Topic: What are you doing right now?

[goldshirt*9]

coffee and silence

[6pairsofshoes]

drinking cold seltzer.

bought a soda stream.  I like it extra fizzy.  Cold fizzy tap water.  Thank you Joseph Priestley.

[Schmoogsley]

The usual for me in the morning: Coffee, eggs, and toast. I think I might have some of that blueberry jam as well. I'm glad jams and jellies seem to have a nice long (refrigerated) shelf life. It's a rare treat. One time I had some jelly that started to return to it's sugar (granulated) state. I guess it didn't gross me out too bad because I ate the entire slice of toast.

Murphy's Law: Dropping your toast over a dozen times and it only lands butter side up once.

[6pairsofshoes]

If they are canned properly, most fruit jams & jellies have a very long shelf life.  In the fridge, some will occasionally crystalize for some odd reason.  You can pop the jam into the microwave for a short blast and the crystals will disappear.  I don't recommend this if they're in a plastic container, but the glass jar will be fine.  10-15 seconds, depending on the strength of the microwave, should be enough.  Best to go for the minimum.

I'm drinking tea.  Trying to wake up.

[Schmoogsley]

Well, I forgot about the bread I baked yesterday. That sure augmented my pleasure.   

[8ullfrog]

I went to Goodwill. They had America: The Book in hardcover. I really wanted it, but I already have it in paperback, so I passed. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

There was a "joke" that we'd end up with a Vice President who was a sidekick on a UPN sitcom called "The Gooch".

That made me think about Orange Man and Supreme Court Justice "I LIKE BEER" Cavanaugh. who used to get drunk with PJ and the Squib.


They also had a foreman grill with removable panels. I already have one, but I dig the different design. I popped the panels off, and gross. Also apparently I have the fancy one. The ones I saw today had what looked like camp stoves under the plates. One set had weird plates that weren't the Teflon most of em have. It also had a temp slider.

I was gonna buy it, even with the gross camp stove, but got a TXT veto. So I didn't.

They replaced half the DVD's with board games and tchotchkes. golly tchotchkes. Stupid room filling GARBAGE. I can not begin to describe my bizarre hatred for that crap. And I used to collect action figures!

Like I know DVD's are being sunset as technology, but digital still kinda sucks. There's a sense of sloth when you can just shove a circle into the machine and have it send back a TV show or movie.

You don't have to search down a site. You don't have to dodge 50 redirects. You don't have to find an uploader that isn't a joker. You don't have to download. You don't have to seed. You don't have to search down a codec because this uploader used bless'ed matroshka and didn't label it. WinRAR does not come into the equation.

I'll miss it when it's gone, just pushing play was so nice.

That being said, they had the standard edition of 360 Saints Row III for $2.99. Dude left his receipt inside, like I do. Original dude paid $43.00 for it. Like, I remember that being standard 360 pricing for a long time, but dang.

I had my own problems with SR III, I usually get the ultra mega edition a year after the fact, so I can get a cheap yet complete experience. my supposed "New" copy had a bad second disk. When I went back, they tried to just give me another used disk 2, I made them cut open a fresh one, because golly paying New price for Used product.

God, that was years ago now, and just seeing that receipt made my blood boil. Maybe I need a nap.

[6pairsofshoes]

I'm drinking tea and trying to wake up.

Goodwill around here is really annoying.  Lots of overpriced crap that people mostly couldn't sell at their yard sales or on craigslist.  Used clothing, most of it bland and ugly, that is priced higher than regular retail at discount department stores.  I've seen brand new t shirts at WalMart that were cheaper than the stuff they sell at Goodwill.

I'm wondering about whether you check out yard sales and people moving from the area unloading great stuff for next to nothing.  This seems like the season.  I bought a beautiful rug a week ago for $10 only to find it was too big for my apt.  So I listed it on craigslist.  Hopefully it will be gone in a week.  While I was listing it someone listed some high end kitchen wares for free.  I contacted them and was the first to respond.  It was a nice couple who were moving to Barcelona for work and giving away their stuff.  I got some helpful things for my kitchen.  There's so much money around here that people regularly do stuff like this, especially this time of year. 
I expect the greater San Diego area would be similar, especially with the Navy people coming and going.

craigslist is crazy.  Someone once listed a free ticket to see Cesaria Evora.  Their son decided last minute he wouldn't go.  I wrote and met them and attended the concert with them.  I brought some nice chocolate candy for their son as a thank you gift.  The concert was amazing.  She died soon afterwards so it was like some kind of fateful stroke of good fortune.

[Schmoogsley]

Boy, you hit that right on the head, Six. Goodwill over here sucks ass. So do the flea markets. (Stuff people are selling after they have cherry picked the golly out of it). Heading early to a garage sale I would guess would be your best bet.

In fact I know Goodwill managers cherry pick the poo. I saw them do it when I had to do my community service many years ago.

Anyway, went to the NRA Convention today (something to do) Boy, I'm gonna be sore tomorrow. The Convention Center is freakin HUGE!

[6pairsofshoes]

For some reason, the NRA convention seems like it's ripe for a Hunter S Thompson type gonzo journalism piece, preferably written while under the influence of hallucinogens.  The times are less innocent but the whole landscape is just so weird and sick.  How else to describe it?

It sort of recalls the first time I went to Las Vegas.  I was a college kid and thought I was jaded and had seen it all, but that place really humbled me.  There were people who looked like my grandfather hitchhiking out of town because they'd gambled away everything they had but the shirt on their back, including the pink slip to their car.  There were legalized brothels on the outskirts of town.  And after such knowledge, what forgiveness?

My friend who was there with me told me crazy stories, like the chunks taken out of the telephone poles outside of his sister's house were caused by the dogs leaping at the poles, grabbing them with their teeth and hanging horizontally like flags.  I'd expect that Indy with a bunch of AK-15 loving guys beating their chests would be a good deal like that.  Biting the second amendment and hanging from it like flags...

[Schmoogsley]

Yes, exactly. It's all you can see for miles. People swaying in the wind with their 'Ak-15s'. It truly is a sight to behold. Or, was it the acid I took.? Too bad we can't get Hunter S. Thompson's take on it, but, we know what he did with HIS 'AK-15'. Fortunately, we still have the 'funny pages'.

[8ullfrog]

Tracked down the review that helped me pick a TV to buy, and settings guide.

I had bookmarked it, but it vanished. bless'ed edge.

So I made a notepad document with the recommendations and url.

I always jack the brightness for thrones, because they appear to have cut the lighting budget for Season 8.

[Schmoogsley]

Thinking what I should get my Niece for her graduation party this Sunday (MBA from IU). Ugh! Money is so impersonal.

[8ullfrog]

I like to give people movies.

[Schmoogsley]

Hey, I could give her an invite to Diasfora.   

[Schmoogsley]

Today is laundry day. UGH! I am NOT going to put it off and buy yet another pack of underwear. lol I swear, I think I have enough underwear to last 3 months now.