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November 30, 2005
I feel bad.
A blind person walked into my car today.
Was it my fault? Eh, maybe.
I was doing some freelance for Aaron downtown. I had to be at the Convention Complex at 7:30 to do some run-throughs. The day before it took me 30 minutes, and that was in heavier morning rush hour traffic, so I figured the same amount of time should be fine for this earlier drive.
As I reached the parking garage I used the day before, I noticed two guys directing traffic. What I failed to notice was a large FULL sign. They were only letting people with a monthly pass in. I swear a guy ahead of me went the regular "push button for ticket" lane.
I still hadn't noticed the FULL at this point. I pushed the button. Nothing happened. I notice the big neon FULL sign. Uh oh.
I realize my mistake and start to back up. The guys directing traffic- ah, makes sense now!- do a good job of making space for me to get out of there. I feel stupid, but feel like I'll be out of there in a second.
Just then I notice, coming toward me down the sidewalk, a guy with dark glasses and the white cane with red tip. Double Uh oh.
I'm half way across the sidewalk, car in reverse. I know I can't do anything but just sit there and wait for him to hit me.
As his stick hits my car, he "jumps" and is startled. I put the car in gear, pull forward, and he continues on his way.
I feel bad for the guy...
...but wait a sec. What about the two guys directing traffic?? Why did he tell me to come backwards with this guy coming right toward me? I'm not taking full credit for this one...
I ended up driving five blocks down and finding another garage. I parked, made my way through the maze-like Skywalk system (I think they need a few more helpful signs, although the maps they have are pretty decent- maybe I should have just brought a compass) and ended up being about five minutes late. I probably should have realized that all thousand people at the event we were covering would probably want to park in that garage. D'oh!
Maybe I need to install one of those reverse BEEP BEEP BEEP things on my car. I think that would help. Maybe it can just beep all the time. That would solve a lot of problems. That, and a big sign that says "USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL."
A lot of people around here need that one....
November 28, 2005
Thanks + Giving = I'm Stuffed
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I went up to Duluth and had a mini get-together with the family. I posted a few photos on Flickr. It was Lucky's second trip to Duluth. He did much better than the first. He didn't fly into any glass doors this time and seemed more relaxed. He even found a new friend. Not much personality, though.
The weather wasn't bad when we first got there (we got in a nice walk on Congdon Trail) but the second day was CHILLY.
...
I thought this page was pretty interesting. Did it work for you?
November 18, 2005
Hobos. What else?
Anyone familiar with 700 hobo names will appreciate the Daily Show interview with author John Hodgman this week. Anyone check out his book yet? I want to.
...#63 Little Johnny Songbird..... the Songbird Eater.
November 14, 2005
Buyer eBayware
There was an interesting Ask Metafilter thread the other day.
It seems a suspicious eBay-er went looking for help in the wrong section of town. MeFites did a little digging, found some other suspicious questions by the user...
...not to mention a ridiculous eBay auction by the guy (Surprise Wal-Mart gift card! Could be worth anything between $5 and $500! Yeah right.)
They suspended his posting privileges which is a shame... I want to hear more from this guy!
November 12, 2005
Flea Juice
Today Aimee and I went to a flea market on the Iowa Fairgrounds. Here are some pictures from the event. (I also updated a bunch of these on Flickr - would that be a Flea Flickr? Boooo!)
A shot of the market in 4H building.
A collection of buttons.... say no to Reagan.
Aimee takes a break to read.
Ross Perot... also known for his humor, but not the way he'd like...
Sweet! I think I counted at least 3 Super Mario Bros.
And then we came upon...
the Jackpot!
Star Wars...
Transformers, G.I. Joe (condition: not quite mint... I'd say..... "backyardy"...)
Bucket 'o toys...
Star Wars toys... with cup. I would have thought about getting a toy or two but they weren't in very good shape. Also, they were pretty overpriced like a lot of the stuff at the flea market. They were still fun to look at. 80's toys bring me back... (would have been fun to go through that stuff with some other fans).
Wrestlers.... and Mr. T!
What better says "this table is full of useless junk" than a box full of Home Alone 3 pins?
...and finally, for when just a gun isn't enough. The Billy The Kid knife-gun.
November 11, 2005
Crap.
Sigh.
And yet Yes, Dear remains.
November 10, 2005
Sold!
While curiously browsing some houses on IowaRealty.com, Aimee came upon this listing...
Now, it has some typical pictures you'd find when looking at a listing for a house, like this:
But then as you look at some more of the pictures, it gets weird...
Ok.. kind of messy...
Again... you could have picked some stuff up...
Sure, everyone has SOME stuff in their yard, not everyone can have it spotless...
Oh come on! Now you're just being lazy! You can't make your bed once for a photo?? Who do you need, Mary Poppins? Sheesh...
November 06, 2005
Couple things
Couple fun links (both via Digg)
Send an email to yourself.... 20 years from now.
100 Greatest Internet Moments.... ("Greatest" is a relative term, I guess) - I agree with some of them (Hamster Dance, Jump the Shark, Mahir "Welcome to my homepage. I kiss you!" Cagri, Hyakugojyuuichi, Homestar), but a lot of the most influential stuff didn't make it on there. Flying Spaghetti Monster anyone?
And last I have to give props to BFG Technologies for swiftly, and freely, replacing a video card that went bad in my PC. When I couldn't get my PC to recognize the VGA, I traded a dozen emails with Mark guessing at possible problems- motherboard? BIOS? Power Supply? RAM? Umm... video card? Yep, it was the video card. BFG Tech quickly sent me a new one after I sent it to them. So, if you buy a video card, I recommend buying one of theirs.