Anybody going from (or through) South Minneapolis, Powderhorn Park area, who would have room for an Elise? I have a panel in the mid-afternoon...and should have planned ahead and arranged rides, but I am a space cadet, even more than usual just now.

So... anybody?

A clumsy word, a thoughtless phrase
and he's waiting for the axe to fall.
it probably won't rise to that
but the mind is a muddy place
and the heart is in hopless thrall

The lover is a foolish slave:
living by looks and dying by glances,
with so much at stake, and so much to lose
it amazing that anyone chances

So he sits by the phone,
and starts at the post
Looking for the reprieve
and dreading the warrant:

waiting for the axe to fall

That you should always have any/all emergency contact phone numbers written down on paper, just in case there is a need to go to the ER. When I had to go in yesterday (nothing major, luckily) and the nurse asked me to tell her my emergency contact numbers, I realized that I didn't know them. I have them in my cell phone but since I no longer have a landline, I don't actually *dial* the numbers anymore (or even tap them in). Instead, I either use speed dial or I just scroll through the names before I hit send.

And yes, I now have the above numbers memorized *and* written down on paper. (The same applies for meds, too.)

i am spending this glorious holiday weekend here. yay bristol! the moon is huge outside.

what have you been up to?

Tonight at the Reno in 2011 at Fiestacon (Westercon 62) I will be firing up the laptop with web cam and broadcasting live from about 9:30 PM until about 10:30 PM. 

We will be on Ustream ( http://www.ustream.tv/channel/corwyn-of-amber ). Drop by and see what is doing!

Oh come on - I mean even if you're that into Michael jackson, surely Man in the Mirror can't possibly be your favourite track?? 4 Music is doing solid MJ and a week after rest of UK, I am drunkenly catching up. I am about to see THriller for the first time in about ten years.. I had forgotten Vincent Price rapping over it..

I am really tempted by this - anyone fancy?

Sometimes I do love being British. Tonight at the very monent the Music in the Gardens concert commenced, the heavens opened. The British did not squawk, panic or mutter. They opened umbrellas, crawled into lurid rainproof gear, repacked picnics and settled down to listen to the music. I picked up my rug, wrapped it around me and someone lent me an umbrella. I was very proud, especially as I was there with a crowd of Germans and Indians! I took white and pink fizz, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, chicken, brie and baguettes and Kiplings French Fancies to illustrate the British picnic, and that all went down well :)

The concert was splendid with lots of my pop favourites - Borodin's dances, Peer Gynt and a rousing encore of both de Souza for 4th July and Rule Britannia. It made me really want to go to the proms sometimes.

We had some fireworks outside last night and then there was the sound of a big truck. Nothing seems to have actually burned, but this happens every year as folks from other countries follow their cultures and laws, and not ours. Probably happen again tonight.

The city's fireworks are about four long blocks away tonight, and two blocks perpendicular from that line is the city's new 500-car garage. Which will be closed tonight because it might cause a back-up. Uhhuh. Isn't this why we have police?

I'm glad I recorded that particular batch of Twilight Zone because they're the newer, color episodes from CBS and I haven't seen them before. The rest are the older, B&W episodes and I've seen some of these dozens of times.

Last night I FORMATed the drive on my little old laptop -- bought in 1995 and became unusable in 2007 -- several times. I would have preferred to completely overwrite, but all the utilities that would do that were not small enough to get to the laptop via floppy drive or dial-up, which is its limits. It, and two dead CFs, will go to HazMat at the transfer station next Saturday.

I have brown rice in the rice cooker and have been taking breaks from the keyboard to chop veggies. I brought the piece of drywall I have inside and by eye, it's just the right size, which probably means it's too small. I can't get up and measure the hole.

As someone who works at a call center, taking calls for various retail establishments, may I pass one a few tips?
( online shopping info )

I just got a prescription for glasses, and I need help choosing a place to get cheap frames and lenses. I have insurance, but it doesn't cover too much, so I've been looking online. I know about ZenniOptical, but I'm hoping for a place that also offers Transitions (I know, that's a lot to ask).

If anyone knows of such a place, please let me know! TIA. :)

I've been trying to set up Virtual Box on my MacBook Pro so I can run a Win XP virtual machine. Then I'm going to install my favorite Win software there before the old PC goes belly up.

Only one leeetle problem:

While installing off the Win XP disk, I get the message "please put in the disk of your full OS so we can tell you aren't a big cheater head." Well I have an NT disk. I would LOVE to put it in. BUT I CAN'T. I can't figure out a way from within the virtual machine to eject the XP disk! And my Mac is all "CD? What CD?" I can't eject it from the Mac OS because it thinks there ISN'T one in the laptop.

Let me just say AURGGGGGGHHHHHH!

Crap.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/The-Vice-President-in-Iraq-Photo-Essay/

Vice President Biden spent his Fourth of July in Iraq presiding over a naturalization ceremony for U.S. service members in one of Saddam Hussein's old palaces.  It's fair to say he enjoyed the symbolism.

(Vice President Joe Biden enters a press conference with Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki in Baghdad, Iraq,
Friday, July 3, 2009.  Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

(Vice President Joe Biden greets embassy staff and takes individual photos with them at the United States
Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, July 3, 2009.  Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

(U.S. Troops take the citizenship oath inside Al Faw palace at Camp Victory outside Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday,
July 4, 2009. Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

(Vice President Joe Biden addresses newly sworn in U.S. citizens who serve in all 5 branches of the U.S. military,
inside Al Faw palace at Camp Victory, outside Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday, July 4, 2009. 
Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

(Vice President Joe Biden works his way through the dining hall greeting multinational troops during lunch at
Camp Victory, outside Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, July 4, 2009.  Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

 

Drove over to Bolsover to visit Mum.

Bill drove us to Mansfield (flatter and fewer cobbles for her wheelchair) and we Did Shopping.
Helped by the sweet lass in Bon Mache giving Mum a 40% off voucher, she bought many summer clothes.
I bought two jackets, black and blue, from Anne Harvey, reduced from £65 each to £15. Blue one is viscose and black a linen/cotton mix, reserved enough for work, casual enough to make me happy.

We stopped for coffee.
We are, I should point out, in a coffee shop in the middle of a city.
So in comes a dragonfly.
From where, I know not, no ponds or gardens for miles.
And then the screaming starts, staff and patrons act as though a rat had just come in. It's a dragonfly, for heavens sake, what's it going to do? Mug them?
So, armed with a large glass (glass is so I don't damage it) I attempted a rescue, this involved climbing over chairs and in the window.
Except the buggering thing had a wing span greater than the pint glass.
Got it in, sideways, eventually, released outside, probably to a sad end.
If I'd had some way to carry it, I'd have released it where it had a small chance of surviving, such as Bill's pond. But I was pushing a wheelchair, laden with bags and a Dorothy.
Oh well, at least it had a small chance.
I couldn't believe how hysterical the coffee shop staff were. Yes, it was a large dragonfly, but they are harmless, beautiful things. Highly unusual to see one in such an urban setting but for heavens sake, it was a dragonfly!

FF

The skiffy channel (soon to become the SyFy Channel -- what a dreadful name) has a couple of shows starting next week that you may want to watch (if you're an SF fan).

On Tues (7/7) Warehouse 13 premiers. Two agents get reassigned to a secret facility (in South Dakota) that is very reminiscent of that big place where they parked the ark of the covenant at the end of the first Indiana Jones movie. Previews look interesting enough to make me check out the show.

On Fri 7/10, Eureka returns for its fourth season. I've watched this since the beginning and have enjoyed it a lot. In case you don't know the premise, the gov't has collected the best scientific minds in the country and ensconced them in a secret community somewhere in the pacific northwest where they work on advanced projects. When some blows up (literally or metaphorically -- which it frequently does), it's up to a decidely NON-genius sheriff to investigate.

I'm happy these are about to start up. Not much else on.

---

X-posted to DW and LJ.

Back in February, we got a new dog. He's a greyhound mix, and he's evil. "Evil?" you ask. Yes! Demonic even. And I have photographic proof. ( The proof is back here to protect tender sensibilities. )

...'cuz I got my Gold & Tweed coast radio!

Denise and I are currently in the middle of a biology experiment -- making the family yogurt (or 'laban' as her family calls it).  Waiting for the milk to cool a bit before adding the starter from her Mom's refrigerator.  We'll let you know how it turns out...