Yesterday I found myself chatting with my boss about the horrors present in the bathroom mirror in the wee hours. “I should blog on that, because it’s pretty scary at that time of day.” I just wasn’t sure whether I’d have the guts to go with full disclosure. What the hell? If I can’t laugh at myself…
Author: fifteenkey (Page 84 of 95)
I’m sure a great deal of what’s going on in the world today is good, but the news media puts most of their efforts into the bad stuff. One bit of news (good imo) is that the International Energy Agency (IEA), an energy overseer, issued a bleak report urging the industrialized world to kick its oil habit. Interesting, the Paris-based IEA issued its report from London. Perhaps that’s because a great deal of petroleum products were ablaze across the French countryside. Slate has an interesting compilation of foreign press perspective on the rioting of frustrated Muslim youth in France.
Anyway, speaking of weaning us off of petrol, I read in dismay a Marketwatch report on the “insurance sticker shock” parents receive when junior gets added to their automobile policy. (Note: Megan got her Learner’s Permit last Friday. She’s a very good driver. Seems quite experienced, but that’s another story…) The report says that adding a teenager to a policy can increase premiums anywhere from 100% to 355% even for the old family jalopy! It notes that “safe” vehicles will drive the cost down. As is my nature, I seek the good in everyone and everything, so here it is: Female drivers pose less risk, so adding a 16-year-old daughter results in only a 349% hike… Cool. Why are the rates so high you ask? Well, the report cites “Car accidents are the leading cause of death among those 15 to 20, according to 2002 figures from the National Center for Health Statistics, the most recent data available.”
So now I’m in a bit of a quandry given the fatality statistics and the costs for insurance and gasoline. The Sherman tank I’m buying Megan will keep her safe and the insurance on it will be a mere pittance, but the fill-ups are gonna be brutal.
I heard this line from Elliott Smith’s “Baby Britain” (From “XO,” 1998) on the way home from the gym tonight. It echoed the sentiments of an email I received earlier today. In part, it read, “Ned (not his real name) was a great guy, but we weren’t exactly on the same intellectual level if you know what I mean.” Yeah, I do know what you mean. It’s just one of the many “tests” we all must pass in the mating game. As I get older, I find myself overanalyzing these things with regard to women. The truth is I think I’m just looking for something to disqualify them from being “the one.” The one I’m afraid to let in. My issues aside, I think as single thirty or forty-somethings get used to the independence and freedom their lifestyle affords them, the less apt they are to “settle” for a relationship with a person that doesn’t measure up in one category or another. Intelligence. Honesty. Physical appeal. Empathy. A sense of humor. Class. Dignity. Self-esteem. Hey, the New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd even asks in a new book, “Are Men Necessary?” As the subject of her punching bag of a book, I guess we are.
Last Sunday, after a particularly strenuous day of shopping for Megan’s new school stuff, she Kyle and I stopped into the Olive Garden for a quick dinner. Megan is a soup lover, so I recommended the Pasta Fagioli. She devoured it and took advantage of their “bottomless bowl” policy. It looked pretty simple, so this morning I made it. Pretty much anything I see in a restaurant, I can replicate in the kitchen. In this case, I didn’t make the traditional recipe (including celery), but guessed the ingredients based on how it looked. (Note: Tasting helps one to nail the shopping list.) First, I browned an onion, mushrooms, green and red peppers, followed by some ground sirloin after removing the veggies. To the browned beef, I added six cups of water and three Knorrs beef bullion cubes for stock. To that I added two cans of crushed tomatoes, a bag of frozen peas/corn/green beans, some garlic, cannelloni beans, and one pound of al dente Barilla Ditalini.
At some point in the process, perhaps while Kyle was “testing” the ground sirloin, he hit the brew with enough salt to mummify an Egyptian queen. The final concoction’s a tad salty, but a nice hearty soup for a cool, damp November day.
I took the plunge into the world of HDTV. From what I hear, my 42” LG Plasma should be here “soon.”
Now before I can drench myself in rich, 1080i splendor, I must purchase a new DVD player and all necessary cables. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, let’s start with the DVD player and then get right into navigating wires like slashing through dense vines in the Amazon. (No, not the store, the rainforest following the river.)
DVD manufacturers now offer “upconverting” players that “process” a standard DVD 480p image and increase it to an HD level 720p or 1080i. A pretty cool demonstration of the difference can be seen on this picture of Yoda. Tough call on whether the quality is worth it, especially since the “upconverters” are more expensive than progressive scan players.
Welcome to the Jungle
As sweet as my new plasma is, it has only one DVI input. DVI carries high resolution Digital Video, but is being replaced by HDMI which carries both high resolution Digital Video and Digital Audio. In order to receive HDTV from Comcast, I have to upgrade my set
-top-box (STB), but the Comcast website doesn’t indicate whether their HD STB’s output the signal via DVI or HDMI. So, my STB may have HDMI and the “upscaling” DVD’s only upscale via HDMI. Um, looks like I need 2 HDMI inputs, but I have only 1 DVI input. What’s a boy to do? Well, after cringing at $250.00 HDMI/DVI converter boxes found on the net, I discovered one for $38.99! And… this bad boy can handle either two HDMI inputs, two DVI inputs, or one of each, then outputting (I don’t care if it’s not a word. Hang with me…) to either an HDMI or DVI output!!! Oh, and then there’s the cables… Very few manufacturers include them, but don’t pay $100.00 or more per DVI/HDMI cable. There are good ones here and here.
Got all that? Stuff like this is why “Home Improvement” was so popular.
This recently discovered picture of Albert Einstein is yet another reason I love the Internet…
On what seems to be an annual basis, whether I need to or not, I peer into the abyss of my underwear drawer and see nothing but the tattered remains of the few, the proud, the Hanes Boxer Briefs. Yes, they were willing to fight on, protecting me from… well, I guess from the inside of my pants, but time waits for no one, and the onslaught they endured day after day finally broke them. I suppose if they enjoyed shore leave once in a while, their morale would have been stronger, but these guys saw nothing but life in the trenches. Their only respite was a bath now and then. God forbid I ever got into “an accident” and the poor paramedics had to see me in those. Yes, it was time for reinforcements. Now going out to buy new skivies is not something I look forward to, so I thought I’d see if shopping for underwear in my underwear was feasible. I’m happy to report there’s a lot of undies on the net. Some I saw on ebay seemed not quite new, so I stayed off that potentially dangerous, um, highway.
I ended up at a lovely little storefront called One Hanes Place. It sells only new briefs, and also has cool features like the “Bra Finder” for those of you so inclined. At One Hanes Place, bloomer browsing was a breeze, and I boldly bought boxer briefs, but not bikini’s.
How could I not with this description:
“The support of briefs. Plus the freedom of boxers. It adds up to classic Hanes comfort.
- Ring-spun fabric feels super-soft. It’s even preshrunk for lasting fit.
- Long-leg styling looks sleek and streamlined.
- Wide Hanes waistband fits extra gently.”
Hopefully, they’ll show up before I have to “go commando” like Kramer in a classic Seinfeld short from 1994.
The religious right has blessed us with “Dubya,” now they’ve taken away Halloween. Well, they did at one Newton, MA elementary school this week because it upset their “religious sensibilities.” Yep, kids dressing up as Snow White or Harry Potter and collecting treats in the neighborhood is sure upsetting. I fought this battle for a few years for my own kids who were not allowed to celebrate Halloween. One year I just rebelled and went for it. Kyle loved it of course, dressing as Darth Maul, Batman, Darth Vader, Two-Face, Captain Hook, and Mr. Potter. During this stretch of paganism, I’ve gone with the Emporer from Star Wars, Dr. Evil, and the esteemed Rubeus Hagrid. I have to say, the first year of the revolt was the best. After about an hour locked in my bathroom, I emerged as old Jack Napier himself – the Joker. I wish I had a picture of Kyle’s face when he first saw me. He was really scared and hesitantly asked, “Dad, is it you?” What fun we had dressing up and being characters for a night. Now the pressure is back on Kyle to not dress up anymore. That’s enough fun I guess. To those who would take this fun away, I think Jack Nicholson as the Joker has some good advice.
High prices um, fueled Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell to their best quarterly results EVER today, with Exxon becoming the first U.S. company ever to ring up quarterly sales of $100,000,000,000.00. Yeah, that’s a lot of zeroes. The boys at Exxon also run a tight ship, and they scored their largest EVER quarterly profit of $9,900,000,000.00. Not one to boast, Exxon didn’t mention in its earnings announcement that its nearly ten-billion dollar PROFIT was a record. Puny in comparison, Shell made a measly $9,030,000,000.00 PROFIT.
Responsible corporate citizen, Exxon Mobil’s chairman and chief executive, Lee Raymond, emphasized his Mother Theresa-like company “acted responsibly” in pricing gasoline in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita, adding that profits were “tempered” by the storms, and he warned that “reduced volumes and higher costs” will “impact” Exxon’s earnings in their upcoming fourth quarter.
US petroleum consumers were all having a cigarette and unavailable for comment.
I can’t really add much to what Jeff wrote today about last night’s Son Volt show, except to say that hearing those songs again with all those great lines was a privilege. Jay Farrar’s music moves me and makes me move. Between songs toward the end of the show, someone yelled out, “JAY FARRAR IS GOD.” Frankly, I don’t think God is as good a songwriter… On the ride home, Jeff and I chatted about some of the many shows we’ve seen together over the years. They have been a privilege. Whether today, tomorrow or twenty years from now, I’ll always be able to say to Jeff, “Man, we saw some great shows, didn’t we?”
“Find strength from the words
Of those that went before
Take what you need
But leave even more”
Jay Farrar, “World Waits for You”