Working at home gives me the same feeling that getting sick gives me; I’m both alert and disoriented at the end of the day, without any frame of reference for how I should feel.

On the other hand I didn’t have to fight traffic or sit under fluorescent lights today! My job has a program running that slowly leaks memory and does other bad things and blows up, horribly, about every six hours. I got to fix that twice, and do some housekeeping chores, and help people get more important things done, and generally be the technology Oompa-Loompa which is a role I like to play.

Tonight I hung out with Gambler Jesse and Irish Dan. Jesse just got back from Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, China where he had a great time as always and did not get the SARS. Since he’s a nurse he has to be monitored for a couple of weeks now, but isn’t worried. He described to me the odd things rich Chinese people eat (duck tongues?) and some of his adventures. He’s a great ambassador for my country. Just as we’re annoying the world, here comes a big friendly generous Filipino nurse who loves to play blackjack, eat, drink, and have conversation with his friends, reaffirming that we can export neat things too.

[five minutes pass..]

I just returned from my garage, where a rubber hose conveying water to the washing machine just failed. Good thing I noticed that the water sound was going on too long, there’s only about 1/2 inch of water on the garage floor. Burf. Good night!

http://www.aprilwinchell.com/multimedia/

1. Herve Villechaize sings. AIUUUUGGGHHhhellpmea43w8q34yth g

2. Ed McMahon doing “thank heaven for little girls.” All girls should now be provided with shotguns.

3. I am going insane. Ah, I am insane now, good.

now proceeding to listen to Farrah Fawcett and/or Mary Hart.

Accessorize against terror!

http://www.johnkerry.com/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6459

Yeah baby. It’s time for regime change all right. Now all we have to do is defeat the Republican Guard…

Their role in the blood business makes me angry just to think about it, they didn’t help much with the AIDS crisis because of that, and my grandfather got charged for coffee while serving in World War I because the Red Cross wouldn’t give free coffee to soldiers. So, there’s a history here, ‘k?

However this is a real juicy one. The local Red Cross chapter here is requiring active volunteers to submit to credit checks (!) in order to continue, and nearly a quarter of them have quit rather than submit their Social Security number and agree to a credit check.

My favorite quote from the article:

“Since Sept. 11, things have changed in the world,” Howes said. “We are in the business of being prepared, and this is about being prepared.”

Reference url: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-redcross6apr06,1,5968631.story?coll=la%2Deditions%2Dorange may require registration. I think username/password “genital/genital” works.

1) http://www.freemikehawash.org/ is now accepting online donations. I gave, you should too.

2) http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-iranian4apr04,1,572774.story?coll=la%2Deditions%2Dorange (requires registration). Long story short, an Iranian man is in jail forever for an immigration problem and even the immigration people want him out, but the judge won’t let an Iranian go. All resulted from a day trip to Canada while on vacation in 1993.

For shame. For shame. What country is this, anyway?

Courtesy of TorgoX:

An underappreciated poet.

Since I was a small child I have shopped at the same supermarket. It is now a Ralphs, and has previously been a Hughes and a Market Basket over the years. (For those in the area, it’s the one in Westcliff Plaza).

Currently it is billing itself as a “Ralphs Fresh Fare”, a kind of upscale market that is supposed to be full of good things, especially produce and “gourmet” stuff. It isn’t, though; it’s just another Ralphs supermarket.

Tonight I went there to obtain stuff for kung pao chicken. I got some chicken and then went to find the dried red peppers. These I buy from the Mexican food section, because Mexican people buy different spices. They are all Toro brand and come in plastic packages instead of the jars the Anglo spice section has. Plus, Toro carries all the neato dried chiles like ancho, etc.

I couldn’t find it this time! It moves occasionally so I asked a clerk. “Nope, we don’t carry those.” WHAT? I went to the manager, who carefully said “They don’t have us carrying the Toro spices any more. Other locations do.”

So, I guess I’ll have to go to the Costa Mesa Ralphs a few blocks away to get dried chiles. Because, I guess, rich white people in Newport Beach don’t like feeling “downmarket” when they see the spices poor Mexican people use.

And this leaves the supposedly “Gourmet” and “International” market without any dried chiles whatsoever. None, nada, zip.

Since I didn’t want to go to the other market I made a dish using fresh serrano chili and a little rooster sauce which was good. But I’m dropping that market forever.

“Segmenting” marketers must all be shot now.

I have a Precious Moment up me.

http://www.theonion.com/onion3912/i_should_not_be.html

I must not think bad thoughts

The facts we hate; we’ll never meet
walking down the road.
Everybody yelling “HURRY UP! HURRY UP!”
But I’m waiting for you, I must go slow.
I must not think bad thoughts.
When is this world coming to?
Both sides are right, but both sides murder.
I give Why can’t they?

I MUST NOT THINK BAD THOUGHTS…

I’m a no good coward and an American too
A north american that is, not a south or central or native american

…my planes, my guns, my money, my soldiers
my blood on my hands, IT’S ALL MY FAULT
I MUST NOT THINK BAD THOUGHTS

–X, “More fun in the New World”