'Reboot'!! [I own the last season on DVD, even!]

http://www.reallifecomics.com/comics/2007/20070727_1888.png

quick update

Parents made it in safely [40 minutes ahead of schedule!! Nonstop from Columbus, Ohio on new airline Skybus in just over 4 hours...holy carp!!!], we navigated the construction at Oakland International successfully, got lunch, tanked up at Starbucks, did some shopping, did much catching up, got inundated by watches [Dad has found a new eBay obsession :^) ], introduced cats to parents and parents to cats, set up laptop for Dad, got small dinner, kicked back, slept, got up, got ready, got lunch, went to San Jose Flea Market [empty on a Wednesday], ran around town for a while, bought a 4-cup coffee maker and tested it out, set ourselves a quest to find genoa salami [with whole peppercorns, very important] for Dad, now back and relaxing after a busy day.

More detail than you ever wanted, I'm sure... <grin>

[PS - Mom and Dad say 'hi' to everyone!!]

almost time!

Almost time to head to the airport to meet Mom and Dad. Glee!!

a glitch in the matrix

Shower time is my thinking time...I go on auto-pilot with the decades-old routine of scrubbing and cleansing, so my brain is free to move about the cabin. Sometimes it's the hardest part of my day, as my brain goes wandering into mine fields and shadows, imaginary conversations are held, things are replayed and rethought.

Today I'm scrubbing and sudsing, off in deep thought about life, the universe, everything, paths, lines, opportunities, life being short, making time for what's important and what matters, washing my hair, rinsing my hair, thinking, soaping, washcloth, scrubbing, pondering, rinsing soap off, washing my hair, thinking, wait...what?

Yah, I washed my hair twice. So lost in thought that I hit the end of the tape and it looped back and began again. The routine so nice, she did it twice. Deja vu, man...

it never fails

You just finish cleaning the litter pan, and along comes a cat who's all like "Dewd!! Mah bucket!! You cleand it!!! r0xx0r!!!11!!"

And proceeds to dirty it up again.

Never. Frickin'. Fails.

and now the fun part...

Finished "Harry Potter" yesterday around 10pm. It showed up around noon, but I wasn't able to get started until 2p or 3p...it sat there on the table taunting me while I ran around doing errands, making phone calls, and getting things settled. Even once I started reading, I had to set it down occasionally to do another load of laundry, follow up on some email, or check another thing off a 'to do' list. But I made it through it finally, and it was quite a ride.

And now the fun begins...sharing thoughts/opinions/"didja notice?" with friends who also plowed through it in record time. Yay!

ways in which stacey is a freak [part 2 in an infinite series]

She hangs out at Fry's for fun.

sadness

Geez...haven't even made it to the first page of "Deathly Hollows", and I'm already depressed. The inscription on the flyleaf:

"We now present the seventh
and final installment
in the epic tale of
Harry Potter."

<heavy sigh>

sucks to be UPS today

And FedEx and the Postal Service and any delivery service charged with delivering the new Harry Potter book...they must be slammed.

BUT MINE JUST ARRIVED! WHOO HOO!!!

life's near misses

Funny how the mind works. As I was coming back from the grocery store just now, I was stuck at the left-hand turn from San Antonio onto Middlefield by a tow truck and police car. There had been a pretty nasty accident at the intersection, and they were having to tow the car, clean up the glass, sop up the gas and oil. I couldn't help thinking that if I hadn't stayed in the Safeway parking lot typing some email on my PocketPC, it could have been me involved in the crash. Yeah, I know, I know...the chances of that are small, but still, the mind can't help going there. A near miss, a woulda/coulda "sucks to be them, glad I'm me" thing.

The universe can be a right bitch some times, teasing us with missed opportunities, bad timing, flaunting possibilities and futures that we can't quite have. And sometimes it throws you a bone, reminding you of the bits of good timing, the silver linings, the missed opportunities that were better off missed, the good parts you can wheedle out of what seems like a no-win situation. The trick is to appreciate the good stuff whenever you get it...

intense

Just got home from Rod's...an awesome time [sorry, Polina, "awesome" is *not* a midwestern word]. Excellent company, good champagne [with Chambord, yum], good crab cakes [honey soy dip, yum], and six more episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

Holy frakking gods [nods to BSG there], it's intense. Great googly moogly, it's heavy. And real. And emotional. And frakkin' non-stop. Sitting there in the dark, watching in high-def, curled up on the couch clutching Rod for dear life, digging nails into his arm as things just escalate and get more and more tense. Then end of episode, pause for bathroom break, shake it off, release some tension, talk about the ep we just watched, refill the drinks...

...and on to the next one. Then the bastich stops me at midnight with three episodes to go, just at a critical point, leaving me hanging. Rod, you magnificent bastard...

concert report

The Vanilla Ice concert was a good time. Opening band The Brodys were awesome, Ice himself was inked, toned, wearing his ever-present ball cap [is he going bald under there? hmm....], and looking pretty good. His rapping was good, good beats, played well to the crowd. Not a spectacular talent, nothing to really make him stand out other than, dude, he's VANILLA ICE, yo! Ended up the evening soaking wet, ears ringing, and tired but happy.

But let's start at the beginning...

Susy and I grabbed a bite to eat at The Boardwalk in Los Altos [mmm, chicken philly], then headed up into the city [sorry, I mean The City (tm)]. The Red Devil Lounge is easy to get to, even for a non-city-driver like me, which is nice. Tried to find a parking place with little success...drove and drove and drove and drove, spiralling out and around and coming back in then back out, block by block. Finally gave up and paid the $15 plus tip to park at a garage near the venue, and headed out.

First stop, Good Vibrations, just across the street. Love that store, though Susy and I are pretty stocked up after two recent Passion Parties. She did get her "OhMiBod", the <ahem> device <ahem> that you hook into your iPod and it responds to the beats [is that cryptic yet obvious enough?]. Wanna know the best part? It costs $69 <snicker>.

After dropping her purchase at the car, we headed into the club. I love the Red Devil...it's awesome. Dark, black walls and red lights, gargoyles over the bar, tiny tiny tiny...did I mention tiny? They make a kick-ass "Strong Island Iced Tea" [it's fun to watch them make it: glug-glug-glug with the alcohol, four types, then <splish> a teensy amount of mixer...whoo hoo!!], which has become Susy's and my standard drink [one each before the show, then we share one in the break before the headliner comes on].

The place was *packed*. And the crowd was white. White white white. Yeah, not a big surprise, I know. <grin> Even folks who weren't caucasian were white, if you know what I mean. A *big* difference from the Mix-A-Lot crowd, and pretty much what we expected. A fun crowd, all of us smiling and sharing the vibe, with almost a slight embarrassment and "yeah, I know, it's Vanilla Ice" feel to it. We were all in it together, darn it. :^)

The opening act was The Brodys, and they were really good. Fun, rockin', amped, hyper, punk sound. Mix up Social Distortion, The Clash, The Ramones, some Dropkick Murphys, shake well, and you get The Brodys. They were cramped on stage [Ice had his stuff set up and covered with tarps, so the openers had to squeeze in on the smallest stage ever], but managed to give a good show. Some original stuff, and an awesome 80s medley done punk-style [can't remember many of the songs, though "Hungry Like the Wolf" and a Madonna song were in there].

Ice was running late, so The Brodys kept getting the sign to keep playing. "We're going to do one more song...two, two more songs!!" It ended up being four more, and then almost another hour before Mr. Ice came on stage. Crowd was good, though, and we all just hung in there, chatted, bounced to the house DJ who was spinning to keep us distracted.

Then the man himself came on. If you've seen any "where are they now?" shows, you know what he looks like...inked arms, long shorts, white sneakers, ball cap, sleeveless jersey with "187" on the back, little billy goat beard hanging off his chin. Looked good, aged well, came out rapping hard, dope, yo. The stage was done up Halloween-fashion, with small cauldrons hanging from the drums, a ghost/skeleton with creepy clown mask hanging behind Ice's DJ, and a ghosty/spirity thing with flowing sleeves hanging over Ice's head. Well, more like *on* Ice's head...the stage was really small, and he was standing on a platform, so he had to keep peering through the sleeves to be seen. They eventually got the thing tugged up a bit higher, but it was still hilarious to see Ice having to rap around and through his own prop.

[An interesting aside: they found a way for pyrotechnics in such a crowded venue...a small metal grinder. Start it up, then slap a piece of metal to it with the beat and showers of sparks go flying. Pretty cool.]

Like I said, the rapping was good. Not spectacular, but good. He had a very annoying habit of taking a drink of water from a bottle and then throwing the rest onto and into the crowd [hence the "ending the night soaking wet"]. Ice pulled various pneumatic ladies up on stage and made sure to dowse them with water as they were dancing and gyrating, which was quite entertaining. Susy had much fun dancing with some cuties around us [we seem to trade off...last time was me, this time was her, next time should be mine again :^) ]. Crowd was hyped and kept pushing hard...I kept getting knocked over and falling onto the stage [like I said, small club, and stage is only about 18" off the floor]. Everyone was polite though, and kept helping each other up when we tumbled, or catching each other before we fell.

By the way, I do have to give Ice some props...he reworked "Ice, Ice, Baby" and hardened it up a bit. Still the same song we know and love to make fun of, but with a harder edge and more modern rap feel to it.

Ice loved his Jagermeister. He asked for a bottle, someone bought him one, and he drank copiously from it. Then he passed it around, and Susy was on the ball, baby...she snagged it as it went by, and made sure I got a turn [another tradition-in-the-making: at Mix-A-Lot, it was the Hennessey mono bottle]. Hey, alcohol kills germs, right?

Sadly [and lamely], Ice's voice gave out about an hour in, and he had to stop rapping. He took his turn at the drums, which surprised me...and he wasn't bad, which also surprised me. His voice was shot, so he let the DJ do his thing while he drummed, then said basically, "Sorry y'all, thanks San Francisco, peace, out!" and left. But not before throwing his sticks to the crowd...

...and I got one. w00t, I am now the proud owner of a Vanilla Ice drumstick. Look at me go!!! Go white girl, go white girl!!

Then Susy and made our way to the car and headed on home, with a side trip to the Mountain View 7-Eleven that is done up as a Kwik-E Mart [fun!]. Squishees in hand, we ended the night happy, vowing to keep an eye on the Red Devil for more fun, cheesy, oddball concerts. Thanks, Susy...can't wait for the next one!!

ways in which stacey is a freak [part 1 in an infinite series]

Vanilla Ice was wearing a sleeveless jersey last night with the number '187' on the back [yes, Vanilla Ice...*that* Vanilla Ice. More on the concert soon...].

So freak that I am, standing there in a polite but extremely rowdy crowd, getting pushed over onto the stage [yes, I was in the front row...if you are going to see Vanilla Ice, you should do it right], freak that I am, I'm playing games in my head with the number:

187 is 11 times 17.
Times 4 is 748 [48 is a favorite number of mine].
Multiply 7 by 48 and you get 336 times 3 is 1008 [zero and eight are also favorite numbers].
187 x 4 x 3 is 2244...cool.
Double that and you get 4488...more favorite numbers.

Yes, I realize the following is odd:

The fact that I have favorite numbers, plural.
The fact that zero is my all-time favorite number.
The fact that all this is going through my head at a frickin' *rap* concert.

Can't help it. Patterns call to me. Numbers, shapes, behavior. I loved my now-canceled credit card number, because it had five zeros in it and a cool rhythm [dah-dit-dah-dit deduh-dee-dit-zero doo-zero-duh-zero duh-dit-zero-zero]. I notice symmetry, I notice when it's missing. I pattern-match, I generalize past data, notice similarities and am able to use them to deduce possibly-related solutions [which serves me well in my work].

I love when I am hand-writing a note and I am able to right-justify the lines.

I love packing groceries, clothes, purchases and getting them to fit as efficiently as possible into the space available. I will play with permutations of a 12-pack of soda, a carton of milk, a box of cereal, and a case of toilet paper to get it into as compact and cubic a bundle as I can.

Tessellations fascinate me. I have three canisters of addictive things called "Busy Beetles", interlocking plastic pieces that fit together in many, many different ways. You can make solids, spirals, snowflakes, just by varying the patterns of connectivity. It's more intriguing than it sounds...I used to take them to work, and people would spend more time than they should playing with them.

I play games in my head with license plate numbers. Try to make poker hands, multiply the digits in various combinations to see what I can end up with, grab numbers from adjacent cars to get a pleasing result.

I found this comic incredibly sweet and funny and familiar [be sure to read the hover text as well...it adds to the sweetness]: http://xkcd.com/c289.html

-----

Okay I'm going to stop this now...if I continue listing the ways I find patterns in life, I'll never stop typing. I'll sum it up:

Hi, my name is Stacey, and I'm a pattern watcher.

i heart love

The other night, I found myself thinking about previous lives and previous loves and then about love in general. By all accounts, love is one of the primary driving forces for humanity [as is sex, but that's a topic for another time]. And with love, I include companionship, company, friendship, and so on...all involve some form of affection and desire for someone's company. We want to love, we want to be loved. We want to belong, to know that there is someone who accepts us, supports us, listens, shares.

Heinlein describes love as that state in which "another person's happiness becomes essential to your own". I like that. It's a little codependent-sounding, but then, love is inherently codependent. Love is ego death, wherein you give up a part of yourself and join it to another. You still maintain your own identity and individuality, and at the same time you add to it by including another.

In my not-too-long-but-still-long-enough time on this earth, I've found there tend to be two main types of attitudes towards love: one holds that love is an endless supply and has endless variations; the second sees love as finite, and can't be given to someone else without diminishing the love for another. A previous love of mine was the second type, and was jealous/insecure/uncertain any time I mentioned a close friend, or talked about a cool person I met...he felt that by letting another into my heart, I was compromising my feelings for him. He could not understand that there was room for many there, that we can love parents, friends, puppies, places, and ourselves without ever decreasing the supply. He thought that because the other people in my life filled slightly different needs or clicked in different ways, it meant that he was lacking in some way, that I was telling him that he wasn't enough to make me happy. [Ironically, he ended up cheating on me...so while I was spending my time reassuring him that I did care about him deeply and he did make me happy, he was looking for someone who wouldn't challenge him, someone he felt was singularly devoted to him and wouldn't make him face those fears directly.]

I think that life is uncertain enough that we should seek out love where we can, encourage it to grow. Doesn't matter who or what...just take care of each other, love each other, respect each other. I try to live by that principle as best I can. And to the people in my life, the ones I've let in beyond my boundaries: I love you.

earworm phenomena

You won't thank me for these links. I've posted one before, but now I have the trifecta:

Earwig #1, a classic:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MW4TgdKoYo

Earwig #2, making its second appearance in this blog:
    http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/60413/detail/

And finally, dredged from the depths of Stacey's memory and lovingly archived by many on teh intrawebs, I give you Earwig #3:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOvu4VARsao

You're welcome and I'm sorry.

seeking contentment

I was once questioned about my goals in life...my answer was that my goal was to be content, that I seek contentment.

Not happiness, not as a goal. Happiness is transient; it's moments in time, it ebbs and flows. It is a point state that doesn't coexist well with some other states: you can't be happy and angry, for instance.

Contentment is a more general state of being. I can be content with my life, yet still have minor irritations, be angry, be sad, be happy, be up, be down. As a goal, seeking contentment colors every decision I make, every path I travel.

I definitely want happy moments. But striving solely to be happy can be limiting, and can lead to disappointment and a feeling of failure when you have those oh-so-human 'not happy' moments.

So I seek contentment...

myfriendjen rocks

I love MyFriendJen (tm)...she rocks. She gets me, and is different enough in outlook and temperament that she sees some parts of life in ways that I normally wouldn't. She validates me, lets me know that my instincts and initial reactions are good; she gives me pep talks and also talks me down when I'm wound up about something. She will express the things that I am feeling, thus freeing me from having to do it [it's nice when a friend gets indignant on your behalf]. And she is caring, doing things like dropping off random care packages when I'm down, or [like this morning] sending text messages to wish me a happy last day at work.

She's a good'un.

victim

Well, I know why my credit card didn't go through at happy hour tonight: my number has been compromised. At least eleven fraudulent charges since yesterday, some for $1 [test charges to see if the next one will go through], some for hundreds. Random places like a Walgreen's in Illinois, websites like myfamilyancestry.com and the Apple online store, and [this one cracks me up] even a European website that "provides secure
online credit card and check processing for purchases made over the Internet" [ah, the irony].

I've got to say, Chase [my credit card company] is impressing me so far. The charges just started yesterday, and some of them were already flagged as 'hold pending approval'...which meant that they didn't actually go through. They walked me through the charges one by one and confirmed multiple that I would not be liable for any of the fraudulent ones. That card number has been closed out, new card is on the way, credit agencies are being notified [note to self: check credit records in 61 days]. In under 24 hours, Chase noticed the questionable activity, flagged the transactions and held some for approval, and denied further charges...nice. Here's hoping it stays that straightforward.

The scary thing is that I have no idea how the number was compromised. Didn't buy from any dodgy websites, didn't leave my card lying anywhere, no receipts left lying around. For all I know, the number could have been taken months ago, written down by some random person in a restaurant while the waitress was waiting to punch in my total, or picked out of the trash from some business somewhere. I'm a pretty cautious and aware user of my credit card, but you can't control every single factor and every single step, as I am finding out.

Cross your fingers that it goes smoothly from here...this could be nasty.

happy hour

My last happy hour as a Code Green employee...it was a lot of fun. About 30 people showed up, which is the most I've seen. Good group, fun conversations. I bought a bottle of Tequila, some lemonade, and some root beer, then poured it out in shot glasses for everyone [shots of lemonade for the non-alcohol types], then thanked everyone and toasted the company. I really enjoyed myself [even though my credit card didn't go through for some reason...calling the company now].

[Side note: the frickin' shakes hit me hard as I was pouring...those "essential tremors" that I've been dealing with for a while. They come and go, and they get worse when I try to lift heavier things one-handed [like a tequila bottle] or do precise work [like holding a full shot glass]. I had to ask for help pouring, but I've been dealing with this off and on for a while, so while it's awkward, it's not embarassing to me. Though to be honest, tonight scared me a little bit...it hasn't been quite that bad before. And a good friend pointed out recently that I have a slight tremor/tic around my mouth [and thank you for noticing, my friend], so it's another data point to keep an eye on...if it starts interfering with my quality of life [and tonight was kind of close], it's time for a battery of tests to see what is going on and what can be done.]

Tomorrow is my last day at Code Green...those last moments are always a bit weird, bittersweet, whoohoo/boohoo for me.

thanks, susy!

If it wasn't for happening to run into you today, I wouldn't have realized that the Harry Potter movie opened today and not Friday [my separated-at-birth twin/brother/clone confirmed that Friday was the original release date, but they moved it up to squeeze in more weekend revenue].

Armed with that new bit of knowledge courtesy of Susy, I decided to take my chances and see how the crowds were. I headed over to the theater around 5:50p, parking lot was fairly full. As I walked up to the window, I got a bit worried...people were already lining up for the *7p* show. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I went up to the window and asked about the 6p show. Plenty of seats still available, so I got my ticket, walked straight in, got one of the good "put your feet on the railings" seats, and enjoyed [while feeling slightly smug when thinking about those folks standing outside waiting in line for another hour while I sat there already enjoying the movie]. To make it even better, it was "free popcorn Wednesday" for Movie Watcher members, and I also earned enough points to get a free movie ticket. Whoo hoo!!

[And yes, I'm deliberately not commenting on the movie. Go see it, then we'll share observations and opinions...]

mountain view's happening new night spot...

...is the 7-Eleven at 1380 Pear Avenue. Seriously. That place is hopping. It's one of eleven in the country made up to look like the Kwik-E Mart from "The Simpsons" [see earlier entry, complete with links to pics], and there is a steady stream of people coming, going, shopping, buying Squishees and Buzz Cola [at over $5 for a six-pack!], taking pictures with the "life-size" Homer Simpson figure. The employees are all wearing Apu-like shirts, and are all talking with an Apu-like inflection...people are having fun with it.

If you are in the area, it's worth stopping by. Be sure to look for the old man in the freezer...

five miles long

Courtesy of Bad Gods: every headline in this ticker can be sung to the tune of "Camptown Races". Just add a "doo-dah, doo-dah" at the end, and away you go!!

[Aaaahhh! I can't stop watching! And now the tune is stuck in my head!!]

i can see clearly now

Okay, it's not me that's seeing clearly, but my friend Rod...went with him as he had lasik done on his right eye. It's pretty frickin' fascinating...they had a monitor in the waiting room that showed you the current procedure going on. I couldn't take my eyes off it [ugh...no pun intended]. It's amazing what we can do...it's just so Buck Rogers: "So, Mr. Hylton, we are going to clip your eye open, slice a bit of it and fold it back to expose the inner surface, shoot a laser at it, and by tomorrow morning, your eyesight will be 20/15."

He called me today and I loved hearing him talk about it...he is 20/15 in the lased eye. It really is a life-changing experience. You wouldn't think seeing clearly without correction would be, but it is...you turn into this giddy fool, gushing "I can read that sign!!" over and over. My personal "Whaaahooo!" moment with mine was taking a shower the next morning [not even 18 hours after my surgery, mind you]...I looked up at the shelf and could read the shampoo and conditioner bottles. It doesn't sound like much, but when you are nearly blind in one eye and can't see until you put on your glasses or insert your contacts, that is an awesome thing to experience. It's hard to describe, but once you go through it, you are changed. It's like a religious epiphany...

So how did Rod and I celebrate his new eyesight? By watching the episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" that I haven't seen yet. Many of them in high-def [heh...I told Rod that he is now seeing in high-def, that he just went from analog to digital vision <grin> ]. Still more to go to catch me up on the series...but holy carp [fish with a halo :^) ], is it intense. Wow.

Darn you, Mr. Roderick Roy(e) Hylton...you've got me hooked. And congrats on the new eyes...you should celebrate by seeing the new Harry Potter movie [they released it today! two days ahead of the originally planned date!].

celebrate convenience

It's 7/11 today...Slurpee time!

hic

hic

hic

hnnnk [mouth closed]

hic

"Hel-hic-lo?" [answering the phone, followed by...]

"Bwah-ha-ha-HIC-ha-ha-HIC-ha!!!"

the flip side of the coin

There is the more traditional and affirming Johari window, and Susan pointed me to the also helpful but more emotionally difficult Nohari window. Ouch.

a break in the routine

A friend had surgery Friday afternoon. I picked him up at the hospital and stayed the weekend to help him out while he was recuperating. Food, meds, liquids, pillows to elevate, all that stuff. Brought a care package of magazines, graphic novels, and movies galore [the kind that require no engaging o' the brain, like "Bedazzled", "Bubba Ho-Tep", "Runaway", "Frankenhooker", and my personal favorite kick-ass movie, "They Live"]. A trip to the emergency room Friday night when the pain got out of control, and the corresponding visit to the 24-hour pharmacy. Twenty-pound bag of ice to fill the very-much-needed ice packs. Watching Stargate episodes. Feeding the cats. Lots of talking, very engaging tangential conversations [my favorite kind]. Met his kids, who were awesome energy bundles. Pizza from The Garrett [yum]. Trips to the store to get food 'n' stuff. Before I left today, I did dishes and put them away, cleaned the cat box, gathered trash and took it
out...all the random daily stuff that he hopefully won't have to worry about for at least another day or so. And I enjoyed it muchly.

I've been spending so much time in my own head lately, juggling pros and cons, paths and choices, future plans and possibilities and plans for those possibilities, getting locked in my own brain and bouncing around in there like a super ball. This weekend gave me a chance to put that aside for a bit, to focus on something completely external for a while. I really enjoy doing things for people I respect and care about, and it's fun to try to anticipate and provide for things they might need. It lets me use my empathy, my MacGuyver skills, my 'yeah-but-what-if' tendency, stretch my planning/thinking/staging/anticipating muscles...and it's nice to use those to hopefully make things a little easier for a friend.

So while I'm sorry that he has to go through all of this, I'm thankful that he let me help. Because it ended up helping me, too...

yay!

My parents are coming out to spend a few weeks with me...yay! Looking forward to having them here very, very, very, very, very...<deep breath>

...very, very, very much. See you soon, Mom and Dad!!

bummer

The day started out well, with a leisurely sleep-in and a nice walk. But then I got caught up in random real world stuff [insurance, car] and ended up missing out on some of the holiday festivities [sorry I missed the fun, Sam]. C'est la vie, es la vida, so it goes...darn it.

having fun

Sent this as a warranty replacement request to Dell this afternoon:

"Hard drive is dead. Dead, dead, dead. Pushing up the daisies, shuffled off this mortal coil, it is an ex-hard drive.

Can't format, can't write, disk utilities don't like it, it's way gone, man.

Please kindly ship a replacement drive. No need for a technician, just ship that puppy out and I'll get it replaced for its dearly departed brother so we can revive the machine in which it resides.

Cheers and thanks --

-- a very punchy IT manager named stacey :^) "

Got a reply...very business-like, "We will ship your replacement drive blah blah". And then at the bottom: "(btw, thx for the laugh :D)"

I love IT. I love IT people. I love IT people who get the jokes, and share them, and acknowledge them.

mmmmm, donuts....

As part of the marketing for the upcoming Simpson's movie, some 7-Elevens are being redone as "Kwik-E Marts", inside and out...including merchandise like Krusty-Os and Squishees: http://tinyurl.com/23ptvg

And one of them is down the road from me...whoo hoo!!!

http://flickr.com/photos/mlaaker/sets/72157600595691223