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| Sunday, December 20th, 2009 |
cargoweasel
|
6:52p |
Alternate Names For Colonel Quaritch In Avatar
Slab Bulkhead Fridge Largemeat Punt Speedchunk Butch Deadlift Bold Bigflank Splint Chesthair Flint Ironstag Bolt Vanderhuge Thick McRunfast Blast Hardcheese Buff Drinklots Trunk Slamchest Fist Rockbone Stump Beefgnaw Smash Lampjaw Punch Rockgroin Buck Plankchest Stump Chunkman Dirk Hardpeck Rip Steakface Slate Slabrock Crud Bonemeal Brick Hardmeat Rip Sidecheek Punch Sideiron Gristle McThornBody Slake Fistcrunch Buff Hardback Bob Johnson Blast Thickneck Crunch Buttsteak Slab Squatthrust Lump Beefrock Touch Rustrod Reef Blastbody Big McLargeHuge Smoke Manmuscle Beat Punchbeef Pack Blowfist Roll Fizzlebeef ( source:mst3k) |
| Saturday, December 19th, 2009 |
equusmaximus
|
11:45p |
An accomplished day!
Today was even better as far as getting things done. To wit:
- Moved Trixstir's computer from family room into Master Bedroom (Christmas Tree will be going into the vacated space)
- Cleaned behind/under stove, since we had to move the stove to get Trixstir's computer-desk past it and down the hallway.
- Removed dead mouse from under stove. Suprisingly we hadn't been able to smell it, and it wasn't really "rotten" like that one in the Kidling's room a while back...
- Got our proper bed set up in the Master Bedroom, which cleared up a lot of space where the parts had been sitting in storage.
- Got more shelves up in the Master Bedroom
- Washed all the bed-linens, so newly set-up bed will have all nice clean linens.
- Cleared up some more clutter, moving and more neatly stacking boxes of stuff in what will be the guest room.
- Got the Christmas lights around the horses' paddocks working. Pretty! :)
- Spent a couple of hours with the horses, fuzzling and snuggling. Bonnie is getting friendlier as she's starting to learn I'm not going to eat her.
- Fixed the door on the Master Bedroom. The latching was off by nearly half an inch! That is, the hole that the latch fits into, and the metal part that fits over it, was almost half-an-inch lower than it had to be, in order for the latch to catch! I used an aggressive wood-boring bit to chew an extra half-inch higher hole, and now the door latches perfectly!
- Vacuumed up lots of dog-hair. The Dog is getting a proper grooming brush for Christmas!
- Had a nice long hot shower to relax and be all nice and squeaky-clean to snuggle down into the nice freshly-laundered bed linens on the newly-reassembled bed.
- Had a large mug of hot-chocolate while reading Friends' List, and updating this journal.
Definitely a good day! :) Current Mood:  accomplished |
| Friday, December 18th, 2009 |
equusmaximus
|
10:44p |
Minor progress...
Finally got around to one of the minor, but important repair jobs at the house; There was a section of the subfloor in the master bedroom that had "expanded" for lack of a better word when I applied the BIN paint to it. That part was also the area that had been badly contaminated with cat-urine, so I think there might have been some kind of reaction. In any case, I finally took a belt-sander to it, using the coarsest belt I could get. It made short work of the problem, and I then repainted the spot. Tomorrow we'll finally be able to move the bed out of storage and get it set up again. Of course, it will all have to come apart again in the Spring to put the hardwood down, but at least this is a good start. A "Newcomer's Club" has been started in Shaunavon, with a "newcomer" being anyone who moved here in the last five years. We were invited to join, and tonight was the first meeting. They had a pretty good turnout, with more than 20 people showing up. The guest speaker was from the regional economic development board, and the future is looking very bright for this area! It seems that nearly half the people in the room came from Calgary, so at least we're in good company. The age-range covers the whole spectrum, from the mid-late 20's to the seniors. We closed the bowling alley early this evening to attend the meeting, and it was well worth doing so! I think we've made the start on some new friendships, and made some business contacts as well. Overall, a very good evening! Current Mood:  chipper |
equusmaximus
|
1:54p |
Since everyone else is doing it... Letter to Santa!
 Dear Santa...
Dear Santa,
This year I've been busy!
Last Saturday I got in line at the supermarket at the same time as someone else and I didn't yield (-8 points). In May I put money in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) baby_carlie's expired parking meter (14 points). Last Sunday I set tauvix's puppy on fire (-66 points). In September I helped ozzyfox hide a body (-173 points). In August I ruled Asscrackistan as a kind and benevolent dictator (700 points).
Overall, I've been nice (467 points). For Christmas I deserve an XBox 360!
Sincerely,
equusmaximus |
Current Mood:  silly |
cargoweasel
|
2:50p |
Et Tu, Garrison
It's been a bad month for idols with feet of clay. First there's Obama and the whole healthcare mess, then James Randi turns out to be a global warming denialist (with a half-assed followup). And now good old Garrison Keillor, a guy I generally respect, takes up arms in the War on the "War On Christmas", railing about "all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. " So he's prefer, what, mandatory flagellation? I dunno. I'd be happy to leave Christmas alone as he wishes, if it wasn't being forced down my throat every year. I can't walk into a store without a faceful of O Holy Night. Christains are never more pathetic than when they're shrieking about oppression while utterly dominating national culture. Your savior was nailed to a damn cross, and you people are like the princess who can't sleep because there's a pea under your giant stack of mattresses. Garrison Keillor, suck my balls. |
equusmaximus
|
1:41p |
FAIL Enmax!
Back when I lived in Calgary, my utilities were provided by Enmax, the city-owned utility company. Overall, my experience with Enmax has been a positive one, but when it comes time to close off your account and get any settlements made, they sure give you the run-around! If you're just moving within the city, it's easy; Give them the new address and they switch it over and you're done. Not so easy when you've actually moved away completely and no longer need their services. My house was sold, and taken over by its new owner on August 17th, 2009. It took them until October 22, 2009 to get the final billing and corrections done, despite the fact that the readings had been called in to them on August 16th. They accepted the Electricity reading on August 18th, and credited me back for power not used. The gas, on the other hand, although it is billed through Enmax is actually supplied and the meter read, by Atco Gas (who have a monopoly on gas distribution, BTW.) Atco continued billing me for gas until September 05, 2009. Enmax also charged me $8.98 for a "late payment charge" for not paying them when they owed me over $300.00, the account had been closed, and I was waiting for my settlement cheque. The final statement was issued on October 22, 2009, showing a credit of $297.38 being owed back to me. Skip to December, 2009.... Where's the refund? I called them today to find out what's going on, and I was told, "Oh, you never requested a refund be sent to you." HELLLLLO?!?! I thought I made that very clear in the multiple phone calls I made to them since the house was sold in August, trying to get this paperwork sorted out! Did they think I was just going to forget about it, and they could spend my refund on a round of extra drink for the office party? Grrrrrr...... At any rate, I spoke with "Marta" this afternoon, and she's put in a Rush Request to get the cheque out. It should be processed by tomorrow morning, and sent out right away. Probably won't get here in time for Christmas, but she said I should have it by December 30th (this year) at the lastest. Let's hope so! (is anyone else having problems with LJ's Rich-Text editor not putting in blank-lines lately?) Current Mood:  annoyed |
| Thursday, December 17th, 2009 |
equusmaximus
|
11:51p |
Feeling much better now...
Thanks to everyone for their well-wishes and virtual hugs... Feeling much better today! As is often the case, just getting some sleep often seems to hit the "reset" button and clear away those Moody Blues. I think the abundance of sunlight today helped a great deal as well. I don't get SAD in the more common sense in winter - I get gloomy whenever the skies turn grey, regardless of the season. Guess I'm just Solar Powered, and without enough sunlight I just get run down. The weather was a lot warmer today too (+4.8°c) so that helped a lot! Today was pretty much the last day of regular League Bowling for this year; the next night would be on Christmas Eve (hard to believe it's only a week until Christmas!) and there's no way we're going to spend Christmas Eve in a bowling alley. We only had five people show up; One of the seniors, and four young folks. Good Lord can those kids drink! They had at least 18 beers, and 14 shooters between the four of them over the course of the evening. I thought mixing beer and other spirits was a bad idea, but they seemed to be able to handle it. Maybe it has something to do with being young. Since the most alcohol I've ever had was half a can of beer (in my University days) I have no idea what the effects of mixing your drinks are. I just know that any amount of alcohol is bad idea for me. Bleah... :P We had supper at Shaunavon Pizza & Chicken, as they were serving "Turkey with the Trimmings" for tonight's buffet. That is, Roast Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, and gravy. I really should not go to buffets, because I always eat too much, and wind up regretting it later. I think that should be a New Year's Resolution: Stay away from the Buffets! Also, finally got a long-overdue haircut today. Only problem is that with my hair cut, my "baby-face" features are even more prominent, and no one's going to believe that I just turned 40. Ah well, that's not always a bad thing... :) Current Mood:  full |
| Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 |
equusmaximus
|
9:03p |
Oh bother....
While "Oh Bother" is an expression more commonly used by Winnie The Pooh, it's Eeyore that I'm feeling more akin with this evening. I don't know why exactly, but every now and again I'll get hit with a bout of melancholy. It's not severe, thankfully, but it's enough to be a bother. There usually no rhyme nor reason behind these bouts, which makes me wonder if I don't have a slight touch of manic/depressive disorder. I'm certainly not on the scale of a true manic/depressive, but I really hate these gloomy feelings. I think, mostly, that they tend to be brought on by outside pressures; too many things happening at once, things that I can't control, which just tend fo frustrate me. Perhaps I should try to remember, and live by, the words of the Serenity Prayer...
Lord, grant me the Serenity
to Accept the things I cannot change,
The Courage to Change the things I can,
And the Wisdom to know the difference.
If only it were that easy... Current Mood:  gloomy |
equusmaximus
|
10:08a |
Peace on Earth - 1939
This was originally posted a couple of months ago in another LJ community, but I felt it was appropriate at this time to repost it here. Thanks to skippyfox for the original posting. The following are his comments, not mine; They express everything perfectly, so why reword it? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
As described in the video "Peace on Earth is a 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon short subject directed by Hugh Harman, about a post-apocalyptic world populated by animals." It's pretty cute, and is of historical interest (having been made just before WWII). It's also the first (only?) cartoon to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Current Mood:  contemplative |
| Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 |
equusmaximus
|
8:25a |
Birthday Ponies!
Here's wishing a Happy Birthday to two more equines! A very Happy Birthday to my loving wife, trixstir ! Not going to say how old she is, but she's younger than me! ;) And a belated (by one day) Happy Birthday to altivo ! Sorry I missed you yesterday, but I didn't even get online all day. Ahhhh, so many Saggitarians! As I said before, I'm in good company! :) Current Mood: happy |
| Monday, December 14th, 2009 |
wolfmatix
|
7:56p |
I Cost $ 5175 a Night..... ( a meme)
Natural Hair Color:
[x] Brown - $100
[ ] Blonde - $75
[ ] Black - $15
[ ] Bald - $5
[ ] Other-$50
Total: $100
Eye Color:
[ ] Brown - $50
[x] Green - $100
[ ] Blue - $150
[ ] Hazel - $75
[ ] Other - $15
Total: $150
Height:
[ ] Over 7′ - $200
[ ] 6′8″ to 7′ - $175
[ ] 6′0″ to 6′7″ - $150
[x] 5′5″ to 5′11″ - $75
[ ] 5′4″ to 5′10″ - $85
[ ] Under 5′4 - $95
Total: $275
Age:
[ ] 50 to 56 - $175
[ ] 46 to 50 - $150
[ ] 41 to 45 - $125
[ ] 31 to 40 - $100
[x] 26 to 30 - $75
[ ] 21 to 25 - $50
[ ] 19 to 20 - $25
[ ] 0 to 18 - $100
Total: $350
Birth Order:
[ ] Twins or more than twins - $750
[ ] First Born - $320
[x] Only Child - $250
[ ] Second born - $150
[ ] Middle child - $100
[ ] Last Born - $100
[ ] third born - $550
[ ] fourth born - $300
[ ] fifth born - $400
[ ] sixth born -$215
Total: $600
Drink?
[ ] I did like once - $400
[x] Only Holidays or Occasions - $250
[ ] Sometimes - $215
[ ] YES - $200
[x] only weekends - $300
[ ] Every other day - $50
[ ] Once a day - $15
[ ] I live from the bottle - $Bankrupt$ [[back to $ZERO]]
[ ] No - $600
Total: $900
Vision?
[x] perfect vision $400
[ ] need/have glasses/contacts but don't wear them $200
[ ] No correction $100
[ ] Glasses $50
[ ] contacts $25
[ ] Surgical correction -$100
Total: $1300
Shoe Size:
[ ] 13+ - $300
[ ] 12 and a half to 13 - $250
[x] 11 to 12 - $400
[ ] 7 to 10 - $500
[ ] Under 7- $450
Total so far: $1700
Favorite Colors (two):
[x] Green-$750
[x] Red - $600
[ ] Black - $100
[ ] Yellow -$475
[ ] Brown - $300
[ ] Purple - $225
[ ] White - $400
[ ] Aqua - $350
[ ] Orange - $300
[ ] Blue - $300
[ ] Pink - $100
[ ] Other - $500
Total: $3050
Letter your middle name(s) start with:
[ ] a-f - $50
[x] g-k - $175
[x] l-p - $300
[x] q-u - $350
[ ] v-z -$250
Total: $3875
Bedroom walls- select all that apply!
[ ] white - $110
[ ] green - $330
[ ] black - $110
[ ] purple - $220
[ ] orange/red/yellow - $330
[ ] blue - $220
[x] other - $350
Total: $4225
First letter of the person you last talked to
[ ] a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i - $100
[ ] j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r - $50
[x] s,t,u,v,w,x,y, - $200
[ ] z - $250
Total: $4425
Did you use a calculator to add it all up?
[ ] Yes $0
[ ]Nope- $1000
[x] some- $750
Final Total: $5175
Re-Post as "I Cost $ 5175 a Night" Current Mood:  amused |
cargoweasel
|
3:07p |
What Would Pete Seeger Do
So it's been a couple days since my little wail of despair here. Since then I've been cooking stuff and listening to the music of Pete Seeger. Born in 1919, still performing, that dude has seen more political disappointments than any of us ever will. And he's kept his spirit up and he's still out there and he's still fighting for justice and peace. So yeah, I need to stop whining. ---- False from True When my songs turn to ashes on my tongue, When I look in the mirror and see I'm no longer young, Then I got to start the job of separating false from true, And then I know, I know I need the love of you. When I found tarnish on some of my brightest dreams, When some folks I trusted turned out not quite what they seemed; Then I got to start the job of separating false from true, Then once more I know, I know I need the love of you. No song I can sing will make Governor Wallace change his mind, No song I can sing will take the gun from a hate-filled man; But I promise you, and you, brothers and sisters of every skin, I'll sing your story while I've breath within. We got to keep on keeping on, even when the sun goes down, We got to live, live, live until another day comes 'round; Meanwhile, better start over, separating false from true, And more and more, I know I need the love of you. |
| Sunday, December 13th, 2009 |
wolfmatix
|
11:16p |
Fun with the English Language.
Hello all, since I've been away working for some time, I feel it is time to post. One of my more brilliant co-workers sent me an e-mail filled with all sorts of fun with English. I enjoyed them so much, I'm posting them here.
Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.
A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
Dijon vu: the same mustard as before.
Please practice safe eating: always use condiments.
Shotgun wedding: a case of wife or death.
A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.
A hangover is the wrath of the grapes.
Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.
Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.
When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.
A bicycle can't stand on it's own because it's two tired.
What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead give away.)
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism your count votes.
She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg, she broke it off.
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.
With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
The man who fell into an upholstery machine, is fully recovered.
You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.
Every calender's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint mine and it 'taint yours.
A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory that was never fully developed.
A midget fortune teller who escapes from prison is a small medium at large.
Once you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
Bakers share recipes on a knead-to-know basis.
Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
Acupuncture is a jab well done.
I know that i enjoyed these, i hope everyone else does too.
Me. Current Mood: amusedCurrent Music: I Remember by DeadMau5e |
cargoweasel
|
7:08p |
Bread, and Macarons
Tonight's dinner was some leftover chicken soup from a couple days ago, a salad and some of this crusty bread:  From Ruhlman's Ratio, this is a basic bread dough of 12 oz water, 9 oz flour, 1 tbsp yeast and 1 tbsp salt. I tried this recipe last week but failed horribly when I tried to activate the yeast in water that was too hot, killing it. I ended up with a concrete brick of a loaf. This time I tried again and just put the yeast right in the dough. It came up great, textbook, and delivered a very serviceable loaf of bread that was yummy with cheese and the soup. Now I'm looking up things like poolish and rye flour and all the tricks and tactics that go into those chunky artisanal breads. It's cool stuff! Axiom also made macarons today, the little French meringue sandwich cookies that are incredibly tasty. These are made with almond flour, eggs and water.  We used peanut butter as the filling and omg they was goood. Crispy exterior with a chewy middle. These were the last two before we ate 'em. :3 |
fionacat
|
8:39p |
I wanted to do a review of the decade, most of it's up here there's really nothing that intresting happened in the past 10 years for me. I really do want to change that. Current Mood:  optimistic |
| Saturday, December 12th, 2009 |
cargoweasel
|
9:29p |
Carbonnade Flamande
Tonight's dish was a Belgian beer-based stew called Carbonnade Flamande. I adore all things Belgian and this was a spectacular dish. We used Daniel Boulud's recipe in the excellent book Braise, which involved beef shoulder, onions, bacon, Belgian Trappist abbey beer (we used Chimay), a little mustard and orange marmalade, and oddly enough crumbled gingerbread. The gingerbread dissolved entirely during the 2 hours plus in the oven and was a flavoring agent. Usually carbonnade is a stew, with the beef cut up into chunks but we braised one big chunk of beef instead and cut it up later.  Served like this! The sauce was a blend of creme fraiche and mustard. The whole sauce was stellar, very medieval in character with a sweet and sour note from the beer and various spices. It felt like an old recipe and it is - carbonnade flamande is something the monks in the Trappist abbeys eat, the recipe goes back hundreds of years.  Axiom made a side of pureed potatoes.  Dessert was a belgian pie made with molasses, shortening, brown sugar, eggs and almond flour, the remainder of the gingerbread, and to depart Flanders, an Italian meringue-buttercream-lemon thing. Notes: Our execution of this meal had two minor flaws: one the meat was a little dry in the center. We could have pulled it out maybe twenty minutes earlier and it would have been perfect. And the pie crust was a little tough, but I know why that happened too - excessive kneading of the dough beforehand. This whole meal's preparation took probably an hour's work of chopping and browning the meat and so forth, and another few hours of waiting while it cooked. This was not counting the time spent making the gingerbread, but that was as an ingredient and conveniently gave us a dessert. A good mise en place, setting up everything beforehand with all the ingredients measured out in little dishes, and cleaning as you go, make these sort of operations a pleasure. This was a lot of work but a great deal of fun. |
equusmaximus
|
2:55p |
Rate My Life Meme...
An interesting little Meme. I think I did pretty well, answering the questions as honestly as I could. The financial things would be better if I were not trying to get three different businesses off the ground. I expect that aspect will be greatly improved by this time next year. It might be interesting to repeat this test in a year (if it's still available) and see how things change. Current Mood: satisfied |
cargoweasel
|
10:06a |
That Squeal
You know that squeal! "A horse whinnying!" "tires squealing!" It's in a bunch of hip hop songs. It's in stadium- anthem "Jump Around" by House of Pain: It's at double speed on every fourth beat of Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Membrane" But it's not a horse or a car, it's Prince! From this song: "Gett Off" by Prince (right at the beginning) Now you know! |
equusmaximus
|
12:47a |
Oh Good Lord!!!
The problem with feeding your dog real food, IE: meat and bones like they'd actually eat in the wild, is that you get the side-effects of such a diet. To wit: Dogs fart, and sometimes they barf stuff up. Nash has been able to clear a room in the past, but this morning that mutt (loveable, yes, but still a mutt!) produced a stench that would uncurl your hair if it was curly, frizzle it otherwise, burn the hair out of your nostrils, and make your eyes almost bleed! We thought he had just cut one, but I later found out that he had yacked up something on the throw-rug in the Kidling's room. So, I did what any reasonable adult would do in such a situation: I opened the window a little, and shut the door! Hey, not my dog, not my mess, not my problem! It's the Kidling's dog, let him clean it up! ;) And he did too, without even having to be told to do it. Fortunately for him, his nose was so stuffed up that he couldn't even smell it. All he saw was the pile of glop, which he disposed of. Come to think of it, I think the little bugger "disposed" of it in the household trash, rather than taking it outside... I can't smell it anymore, but Trixstir thinks she can. I'll have to find out in the morning what he did with it, as it's after midnight now and I'm not about to wake him up to ask him. We had two parties at the bowling alley tonight; One from the local feed shop, and the other from the school-bus drivers group. Everyone seemed to have a really good time, and the sales were good. I don't know if people just don't pay attention, or if we need more prominent displays, but this was the second time someone asked if we served hard liquor as well as beer. Umm, yeah... See all those bottles, and the sign that says "Hi-Ball Mixes" ?? Ah well, once they find out that yes we do sell the hard stuff, they buy a good bit of it. I'm really glad we got that dispenser, it makes pouring the drinks so much easier. If hi-balls continue to be this popular, it may even be wise to get one of those mix-dispenser nozzles, rather than dealing with bottled sodas. We wouldn't have to pay for it, they're generally provided by the soft-drink company so long as you're selling their product. I just wonder how long the syrups last in the containers? Definitely something to look into, it might be a better choice than the vending machine and bottled drinks. Current Mood:  sleepy |
cargoweasel
|
12:21a |
Parsnips A-Plenty
So I felt like someone from the 1930s buying groceries today. Parsnips Yams Molasses Bread flour Yeast Stewing beef Whipping cream Marjoram This pantry now looks like something from which my grandma could whip out a Sunday roast or an apple pie. It's been interesting, this last few weeks of cooking stuff. The rule I'm liking is you can eat whatever you want if you make it yourself. Want cookies? make 'em. A pie? make it. Pizza? Make it. etc. And that means from scratch, not microwaving something or opening a can (unless it's like a can of tomatoes for a sauce). And what's funny is it's changed my whole attitude to food. It's all component ingredients. You can take flour, sugar, and an egg or two and some spices and you have gingerbread cookies. We had some Ritz crackers in the house and I was thinking "man, I wanna MAKE these." I've gone mad with power! I feel like I can begin to understand food, at long last. A very interesting book I've been using a lot is called Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. It's about the underlying structures of cooking - the ratios of flour, butter, eggs, and so on that goes into a cake or cookies or crepes or a custard.. 3 parts flour to 2 parts butter and 1 part water is a pie crust. Etc. Adding sweet or savory ingredients alters what you're making but the underlying ratios are what's important. Ruhlman is awesome, it's like the Knuth of cooking. This is such power, this book. It's about how to take recipes as suggestions or jumping off points. I highly recommend it. Now I gotta find something to do with those parsnips. |
| Thursday, December 10th, 2009 |
cargoweasel
|
7:49p |
|
cargoweasel
|
1:04p |
Defense Finance Energy Insurance These four businesses, with the assistance of their handmaidens in the media, control all of American governance. Whatever they want, they will get. As a result, we will never see: - Meaningful healthcare reform that might impact the short term profits of insurance companies - Any environmental preservation actions might impact the short term profits of oil companies - Any financial oversight that will prevent overreach and corruption in the "free market" if short term banking industry profits are affected. If their actions lead to financial collapse, the government will provide billions with which to cover their losses, and then not alter the rules in the slightest, or even change the individuals in charge, in order to prevent the same thing happening again. - Any decrease in foreign warmaking that might impact the short term profits of defense contractors This is incontrovertible truth and will occur regardless of the rhetoric of whichever arm of these corporations is nominally in charge of the government. Yes, cynics, pessimists, you got me. Fuck the Democrats. Fuck Obama. Fuck fuck fuck the government. Obama can choke on his fucking peace prize. Are we going to get President Sarah Palin in 2012? I fucking hope so. Maybe it will hasten the inevitable collapse of this godforsaken monster called american capitalism. I was a fool to think there would be the slightest change in anything at all from the BushCo era. |
equusmaximus
|
12:11a |
This Little Doggy Went to Heaven...
Or at least, he probably thinks so! Nash got a bit of an early Christmas present this evening; a huge chunk of beef-bone, with a fair amount of meat still on it. We had been wondering what to give him for a gift, when it dawned on me that there's a place near town that does custom cutting for meat. We gave them a call to see if they had any bones, and they said they had plenty, come on over and get some! They're weren't kidding either! Joey (the owner) is a young fellow, I think he's younger than me, and he was in the "shop" cutting meat when I got there. The smell of a cutting-floor is not like anything I've ever smelled before, and it's something that definitely takes some getting used to. In any case, he had three huge plastic garbage-bins full of scraps, mostly bones, but some meat and fat scraps as well. He had three dogs of his own, and they were all pretty well-feed looking, with two of them gettign downright fat! Very friendly too, as one might expect considering how well-fed they were. Joey says that he hasn't had to buy any commercial dog-food in years! He gave me at least 50 pounds of bones, some of them with enough meat on them to make me think, "screw the dog, I'm gonna toss this on the Bar-B-Q for myself!" Seriously, there were some huge chunks of meat on some of them! He says to give them a call anytime I want more of them; Normally he just buries them out in a field, or dumps them in a "bone pile" where the dogs take their pick. I had to meet trixstir at the bowling alley for a Christmas Party group, so I brought the bones with me (all in a heavy plastic bag) and just left them in the back of the car. With temperatures in well into the -20's, there wasn't any danger of them spoiling. Not that the dog would have cared in any case! By the end of the evening, the bones were definitely cold, but they hadn't yet frozen together so we were able to give Nash one of them. I've got the rest of them in the house in a cooler, and tomorrow we'll put them into individual bags so that we can give him one at a time. Nash could see (and probably smell) the bones and meat when I brought the bag into the house, and his tail was wagging so fast you'd think it would have fallen off! I selected one of the larger bones from the bag, and gave that one to him. It must have weighed a good Five Pounds alone! Normally he follows us wherever we go, taking his bone or toys with him, but he's been downstairs for more than an hour now, oblivious to anything but that bone! I watched him for about the first ten minutes; He had some difficulty figuring out the best way to hold it and eat it, ripping off bits of meat still stuck to it, and crunching up the softer sections of the bone. When I left, he had finally laid down, and was holding it between his paws, gnawing on one end of it. He's still down there, even with the lights off, happily munching away. The Christmas Party at the bowling alley went very well too. This one was for Talisman Energy, and though they had originally booked for 23 people, only 14 showed up. The other nine backed out at the last minute, and considering how much everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, they'll probably wish they had gone. Ah well, they still paid us for 23 people, so that was nice of them. The booze was flowing readily as well; Not so much beer or coolers this time, but the hi-balls were going like crazy! 44 by the end of the evening! I'm really glad that we got that liquor dispenser, it makes it so much easier to prepare a drink! No spilling, no mess, and you know exactly how much is in each one. They had catered the event with pizza, wings, dry-ribs, and salad from the King's Hotel, and invited us to join in the feast! Even so, they wound up taking a whole pizza (and about half of another) and a bunch of wings home. As said, they all seemed to have a really good time, and the end tab will look really nice in the old bank-account! It's going to be busy for the rest of the week too, I think we've got bookings clear through to Saturday! :) Current Mood:  amused |
| Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 |
equusmaximus
|
9:49p |
First Paycheque
Technically, I work for myself, but today I received my first cheque from Briggs & Stratton for warranty-repair work. I should have had it a while ago, but they've got my address wrong. Should be "1507" and they've got "1057" instead. I don't know (but I'm darnwell going to find out!) if the problem is with Briggs & Stratton themselves, or with the data-entry clerk for their Canadian distributor. Furthermore, the payment is for 45 minutes, which is half of what I billed them for. Granted, the job should have taken about 45 minutes, so they're going by their "rule booK", but that isn't including the second time I had to go back for more information because their clerk gave me the wrong info in the first place. When there's a discrepency between the actual time, and the "book time" they're supposed to contact me to find out what happened. Not only did they not contact me, but as I said, the cheque is late because they've got the wrong address on it. Grrrrrr.... Other than that, it's been an OK, but very cold day. Temperature is down around -28c, with a windchill pushing it below -40c ! So yeah, it's frickin' cold out there Mr. Bigglesworth! I got some paperwork cleared up, updated my address on a couple of things that I'd forgotton about, and took the kidling to his music lesson. Not the most exciting day, but with temperatures as low as they are, that's about as exciting as things get (I hope!) Current Mood: annoyed |
| Monday, December 7th, 2009 |
equusmaximus
|
11:08p |
Shopping Chaos...
When I was a teen-ager (a lifetime ago!) I actually enjoyed Christmas Shopping. I would have been saving up my allowance (well, part of it anyway) for a year, making note of what people might like, and thumb through the Sears Christmas Wishbook, or the Eaton's catalouge, getting ideas. Then it would be off on the bus to the malls, doing a little browsing, and plenty of spending. At least, plenty in the terms of what a teen-ager could afford. Maybe it's just nostalgia and I'm only remembering the good parts, but it just seems that it was a lot more fun back then. Part of it could be because back then, there was no Wal*Mart in Canada... I don't really like shopping at Wal*Mart at the best of times, and during the Christmas Season, it's the worst of times! I left the house for Swift Current just before 10am, and it was after 10 pm by the time I was home again and had the car unloaded. I had gone to Home Hardware, Peavey Mart, Wal*Mart, Canadian Tire, and Price-Club warehouse, in that order. Most of the time was spent in Wal*Mart; nearly four hours! I would consider the idea that the staff are overrun with holiday shoppers and thus things are difficult, but this seems to be par-for-the-course with Wal*Mart; It doesn't really matter what time of the year it is, you can pretty much expect lousy service, incompetent clerks, and fellow-shoppers who look like they're out on Day-Parole. Come to thing of it, perhaps it's the latter that make the staff seem like they hate their jobs, and/or just don't care anymore. It's probably all part of the Circle of Strife... At least the weather and traffic were cooperative; It's very cold, but there was no snow and the highways were clear and easy to drive on. On a Monday night, there was very little other traffic to deal with, so at least there's that positive. I got most of the stuff I went for, and what I didn't get I probably don't really need anyway. Now, if I can just get the house organized enough to find the decorations! Current Mood: cranky |
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