Sphincter Says “What?”

I get a lot of spam email. Some of the two-bit schemes which wind up in my spam folders amaze me.
“Dude, I know that’s you in the video…. Go to this link….”
“Where did you hide the camera?”

Fortunately I am savvy enough to see this crap for what it is. By following their URLs you are headed for websites that install spyware/malware on your computer. It saddens me that there are people out there who click through these only to get their computers infected by spyware/malware.

Alarmed And Dangerous
Friday’s false alarm wound up being a(nother) dead backup battery for my security system. With the number of power outages my hood experiences I am not all that surprised that my batteries expire. After chatting with my security company the woman on the phone told me that I had a service plan with them and for only a $25 service call, plus the price of a replacement battery (she guessed $40) that they’d send someone out. Now I am not the most handy person put on this Earth, but $25 to replace a battery? Nonsense! Thanks to Barb’s comment I headed over to Batteries Plus and picked up a replacement battery for around $27 (I think that’s the right price).

The worst part of the story is that I wound up spending one of my precious few remaining paid-days-off in order to take care of this. Rats.

I am now in possession of sharp kitchen knives again. Watch out! I took two of my overworked utensils to The Cook’s Warehouse where they sharpen knives (really they farm out the work, but I’m okay with that too). While I’ve yet to have an opportunity to test out the new blades I was pleased that the work only cost $4.50 per knife. Considering I cannot re-hone a knife and decent knives are not cheap this is money well spent. Remember, the most dangerous tool in the kitchen is a dull knife.

If You Order The Airline Chicken You Should Expect It To Be Delayed
Saturday night I participated in a supper club which met at a restaurant in Monroe, Georgia. (yes, I was aware that I was headed OTP.) My original plan was to take a long, winding drive out there and then walk about taking photos. In case you’ve not been paying attention to Georgia’s recent temperatures, it was really fucking hot on Saturday. I had to cut my photostroll very short so that wasn’t all sweaty when I sat down for dinner.

The restaurant, Twisted Oak Woodfire Grill, is owned by the parents of the young woman who was seated across from me (foreshadowing!); her husband was sitting next to her — just so you don’t think that my Life Venn Diagram has changed. The place was packed, we had a table of twelve, and things were going really well despite the fact there was live music (I swear if I hear “Brown Eyed Girl” one more time…) and people dancing about.

For appetizers my end of the table shared P.E.I. mussels in a Thai-inspired sauce — this was tasty; some lamb lollipops — very delicious but slightly overcooked; and a spicy fried seafood dish — I liked it, but some thought it was too spicy.

That’s when things went to Hell(‘s Kitchen) in a hand-basket. First, one of the staff accidentally knocked over a water glass, spilling its contents all over my friend’s wife. The glass also broke which made matters more interesting. Then the entrees started arriving — mine not included. For some reason my appetizer was also the last one to be delivered so I sat patiently. Then the waitress told me that my order was “lost in translation” and they were in the process of making it. Donkeys! However she also told me that the meal would be “comp”ed, so I continued to sit patiently. Then I saw another table receive food — that’s when my patience ran out. I tracked down the young lady and told her to “86” my food, that I was not interested in eating it at any price. Five minutes later my meal arrived. I turned it away without hesitation because my table mates had already finished their entrees and had their plates cleared. After more apologizing the restaurant offered me a free dessert. I chose a slice of Snickers cheesecake — it was okay, it had obviously been sitting out because it was starting to wilt and the whipped cream dollop had disintegrated.

I doubt that I shall be returning.

ITP Flickr Pic
I did no photo processing this weekend so I have nothing to show.

Better Food Was Had On Sunday
What’s better to do after a grueling five mile run/walk than to drink four beers, eat all sorts of delicious foods for breakfast, and follow that with lunch at the Chinese Food Court. And I wonder why I have difficulty losing weight? I played virtual-third-wheel by inviting myself to lunch but I didn’t care because I knew that the food was worth being an asshat. We were a threesome of Caucasians in a sea of Asians — I love being a minority in restaurants because it means that I am probably getting authentic food. I ordered Lamb Schezuan Style (“O-72” if you are playing along at home), Tony ordered the pork version of this, and Betsy order a braised fish (served whole on a plate — not for the squeamish).

And I Thought The Drought Would Last Forever
With the rain this past weekend along with the prediction of more this week I thought it was the appropriate time to get out and mow my lawns on Saturday. The last time I had to perform this task was July 14th, the day I left for Seattle. Admittedly I didn’t have to wait this long, but I don’t enjoy the task and even though the grass wasn’t pretty I figured there was no sense to mowing it if was never going to rain.

My neighbor must have had the same thought because he started mowing his lawn at 7:30am(!) Sunday morning. I understand that he leaves the house at 5:30am most mornings (because I hear it occur some days) so to him 7:30am must feel late, but on a Sunday? Give us all a break! Luckily for me I am an early riser so I was long-awake by that time myself.

I am curious to know what the earliest time you feel is appropriate to start mowing a lawn? btw- I started my work at about 9:30am Saturday morning, which is about as early as I will start.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – mildly disturbed optimistic
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — “Love Song No. 7”
Website Of The Day – (for Geeks only) The DigiBarn Computer Museum has probably the most awesome display of personal computer history. If you go “way back” (I first started messing with computers around 1981) then you will enjoy perusing their site.
Exercise (b)Log – run/walk, 5 miles
Monthly Mileage – 12 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]