Nearly every day for the past week or so, someone has been calling around 7 pm. If the answering machine picks up, they say, "Linda? Linda Brown??" and then hang up. If the phone is answered, they hang up. If mom answers and says, "Speaking", they hang up. If this isn't the most pointless waste of time for both the caller and us, I really don't know what is.

Fortunately, we finally convinced mom to get Caller ID, and have their number. However, plugging it into google's search engine gives me some rather *cough*interesting*cough* results. Doing a reverse phone lookup will only tell me the number was registered in Birmingham, Alabama. Seeing the predictabilty of the calls, and the lack of interest in talking to us, I am now curious as to how to make them continue the conversation. Or, at the very least, say something that will make them stop calling. All in a very SHORT period of time between when we answer and they hang up. "Please stop calling?" "Put me on your do not call list." "Hello, beautiful, what are you wearing tonight?" "Heyyy, I can see your house from here." "You got a nice voice. I'd hate for something bad to happen to it." "Sara? Is that YOU? I haven't heard from you in AGES! How are you? How's everything?" "That you? Meet me tonight. I got the goods." "May I have your name? I'm registering a formal complaint against this number." "If you call again, I'm having a voodoo curse placed against you." "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?" "I told ya nevah to call me heah. No, really. I MEAN it."

If they're going to keep calling like this, then I have a right to some fun.

Ok. In my family, we all acknowledge that celebrity deaths come in threes. So who will be number three in this series?

Actor John Fiedler Dies; Was Piglet's Voice in 'Pooh' Films

Oh, Bother! Not Piglet, too!

TV Ventriloquist, Cartoon Voice And Inventor Paul Winchell Dies

How sad! what a talented man.

TTFN, Mr. Winchell!

Just had an interesting experience.

Someone /telled me on the pirate game with a simple, "bonjour!" So I 'bonjour'ed them back, with a vague curiosity about why he'd speak french instead of offer a piratey Ahoy! He responds with: "comment t appelle tu?" I stare at it a moment, remember my distant french classes, and manage a correct reply. (generally though, I always give my game name as my name.)
Then it starts. He says: "enfin une personne qui parle francais! Je suis nul en langue. Sa fais longtemps que tu connais ce jeux."

Thank goodness for Google. I soon assured him (in French) that I barely spoke French, but fortunately, the Internet was a wonderful place with language translators. So he goes and finds one, too. In a few minutes, I'm speaking French to him, and he's speaking English to me. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then got on with playing the game.

Strangely enough, I didn't really need the translator to read what he wrote. I didn't know every word, but recognized enough to get the gist of the sentence. If I don't concentrate too hard, I can understand it! I can read French far better than I can hear it or speak it. Same goes for Spanish, but there's so much spanish floating around the area that you tend to pick it up.

A bit amusing. We switched languages! We should have stuck with just one.

Have I mentioned Puzzle Pirates?

It's got repetitive, addicting games. It's got a pirate theme. It's got a very complex economy and a lot of things to do. You can run a shop, sail the seven seas, work in town, work for the Navy, play card games, participate in brawls and tournaments, etc, etc . . . I've only explored one small portion of it, and am amazed at how BIG this game feels to me. And there's updates. And when you read their message boards it's not full of posts from players complaining about the game and its owners. It's full of useful information!

I fear for Realm. I really do. It got hacked again, and now there's 'major security issues' that have forced the owners to physically remove the server from its normal location (as well as take it offline) so that they can try to address them. Or so they claim. The last update they tried to implement a few weeks ago (the first in many months) proved to be buggy and they took it down. The code is so old that hardly anyone knows how to write it. Not to mention the many, many patches that have been added to it over the years. It was one of the first online role playing games, released when Sierra was in its heyday in the mid 90's.

So, while waiting for it to come back up, I've been indulging my pirate fetish. And working a bit on my miniatures. Soon I'll be posting about my new shrinkray!

Browser makers warned against ad-blocking: ZDNet Australia: News: Software

This is not necessarily true. I would not be blocking ads if they were not flashing at me like they're about to explode, taking up the entire screen, showing various female body parts, repeatedly popping up, or in general, being an absolute PITA. Of COURSE we're blocking them.

Google.com has the right idea. Ads DO show up on the side when you search. They are text ads. They are not in your face. And I use them almost as much as the regular links found in the search.

So don't threaten us about having to pay. We wouldn't block your ads if they weren't so intolerable. Keep it subtle!

I promised myself I wouldn't blog any more rants about work. Or co-workers.

So, just realize that below is space where I am NOT writing down my frustration. It's there. It's real. You just don't get to see it. It's encrypted. Yeah. That's it.

*work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant*
*work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant*
*work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant*
*work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant*
*work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant*










*work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant**work rant*

Went to see the wheelchair van they found for my grandfather. My aunt and uncle had gone down to Waynesboro to pick it up, and my aunt called my mom in a half-panic, going on about rust and a big dent in the door, etc. . . . we told her to forget it, check out another, its VIN had listed 9 major repairs on Carfax, there ARE other wheelchair vans out there, etc. Then my other uncle said, oh, no prob, I know a guy who . . .

And the wheelchair van ended up back here. It's a Dodge Caravan, 4 or 5 years old, white. I have NO idea what rust spots my aunt saw. (my Sunbird had rust spots. I know what they look like!) The terrible dent in the door was on the very edge, like it had been opened too far and knocked on a concrete pillar or something. It did have issues with the gas gauge and the ABS light was on, weather stripping was loose, and some other minor stuff. But it seemed to run well, and the AC worked. They immediately strapped my grandfather in, and went all over the car, trying to figure out what was wrong, what needed work . . . So I climbed in the back seat to keep my grandfather company.

The inside looked like a van, but with a rubber floor and the middle seat removed. Lots of cupholders, lots of extra straps, big long seat behind where the wheelchair goes. I pointed out the driver's seat to him and asked if he would rather be sitting there. I told him it reminded me of his big white work van, and asked what he thought about riding around in it. He listened, and looked all around, made a few sounds, fidgeted. By this time, my aunt closed the rear doors and then climbed in the driver's seat. My grandmother clambered into the passenger side. I said, "hey! Hey! are we going somewhere?" They both turned around, surprised. 'Oh! there you are!' I decided to stay and see how things went.

The van makes a loud beeping sound when it backs up. Won't the neighbors love that! It was a bit on the bumpy side all the way back there, but then, I suppose most vans are. My grandfather yelled briefly whenever we hit a pothole or speed bump, but other than that was surprisingly quiet. My aunt drove to the high school, switched places with my grandmother, and let her drive it around the parking lot to get a feel for it. (Scary thought, a little old woman, 4'11", driving a minivan!) Then she drove it back home. She said she felt good about it, and it handled well for her. I'm hoping she meant it, and wasn't just saying anything she could to keep A wheelchair van.

Back home, they figured out how to unbuckle everything, got my grandfather out of the van, and gave him a tour of the outside. I made sure to emphasize to him that his wife would be driving him around in it. "Doesn't that make you want to cooperate with the physical therapist and learn how to walk again?"

It's a big purchase, but an important one. You can't rely on taxis to show up on time (or show up!), and it puts a lot of added stress on holidays. Not to mention doctor's appointments that need to be kept. Then there's trusting a stranger with a family member who can't speak or defend himself. I hope there's nothing seriously wrong with the car. It will be such a nice thing for them to have!

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | Cookie Monster curbs cookie habit

This just doesn't seem right. He's COOKIE MONSTER. It's what he DOES. I was never influenced by Cookie monster to pig out on cookies. (it was my mother who influenced me by offering not just one, but "one for each hand!")

Besides, Cookie Monster has always been chunky. All they really need to say is if you eat too many cookies, you could turn into him. :-x

And now it's time for .. .. The embarassing moment of the day!

So I decided to help out at the concert taping tonight, you know, get out of the house, earn a few work points, etc. . . . I park my car in the lot next to the bike path and decide to take a short cut across the narrow drainage ditch and up the hill.

The sun was reflecting on my sunglasses and making it a little hard to see. All I DO see is grass at the bottom of the ditch. I hopped across what I thought was where the water usually ran, thinking it would be muddy. Well, it probably was. However, where I LANDED was in a foot of muddy, churny, thick water, with an inch of fresh-cut grass floating serenely on top.

I was wearing my leather sandals, which really should have been thrown out last summer. I nearly lost one in the muck. I quickly climbed out of the hole and up the hill, discovering I had splashed mud all over my legs and my shorts, and my muddy toes and shoes had collected God knows what.

I stayed at the van long enough to help set up and make sure they had enough volunteers, then fled home for a good scrubbing. Sandals went in the trash.

That'll teach me to take shortcuts!

Wilders Security Forums - "Powered by Sonic"?

Finally found the solution to that annoying Powered By Sonic update message that has been haunting my computers - particularly the bulletin board one at work! Rather awkward to have it randomly pop up on the air!

Apparently all you have to do is go to Add/Remove Programs and remove the Sonic Update Manager. I did exactly that and haven't seen it since!

Chris Doyle's Reasonably Clever.Com - Where our motto is "Hey! That's Reasonably Clever!"

Click on 'Mizer and create custom Lego people.

Wee Beings of Mystic Muse Designs

I wish I had talent.

Periodic Chart of the Rejected Elements


Hehehe.

Finally got around to updating some of the links on my Links page. I keep finding good comics on the web, and added a few random sites. Just thought I'd share!

VDOT ever so graciously placed a little flier on our door, announcing they'd be in the neighborhoood throughout the month of June to install new sidewalks. They've been EVERYWHERE, making a huge mess and a lot of noise. Such a pain. They're also skimping quite a bit. They are not installing NEW sidewalks. They are replacing cracked panels of sidewalks and driveways.

There are two panels of fresh concrete in front of our house. Unguarded.

I'd just like to point that out. It seems like fair game to me.

Dairy Queen makes a blizzard with brownie batter in it.

I saw it advertised a while back, but thought, eh, brownies. not impressed. Then last week mom had a slight accident in the kitchen and ended up with half-baked brownies. We tried them anyway.

So today I went into DQ and asked the guy, do you make something with brownie batter in it? He made me a blizzard. I took a bite on the way out.

Heavenly. absolutely heavenly. Perhaps the only good part of the day. (You'd think with 3 co-workers, at least ONE of them would show up? Have I mentioned how much I HATE being there by myself all day?)

mmmm. Brownie batter. Make it better.

Worldwide Tropical Cyclone Names

It's that time of year again!

I get to be a hurricane in Western Australia!

This was probably the first time I walked out of the orthodontist's office feeling better than when I went in.

I don't have to wear the evil rubber band!

For a month, at least. Hopefully never again. *crosses fingers*

UPDATE: My mouth feels great. It's wonderful. It's like running around without your heavy coat for the first time after a long, cold winter. Such freedom! Squeee!

bowling.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

Strangely, I score the same way here that I do at bowling alleys.