upgrade

little mr. rhea is a big boy now.
cascade or bust.
i remember when he was a smoking, partying, beer-goggled coop. i'm not even sure he knew how to ride a bike. stook, our little baby's all grows up!

21c art hotel

heard an npr piece today on an art hotel in of all places louisville, ky. they said there's one coming to austin - wanna bet soco? it's a 24/7 contemporary art museum and hotel.

this one looks like something zach would do.

meander

i've never really followed the green austin bike route signs. i suppose they could be useful, but i always followed the routes i either learned while on the wheel of someone directionally gifted, or carved out through years of wandering. i ignored the signs.

tonight i used route 29 as part of my wander home and was quite pleased. now i have a new flat alternative to lake austin/scenic/matthews/pecos or exposition/balcones.

and what do you know, the bike route map is now a pdf online. i probably still have my 10 yr old paper copy that i picked up at freewheeling back when the caad 3 was new and shiny.

austin bike route map

seymour hersh

too busy to do my own reading. so i'm stealing this one from quirk.

hope

electoral projections look promising: 1, 2.
(thanks quirk)

good read

cut, kill, dig, drill.

What is most striking about her is that she seems perfectly untroubled by either curiosity or the usual processes of thought. When answering questions, both Obama and Joe Biden have an unfortunate tendency to think on their feet and thereby tie themselves in knots: Palin never thinks. Instead, she relies on a limited stock of facts, bright generalities and pokerwork maxims, all as familiar and well-worn as old pennies. Given any question, she reaches into her bag for the readymade sentence that sounds most nearly proximate to an answer, and, rather than speaking it, recites it, in the upsy-downsy voice of a middle-schooler pronouncing the letters of a word in a spelling bee. She then fixes her lips in a terminal smile.

the author speaks my mind. (thanks unk)

palin the brilliant knower of foreign policy

can't resist. it is just too perfect.


Watch CBS Videos Online

i don't know if i'll be able to handle a whole debate of this quality on thursday. i may have to limit my intake.

history refresher

needed to remind (inform) a friend about the u.s. training of the mujaheddin in the 80s. this person had totally forgotten about the recent history leading up to what happened in sept '01. folks do not seem to grasp the extent to which the u.s. stirs the pot nor the consequences therein. excerpt:

The last word goes to Zbigniew Brzezinski: “Prior to the devastating September 11 attack on the twin towers of World Trade Center, US ruling-class figures remained unrepentant about the consequences of their dirty deals with the likes of bin Laden, Hekmatyar and the Taliban. Since the awful attack, they have been downright hypocritical."

In an August 28, 1998, report posted on MSNBC, Michael Moran quotes Senator Orrin Hatch, who was a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee which approved US dealings with the mujaheddin, as saying he would make “the same call again”, even knowing what bin Laden would become.

"It was worth it. Those were very important, pivotal matters that played an important role in the downfall of the Soviet Union."

"What was more important in the world view of history? The Taliban or the fall of the Soviet Empire? A few stirred up Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the Cold War?"

because clearly we have the situation under control.

link

rethuglican resentment

i'm going to quote nearly the whole thing because i can't decide how best to paraphrase him, and frankly i'm not in the mood to write anything novel on the sad state of affairs. all i can say is the general voting public in this country has fallen to the level of a numb trash tv addict no longer capable of seeking and learning new information, formulating intelligent and (god forbid) well-read opinions, or functioning in society as a responsible/respectful citizen.

from one of my favorite central texas gardners:

...In the past I have written about the "spiritual discipline against resentment." Well, after watching the Republicans it is easy to see they have no spiritual discipline whatsoever - in fact, Governor Palin's speech and most of the other sneering rants that oozed from the podium were the spiritual equivalent of resentment stoking. The R's have taken a page from the very worst identity politics of begrudged charlatans like Al Sharpton and and are now claiming to be the victims of terrible, condescending "elites and the media." They wear their alledged victimhood like thorny crowns, whining about their mistreatment. Never mind the fact that the so-called conservative movement has held sway in Washington for most of the past thirty years, and that Fox News and dozens of other media outlets are little more that propaganda machines for Republican party. Meanwhile, the Democrats have passively allowed the Republicans to engage in disasatrous wars and drive the nation ever deeper into debt while the so-called "media elite" has gone along for the ratings ride. What we witnessed last week was McCain's final capitulation to the very same "agents of intolerance" (his words) who once savaged him, spreading lies about the legitmacy of his daughters, his sanity, even his sexuality. So much for McMaverick! I thought mavericks weren't supposed to sell their souls.


We need to be very clear about this, the alleged "conservative" movement is now a sham that has disintegrated into corruption and cronyism while diminishing American power in the world and bringing our economy to its knees (if not the knees of the nations that actually own us!) Real conservatives don't tax their grandchildren. Real conservatives don't cheat veterans. Real conservatives don't ignore the constitution. Real conservatives don't pillage the earth without a care for tomorrow. Real conservatives don't whine and wring thier hands about how put-upon they are. The truth is the Republicans are not "conservatives" at all, they are reactionaries. The party of Lincoln has become the party of George Wallace and Elmer Gantry - a shot-gun marriage of old fashioned greed and willful ignorance that is whipped into a froth of bitter resentment every four years. Governor Palin is George W. Bush in a skirt - a pretty smokescreen of train-wreck family values happily allowing herself to be used as a distraction designed to make people bury the hope for real change under a smoldering pile of fake resentments. While preaching bi-partisanship, McCain has chosen the low road of divide through fear politics. Shame on us all if he succeeds.

link

well said, tom. and thanks unk for the intro to a new slangism.

no credentials. whatsoever.

let me just say, this woman is simply a dumb broad. and i hate that label, but in this case, the shoe fits.

antifeminist impalinator

quick friday blurb.

palin the cat and polar bear hater

4 of her best friends give up the dirt on palin.

she kills moose. she hates cats. she'd rather eat polar bear than put them on the endangered species list (after all, she doesn't believe in human-caused global warming). only 1 of the 4 says she'll vote for her. 3 of the 4 are pro-choice and don't support palin's pro-life stance. at the end of the interview the group of friends who calls themselves the 'elite 6' state proudly how diverse they are. huh? what's diverse about being elite white middle aged middle class hockey moms? do you believe they identify with anyone who is not of that demographic? link

bellicose mccain

4 minutes from a fellow pow in vietnam who knew john mccain.

"Most of my experience with him was living across the hall from him. He was well known by his classmates and everybody that knew him as a very volatile guy and he would blow up and go off like a Roman candle at any possible time. He was very sensitive and touchy... John McCain is not somebody that I would like to see with his finger near the red button."

the palinator

normally i am unfazed by celebrity endorsements or rants, but these days i'm reading anything and everything i can about this woman because she's a political nobody who could soon become our vp and potentially the pres'. so i stumbled upon this nugget tonight. not only is matt damon cute, he makes a solid point that's been brewing in my head since august 29 and takes a nice jab at oh-so-wholesome disney and makes a dinosaur joke. it's fabulous.

the point that the media's avoiding: what if mccain, self-admittedly old as dirt, kicks it during his term and we get stuck with president sarah hockey mom palin. this woman has no friggin credentials. is anyone paying attention?

I need to know if she really thinks that dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago. I want to know that, I really do. Because she's gonna have the nuclear codes.

watch the video. it's worth it.

scary palin

is anyone listening to this woman? is she high? pray for oil.

"God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gasline built. So pray for that."

and mccain: huh. i got an idea. let's endorse the sturgis motorbike rally and win fans by offering up my trophy blonde - uh i mean arm candy - darnit i mean wife - for an absolutely degrading beauty contest.

"I encouraged Cindy to compete," he told the crowd. "I told her [that] with a little luck, she could be the only woman to serve as both the first lady and Miss Buffalo Chip."

oh this is quite the honor. as if they don't know...



here and here are the types of beauty contests held at sturgis. wrong on so many levels. you don't have to be a feminist to know this is rotten. i believe the conservatives would use the phrase 'morally corrupt' for this one.

curly wing moth

she didn't metamorphose properly. don't know what kind of moth she is but i found her laying eggs on the floor of my garage. she's huge. fatter than my thumb. later that night i found a cousin of hers flying around in the moonlight out front. gorgeous.

come to think of it, there was a monstrous black spiny caterpillar crawling up my garage stairs some days ago. i scooped it up and put it out front by the garage in the soil by the gas meter. wonder if that was her in her youth. right size.

update: imperial moth. (thanks patrice)

toe injury club

i really do know better than to move a 100 lb sink stand with stainless steel feet caps in sandals by myself. but occasionally i need a reminder.

while i'm attempting to finish a remodel without severing any digits, luck has landed me a local job in my field. 2 jobs actually. the offers came in an hour apart. but i can only take 1. gladly, it's back to work in 2 weeks.

thanks for all your well wishes and advice. looks like it's going to work out.

roadtrip

bridge in brady (i think) on the return at night. 17 hr drive straight through from durango. somewhere past there a really fat raccoon lost its life. sorry little guy. if it makes you feel any better, you effed up my bumper on my pristine car.

wearing the wounds of the horse gulch ride.

how do people live here. it's awful.

there isn't a bad backdrop in the entire state.

now i know what jeeping is. thanks ron.

they have excellent new mexican enchiladas in durango.

i didn't see the color organized tape. good coffee next door.

the bridge in brady (i think). heading out.

the moots. she smiles all the time. she has no idea where we're going.

roadtrip

dog on a roadside picnic table. inga and i went to colorado. traveling with a dog is not easy.

just my type

do i get extra points for symmetry?

this must be a popular quiz lately. i've been asked my myers-briggs personality 3 times in 2 weeks, including at happy hour friday where i drank beers next to my manager who knew i was getting laid off monday (no hard feeings).

so, there you have it. i'm sure the free internet source was reliable, and i'm certain this complex algorithmic output determines my fate. but i'm too cheap to buy the manual. will just have to wing it.

you know, i've always wanted my palm read. i remember this story of an eccentric woman friend of my mom's in california. she had hers read. the gypsy told her she would meet her husband soon and he would have red hair and a mustache. guess what? (sarcastic tone) her future husband had red hair and a mustache. at any rate, i do think it would be fun. and then i could go through life with an ingrained search pattern for a predetermined set of parameters, and marry the man/woman (to be fair) that fit the bill. i can see the potential for success.

(on second thought, some of this personal stuff is too much fun not to post)

or maybe the gypsy would tell me to avoid taking on a roommate despite being unemployed because it might be bad for my health. craigslist sent me some winners last week. i posted an ad for a roommate, male or female, $650/mo. responsible, quiet, etc. first one out of the gate: desperation.

There are 3 of us, my sister from Manchester, England, my wife and I from Vancouver, BC, here spending time with our 82 year old father in a nursing home in Austin, Texas, dying of bone cancer. Our stay is indefinite, and we are relying on faith in God to help us through this ordeal. We can afford $500+ per month for a room with two beds with utilities included, and internet access would be nice as I am maintaining church website. Also willing to pay or work in exchange for accomodation. I am experienced in all areas of computers, webmaster, carpentry, electronics, engineering and a great handiman. My wife, [x], extremely clean, has accounting, booking keeping, computer and baby sitting/nanny experience. My sister, [x] has teaching, music, banking, child-care center and computer experience. Thanks.

where to begin. how does $650 for 1 become $500 for 3? math much? is this story for real? who pours out their most personal drama to a stranger on craigslist? the email had a thread attached below with numerous identical requests sent to multiple ads. i don't know if that was an attempt to include references, or proof that they were trying hard, or just sloppiness.

round two: and in this corner we have the hummanitarian (sic)

Hello Renter

I saw you advert on CL,and i thought i should let you know that i am interested in it cause the fee to be paid and location sounds great to me as it is has almost what i am looking for in a place to live.

My name is [FIRST LAST IN ALL CAPS],a Hummanitarian nurse and also a make up artist,but keep my other job as part time/or i should say one of my hobbies

A little about me,i love to live with clean people,caring,responsible,neat type. I'm 5"7' straight,I will love to move in as soon as possible, but it all depends on the availability of the room,I speaks French and English, so you have the chance to learn french ,i am an interesting person to live with,I'll let You know more about me if i am to rent the particular room that you have to offer ,all i will want to know if the availability of the place

I will be anxiously waiting for your email ,I want you to know that i really need the room now and i am the serious type paying rent ,when emailing me please tell me more about the place if you have any and please tell me more about the place..

Kind Regards
[x]

spell much? grammar lately? since when did i become a renter? i thought i was advertising a room out of my own house. i honestly wonder which language is her native tongue. i hope french. would you rent to this person? would you fear writing her back to say 'no thanks' and use a junkmail address?

i took the ad down. i'm a little hesitant to put it back up. there has to be a better way.

what's next

looks like vacation came early this year.

Dear [kitty]:
I just wanted to see how you were doing. I am sorry that you were released this morning. I cannot imagine your sadness and disappointment. However, please know that it was a great honor working with you. It is indeed such an uncommon occurrence to encounter someone like you who has both the tenacity and moral integrity in a R&D environment. I will miss you tremendously. And my sadness of your departure is great. Please know that [*] and I will be praying that you find employment quickly. And please feel free to contact me if you need anything at all. Have a blessed day.

[officemate]

yes and look what tenacity and moral integrity brought me. same thing it brought me when the university pulled my phd in my 6th year of grad school. same thing i got for loving a man for 7 years who didn't want me for who i am. i think i have paid my dues and would like a refund please.

sorry, i don't usually write about personal stuff. it slipped.

end of the line

boss goes on travel sunday. layoffs will be announced monday. coincidence?

we've called a happy hour today because you could cut the tension with a knife. you can see it in the faces in the hall. hear it in the voice on the intercom.

we're pretty sure at least one in our group is getting axed. i took home a box of stuff wednesday. i'll be prepared to pack and go monday am.

i can't help but question the logic of it.

we hired 6-8 people in the past year and upper mgmt gave themselves $375k in raises. our profits are about $4M, expenditures about $4.5M. and that scenario has repeated itself every year since 1997.

math?

oh, austin.

going somewhere. not sure where yet.


now if i leave i can at least say i took a picture of pennybacker bridge.


this sums up how i felt this week. my ulcer is back with vengeance and there's a knot in my neck that keeps me from looking over my left shoulder.

rough wednesday

thoughts from yesterday on the drive home after day 2 of fretting over layoffs and a nerve racking midterm visit from homeland security.

1. why does the consumer of pt cruisers always drive like shit? could it be that they are distracted by their ugly vehicles?

2. do stalkers know they're stalking? harassers know they're harassing? no. they don't.

time to move.

cat time

they smell like earth. they've not been outdoors since they were 6 wks old, yet somehow they smell like earth. i love that smell.

i wonder what they think when they smell me.

deadbeat matt

this is so worth it. i smiled for 4 minutes. now my face hurts. link from boing boing

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

schistosomiasis

quirkmaster, while i know you try to read the entire internet at least once daily, it's a shame you boycott my blog. look at what you're missing. even better than pachysandra.

“I gave myself 50 worms, and I felt it,” he recounted. “I had stomach pains and diarrhea. But with 10 worms, we’ve ascertained a dose that does not cause symptoms. The patients are happy. They’ve kept their worms, and I get an e-mail a day from people all over the world who want to be infected.” link

mutating ccr5

"This trick would not eliminate the virus, but it might be able to permanently raise the T-cell counts of AIDS patients, increasing their ability to resist secondary infections and remain healthy." link

they're already using entry inhibitors to suppress/block binding to ccr5. this mechanism is different. it would be a mutation of ccr5.

although this is the major receptor, hiv uses other receptors for entry too. as seen with so many hiv drugs and therapies, you're selecting for those viruses that can escape the ccr5 mutation. and you may block other necessary traffic that uses ccr5. you'd still need a combination therapy. it'll be some years before it makes it to people. curious to see the outcome.

fishes

i'll admit, i read horoscopes occasionally in high school. i took them about as seriously as fortune cookies. but in the last 3-4 days, i've heard several references to peoples' astrological signs. in particular, referring to why they do what they do, or why they're attracted to certain mates. and i'm in one of those moods where i'm wondering how it is i keep meeting truly good men, falling in love, living together for n years, and then ending up alone again. is it me? is it them? is it timing? or maybe, it's in the stars.

so i googled myself. pisces. and got this:

That ideal mate is your zodiacal opposite, Virgo, as long as it's a Virgo who is aspected to a more sensitive degree—i.e., one that understands your depth of feeling and appreciates your creative world. link.

at which point i look up virgo's dates. let's see..aug 23 - sep 22. uh, ok. that's kinda creepy. my 3 longest relationships have been with men who are virgos. stook (8/29), pants (9/16) and quirkmaster (9/9). there's nothing to that silly stuff, right? should i start playing the numbers on the back of my fortune cookie?

you are being watched

"...while the Shoreditch Trust recently trialled a scheme encouraging residents to watch live CCTV feeds on a special local channel, the better to assist in policing " link

one of many items i read yesterday on cctv use stateside and elsewhere. makes me think of 1984. speaking of which i saw a great original cover for that book yesterday.

today sitting at the light at spicewood and mopac i desperately wanted to tamper with the camera. oh, if only it weren't a felony.

more remodel, circa 2006

saga, continued. crappy entry parquet. my own 80s mini dance floor.

ahhh, that's better.

goodbye laminate in the kitchen. craigslist took it away.

bamboo really lightened things up. the kitchen still needs to be gutted to the studs, layout changed, wall taken out, new appliances, but this will do for now.

before: carpeted stairs. sparky models. good dog.

for this job, i was an optimist. usually i'm a realist. there's a reason why a carpenter charges $80-100/stair. but they would have used quarter round at the joints, a technique i despise as much as transition strips. so i proceeded with the learning curve.

at this point, i'm getting good with the pneumatic nailers, and better at eyeballing cuts. but it still took 2-3 trips to the saw to get a perfect fit for each board. 14 steps and 2 landings. that's a lot of trips. my knees felt like i had taken up running again.

after: it was worth it.. i think. certainly fit the budget. by far the biggest job i had done on the house. i'm not likely to outdo it anytime soon. maybe if i take on rebuilding the deck and balcony. somebody stop me and hire a damn contractor.

new food

you don't read this quirkmaster, but just in case, there are 2 new restaurants in walking distance to your casa.
View Larger Map

tool

yes, this is a cool tool.

remodel news circa 2006

this dates back to 2006, so don't assume i've actually been anywhere near as productive since then on my remodel. this was such a ginormous job to start with, right after move-in, that i've been in a holding pattern ever since.

first some before pics in the living room where the job started. hi inga. this is your new home.

and looking back into the dining area, kitchen beyond.

ripped the carpet, pad, tack strips and staples out. baseboard and door trim all came out as well at this time. hi sparky.

carpet gone, floor prepped, job starts. laid down roofing felt first. mostly 15# with some 30# in low spots.

headed through dining area. neutralized the walls to white. would choose colors later, i just couldn't live with cranberry and mustard a moment longer. sorry ghost of terry, you probably liked those.

and into the kitchen. decided i would not use transition strips anywhere. i cut my own splines to reverse direction groove-to-groove. i would have to do that in several locations throughout the house. tedious.

moved forward through living room and kitchen simultaneously. left space at the front of the fireplace for a future poured concrete hearth where crappy 80s parquet once lay.

moved past the living room and approached the entry way/coat closet, which was also crappy parquet. this corridor looks to the back of the house with the utility room and back door. hey look, it's that toy. i'm not as amused by that today. sad mostly.
more later.

it's not about oil

"But not only did the four energy giants - BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total - write their own contracts with the Iraqi government, an unheard-of practice: they have also reportedly secured rights of first refusal on the far more lucrative 30-year production contracts expected once a new US-sponsored oil law is passed, allowing a wholesale western takeover." link

if you think it would be any better under the dem's, think again.