Every year our Christmas tree is covered with clear, shining evidence that everyone in this house marches to a different drummer, assuming that they don’t have an entirely different band playing in their heads. These are just a few examples…
So, in 2006 when I last moved my all-wood computer desk into the corner to accomodate the Avid (which the desk outlived), I made a mental note at the time that the desk probably would not survive another move. Disassemble in situ, the note said, and just replace it with a newer one. I’d had the desk since 1999, when I moved back to Arkansas, so it had lived a long and useful live.
Today… guess what? I forgot that mental note. The desk disassembled itself in situ. I now have… no desk. And, helpfully, no money with which to get a new one to replace it.
So it’s time to apply my dad’s rule of “go with what ya got“: I have the long end of the old 1999 desk, sitting across the two white plastic shelf units I bought for OVGE in… geez, 2006? It’s a surprisingly sturdy setup so long as no one gives it an almighty jolt. I’m keeping an absolute minimum of stuff on it: two keyboards, two mice, two speakers, three monitors, done.
Hear me baby? Hold together. At least long enough for me to file incorporation papers for Redneck Computer Services LLC. Because… that’s what this setup looks like.
The desk, not long after installation in my apartment in 1999, so many years and computers and keyboards ago (but, amazingly, that IS the same monitor):
Farewell, old friend. Thanks for holding vast quantities of my crap for almost exactly 14 years.… Read more
Yes, fruit salad. Again. The boy and I worked hard on it today.
The latest Zen Pencils webcomic illustrates a commencement speech delivered by Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson. You should go read it and then come back for my little rant below. … Read more
Well, okay, it’s not a real cattery. Seems like it sometimes, though…
Obi says it’s just too hot to run outside this summer. Seriously. Not even once. … Read more
Yes, I said several pounds of fruit salad. This is what it looks like:
In a nutshell – or, at least, in a very large plastic container that’s standing in for a very large nutshell – it’s two pounds of strawberries, a pound and a half of grapes, two pounds of kiwi fruit, three pounds of cherries, half a pound of peaches, a little over half a pound of pineapple, a smattering of oranges, all sliced. Given that the kiwis and oranges had to be peeled, the strawberries had to be capped, not all of the grapes looked ready for prime time, and bits of the pineapple had to be lopped off, I’ll allow for maybe the loss of one pound of material from the total. Which brings us to… nine pounds, maybe? Yes, let’s call it nine pounds.
Now, here’s what you do with nine pounds of fruit salad as the summer approaches. … Read more
Me and Little E wandered around the house and found lots of things that had their own personal layers of ice.
There were a few shots where the camera lens had fogged over, and I thought these might be unrecoverable until I loaded them up and did some sharpening work on them. Here you can see where the snow has melted out from under the ice on the trees, leaving a hollow shell of ice precariously perched on the tree limbs.
The fogged up lens forced a soft focus/bokeh effect where none was planned.… Read more
Wanna know what passes for romance around here? Have a seat and I’ll tell you a story. … Read more
I’ve got some fish in the oven with some seasoning that I whipped up with a recipe as a starting point and just a little bit of “I don’t have that ingredient, so let’s throw in a bunch of other stuff” improvisation. I wrote down the mixture in case it works out well. If it doesn’t work out well and is borderline inedible… well… five cats. You work it out for yourself.
Anyway, Little E was asking me about what I was preparing for dinner, and the following conversation took place:
E: What kind of fish is that?
ME: It’s called swai.
E: Why is it called that?
ME: I don’t know. Maybe because it’s gonna be really tasty, that swai! [“that’s why!”]
Even the Mrs. laughed from across the house. Little E decided he wanted hot dogs instead. *shrug* MORE NOMS FOR MOM!
Cooking and comedy while you wait. Now, it remains to be seen if I could go pro at either one, so probably best if I contain this deadly combination to the safe confines of my house. Pity my wife and child. (And, if the seasoning mix isn’t particularly sound, my cats.)… Read more
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