so i did a bit more of the demolition, which got me all covered in plaster dust, so i'm finally clean for the moment, but i'm tired. so i'm going to sleep.

i got an email from the director guy of wind ensemble (cwru) i need to decide if i should play, of course there's not much to lose, besides the semi-weekly trip and my afternoons/evenings, but that's not too bad.

uhh, not much else really, the super expensive water didn't taste like much at all, so if you like tasteless water in a cool bottle, it'd be good for you. me i like fiji, and if you want to spice it up, get one of those silver thingies for holding it.

or if all works well, you could get a blue diamond one!

anyway, time for sleep methinks!

so, i went to cost plus world market today, attempting to find the ground vanilla beans, which i knew were at the miles market (where i got sharffen berger last week) aparently they no longer carry them.

on the upside, i got 2 new kinds of water, one of which aparently won an award for its bottle design i guess its taken a while for it to get here if it won in 1996, since it was labelled as new. i'll have to wait until it chills to try it, though its rather expensive, $1.50 for 8.5 oz, at the discount place!

i also got some chocolate licorice, its very disturbing, and a box of crackers in what looks like a square butter cookie tin. haven't tried them yet.

uhh, what else. the destruction at jen's has started, so i had to come back earlier then expected to attempt to get plaster (actual plaster, non of that drywall crap! this is the house that had gas lamps when it was built!) out of my hair.. i think i succeeded.

uhh, what else. not much really, helen and walter aparently are off to the dave matthews concert. do we all share the same view:
1. ooh, i wanted to go
2. eh, they released cds, i could buy one
3. dmb was cool when toooooooooooooom still had all his hair, i think i'm over them
4. dmb was never cool, nor was dmb as an acronym.
5. i wish to assert my dave matthews band priveledge, because i know helen will kick my ass if i don't say exactly what she wanted to hear, and i realize i don't know what that is

so i went to sleep too early, which meant i didn't update.

i haven't eaten breakfast yet, which i'm starving for, so this will be quick.

in unrelated news, my neighbor seems to be getting evicted, since his suppoena was stuck in his mailbox yesterday. that's good, as he says hi to me, and is sorta scary.

its also sorta cloudy now, and was really cloudy yesterday, odd, since its been sunny for a while. you get used to things being happy.

aparently i forgot to describe the australian cheese! horrible. i'm not sure what i can do to makeup for that, it tastes odd. like canadian cheese, which is difficult to describe as well, but i'm definetly not a fan of australian cheese. its also an odder yellow color, which as we know comes from something the cows ate. i'm not sure if this also affected the taste, its probably likely..

i hate when i get spam and eudora crashes on it... perhaps i need a new version.

ok, that's very exciting stuff, but i think i'm off to make some eggs and english muffins.

ok, so i didn't update last night. aparently this is causing strife.

to offset this, i managed to half finish my chair, which is good, since its now springy! dramatic improvement, since before it didn't really tilt, it just well, fell over. but its still comfy. while i was repairing it, i noticed there's a stamp on the base from 1981, so i guess my estimate of 20 years old is accurate, though depending on how quickly they assemble, it could be 22!

i need to get something for lunch. i had a frap (caramel mocha, if you're keeping track, since i have taken to randomly flavoring them) and some cakey thing for breakfast...

there was other stuff to mention.. but this is a bit problematic. so we're looking at jen's bathroom upgrade, i've been looking at moen's platnium finish. its sorta a nice brushed look, and it seems like it'll be much easier to clean then your average chrome...

umm, not much else to mention that i can think of. i have a MEM class of '04 meeting thing this evening, perhaps it will create some news on the job front since i can talk to the ocasional person, but i'll see. if anything job related happens i'll let everyone know.

i've been getting poor responses on the quizes, should i continue? or would you prefer just the general updates?

i wokeup at like 9 today. i think it was too early.

jen didn't seem to have much planned for the evening, so somehow we ended up going on a wegs run. of course given the current location, its about 1:45 to drive to erie, but hey that's not so bad, and the bread at the sub shoppe was better then usual, of course still not up to dib's standard.

i got a cool flexible oxo spatula, so now i can scrape stuff off my grill pan without (hopefully) melting the plastic spatula...

i also got some australian cheddar cheese. i've never had australian cheese, i was obligated to get it. i'll report on its edibility tomorrow.

i gave up posting on weekends months ago, i guess i could do it again, but i dono, its nice to have time off, and then no one worries and only checks monday morning.

so walter updated, yay! stupid vonage and modem problems! i'd be interested if there's a solution, perhaps a call to vonage support is in order? i guess i should re-enable trackbacks...

after going to erie, since there's an old navy there, and no sales tax on clothes in PA i did some shopping. I got 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of cargo pants and 3 t-shirts. they were supposed to cost $155 (which isn;t exactly excessive, but whatever) through various discounts, they cost $88 iirc. i was impressed with myself. need to be budget friendly when i'm unemployed!

favorite clothing item
1. cargo pants
2. walter finally updated pants
3. jeans
4. t-shirts
5. bag they came in
6. australian cheese

walter didn't update. and the rumor mill said he would.

tomorrow is market day

TOWM is here, its exciting.

i don't know what else, i bought a reusable aerosol can. its handy for spraying stuff, like uhh water.

i also got 2 'stick' pots, but haven't used them, i'll have to see how they work with whatever i get at the market tomorrow much easier.

we went to chipotle. it was exciting.

i'm tired, i think i'm going to sleep.

the quizzes haven't been yielding much response lately, its sorta sad

rationale for not responding
1. not reading
2. boring topics
3. don't have time
4. have too much time
5. busy thinking about burritos
6. other passive technique
7. boycott, due to waiting on walter's update

Well so i didn't get as much done as i wanted, though i did succeed in getting some sharffen beger chocolate that someone wanted.

i need to finish up laundry stuff tomorrow, but i don't think that's a horrible thing..

hrm, what else, not much really. TOWM is showing up tomorrow, so i need to figure out what to do while he's here..

things to do:
1. chipotle
2. rock hall
3. indians game?
4. polishing ass-groove on couch
5. changing spark plugs again.. since that was so much fun

there's been some rumor of walter actually updating, so since i'm oh, 13 hours late, i figure i should hurry up so he doesn't beat me.

i just noticed an ad for clorox's bleach pen. now i don't need to worry about how i'm going to tape a kick me sign to someone's back, you can bleach it in!

umm, what else... so i went and got lunch.. it took 2 hours. i really need to avoid the east side.

uhh, what else.. oh wait i said that. crap. helen's eating applesauce. i had orange juice with lunch. it was similar. and if that makes sense to you, well whatever.

meep. i need to do laundry.

reasons to postpone laundry:
1. promotes shopping, much easier to buy clothes then wash them
2. saves water
3. avoids wasting quarters
4. no walking down 2 flights of stairs
5. gives me something to complain about
6. avoids unecessarily using electricity from the illuminating company, thus causing massive blackouts.

so i have a minor headache. i think i'll go to sleep, but i really need to send an email or two out, that can wait until tomorrow.

aparently walter's a slacker again in updating. i vaguely think this may be related to his not having internet access, but you know, i survived on dialup for a few months back in '96, I think he can use it now for a few days.

TOM suggested i look at government jobs. i found a biomedical engineer position in bethesda MD.. it has a phone # and a pile of acronyms that don't relate to me, but i figure it can't hurt to call, probably a better idea then continuing to call zimmer, since they don't call me back. i'll see how that works out tomorrow.

we finished the painting, which is good, aparently i'm trying to increase the number of gray hairs i have my painting my head, but i didn't notice this until i got ready for bed a few minutes ago.

hrm, not much else to report, i have some leftover french fries, i'm thinking i could make them into home fries. it seems logical, they're pre-greased, and even slightly garlicky. i'll see how that endeavor goes tomorrow.

oh well, enough excitement for today!

other uses for french fries:
1. leaving under car seats for future excitement
2. mixing paint
3. throwing at pedestrians
4. shaking angrily at other drivers
5. make-shift q-tip
6. back scratcher

oh, one more thing:

what's brown and hangs on a wire?

an unqualified electrician

so with jen's dad moving, there's more space, and more space means you notice things that could use fixing, like say, repainting a room and recarpeting it. of course if you do that, you notice things like nails popping, so you have to get out the spackle, etc, etc. if all goes well, we should actually paint tomorrow, once the spackle has dried, i think overall it'll nicely brighten the room, but with all the damn paint and associated accessories, its like $150 to paint the room. I guess it'll be somewhat cheaper the next room we do, but probably not less then $100...

i'm watching radio controlled hobbies. he's busy racing boats. he pointed out to have a retrival system, so you don't kill yourself swimming in near freezing water to get your stupid boat. who knew you could get gas powered racing boats? its even got a little sparkplug... Coming next, the mercury 1/32hp outboard. (yes walter, that's 23 watts, we all love google conversions, now they just need to do currency...)

hrm, sad news on the helen/walter front. i guess i should get out my bathing suit and go register to be a minister. so confusing.

uhh what else.. i can't be sympathetic on the not having cable front. of the 2 apartments i've lived in, i've had cable and internet installed before i actually spent the night. its important!

i had a thought for a quiz, but i seem to have forgotten it.

oh, the boil water alert is done! i'm so excited. i was working on autopilot, so i'd keep using tap water to rinse my toothbrush. i had to move a bottle to train myself. on the downside, my dishes now can't be ignored, since i can wash them.

avoidance of dishes:
1. start the world's first (in theory) dish-dro-mat
2. eat off paper
3. eat off plastic, screw the environment
4. try greek wedding technique, just break them
5. stop eating, good diet technique
6. just watch more dilbert. dishes can wait, even if dilbert's not even that fun.

though dilbert did just admit he wears capri's... this is relevant, since there's the principle, males can't tell what they're wearing, without looking, females can. it seems to be a reasonable (but not totally true) theory. hrm?

so i made a big deal about how walter was slacking on the updating. i think its my duty to point out he's been quite consistant this week, so no more complaining from my end.

sorry i didn't update last night, but you know, largest power outtage in the history of the US might have something to do with it. cleveland got power at around 8 this morning. but due to horribly stupid plans, they thought hey, we'd never have all 4 pumping stations for water go out, so they'll just back each other up. of course they all died, so the water's this odd yellow colour. oh well. teeth brushing with fiji is more fun.

uhh what else. nothing really. its difficult to get stuff done when you're sitting in the dark for 16 hours.

so, did everyone use their calculator features?

so i found out about the martini history: aparently its named after martinez. as jen can attest, since she was recently there, martinez is a hole in the ground, best known for a huge oil refinery. how sad.

favourite blackout activity
1. listening to tv on radio
2. waiting to see if water will work
3. sleeping and knowing no alarm clock will work
4. waiting for that picture of helen's ring
5. pondering what will be open for lunch this afternoon...

well, i of course updated last night before midnight, so now my dates are all messed up. oh well, i guess it'll get sorted out this weekend most likely. i don't think anyone really pays attention to what's happening as long as there's something new when they're reading.

hrm, so i called zimmer, left a message, and called back. i think i called 3 or 4 times total trying to avoid voice mail, but didn't really succeed. of course i didn't get a call back, so we'll see. its all just quite odd.

i applied to a job in irvine CA, not very exciting because it seems to want more experience, but you never know these days...

so google has a calculator feature, i think its relatively new. type a math equation into it (or your toolbar, since you all use it as its wonderful) and it'll evaluate it. who knew? even more reasons to never leave google. you don't need a equals sign though, i don't think it can do algebra. this was prompted by the admission that google skews results, so if you search for suicide, they tend you towards help, not how-to's. which was prompted by a former ciffer offering people jobs. of course google does nothing i want to do, so that's quite problematic. i didn't find any other examples of google skewing results in a humanitarian effort, i got too sidetracked with the calculator, since now i don't need to open calc when i'm feeling lazy.

err, what else. i had chipotle for lunch. it was like an old friend that had been missing. very exciting stuff if you ask me. i calculated, its a 12 layer burrito. not counting the tortilla. and it was better and bigger then the burrito i had in the airport in phoenix, not that airports are known for their food, but still.

i think i've written enough that the front page should be back to normal. this is a good thing, i think it's MT's method of saying hey stupid update.

walter is discussing no gym commando friday. i believe this is traumatic. i wish to keep my blog's discussion on underwear or, or a lack thereof to a minimum. i believe that was a horrible double entre. i believe i can't spell in french.

favorite burrito layer
1. tortilla
2. shiny wrapping paper
3. hot salsa
4. medium salsa
5. the other medium (chipotle thinks corn is spicy)
6. mild salsa
7. onions
8. peppers
9. black beans
10. guac
11. sour cream
12. random white cheese in shreds
13. chipotle (smoked) tabasco
14. i swear i'm forgetting a layer
15. shoe mud
14. lettuce i didn't get this time

Aparently I already had an entry called I'm back.. so this one is the second. I think...

Anyway, so after a rather uneventful trip back that was just long, back in cleveland. we stopped to get takeout dinner on the way back. its kinda nice to eat in my living room again.

not much else happening, since i've only been here an hour. but you know.

the only other interesting thing, is i checked the mail on the way in, and dated aug 5th i got a you suck letter from zimmer. recall i interviewed on the 4th. i have no idea what's up. but clearly i'm missing something. i figure i'll call tomorrow and see what's up. i'm not sure if i'm annoyed or disappointed, mostly just puzzled, since they said i wouldn't hear for 1 1/2 weeks, and then seem to have sent a letter the next day....oh well. i'll update when i hear something.

well, so jen and i went out to sushi tonight. suposedly she has taken 5 people out to dinner before job interviews, and all 5 of them got jobs. i think it was worth supporting this tradition.

i changed the spark plugs on the car, (managed to find them for all of $5 each). besides getting my hand totally greasy, and it taking 40 minutes to change 4 of them, the car is much happier. hopefully i can get rid of it before they need replacing again in like 10K miles.

uhh, not much else. i have this huge application to fill out, so i need to finish that tomorrow. its even got the touchy feely questions like 'what are your strengths' it also asked me what activities i did in high school. damn brain digging questions. also it seems to think i should have been an officer in some of them, oh well. i was an officer in college, that worked out better.

So i was reading the british american dictionary, and the guy who wrote it is pretty damn funny. this one was especially funny:

lay-by n. A little parking area off the side of a main road (usually motorway), where people generally stop to have a sandwich, let their children vomit, empty the dog or copulate with their work colleagues. I don't think, however, that this is where the name came from. Americans call these places "truck stops" or "rest areas".

Ok,
ok, i knew there was a bunch of other stuff i was going to mention.

so i have an iced tea maker, as it was like $15, its a good investment (it can also make iced coffee, but i have no coffee for it, so that makes it difficult, maybe i can get some postum for it). anyway, it brews the tea hot, then dumps into a pitcher with ice. to make 2 quarts, it requires 6 ice cube trays. of course normal people have ice makers. i on the other hand have collected 8 ice cube trays (they come in packs of 2) and an ice cube bucket. besides a box of popsicles, a box of baking soda and some steak that i didn't want to go bad, that's all that's in my freezer. is this odd?

i think i should throw out the guinness i brought from the old apartment. its probably skunked. at least its not gross, aluminum doesn't even rust. or is that aluminium, in honour of the british?

uhh, i dono when i'll next update, seeing as i'm flying to IN on sunday afternoon, i'll try and update saturday if i can though, but no guarentees.

i need to change the plugs on my car... i'm sure it'll be exciting when i get around to it, like finding plugs. i think i've decided to deal with this when i get back from CA.

best technique for good luck in IN:
1. crossing fingers
2. study carefully the counterfitting show on history channel
3. bribery?
4. studying up on bone anatomy
5. napping...

So I think I figured out how to trackback. Thanks to walter's post. (see look, I'm mentioning him and its not about slacking)