Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Super Jayhawk's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
11:51 pm	Happy Birthday Nugget Happy Birthday Nugget, wherever you are. It's been 11 years now since I had to say goodbye, and I've missed you and Velvet every day. You were both such wonderful pups and I had no idea how lucky I was to have you both as long as I did. Oh very young what will you leave us this time There'll never be a better chance to change your mind And if you want this world to see a better day Will you carry the words of love with you Will you ride the great white bird into heaven And though you want to last forever You know you never will You know you never will And the goodbye makes the journey harder still Oh very young what will you leave us this time You're only dancing on this earth for a short while Oh very young what will you leave us this time. Current Mood: melancholy Current Music: Cat Stevens, "Oh Very Young" (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, June 5th, 2009
2:18 pm	So this is where we ended up... in the Age of Mean. When I first got online over a quarter of a century ago, BBS's were in their infancy, and the rules for online discourse were only starting to get figured out. There were of course disagrements and "flamewars" (although the word didn't exist yet) but in general, if you were actually online talking to someone at all, you had to be reasonably intelligent to use a computer and get online (with some rare but notable exceptions). Especially in the days when you had to find out the numbers to the BBS (and they weren't in the phone book) hand-type the AT commands to call it. Then, of course, the online world exploded, first with the June 1983 release of WarGames came out and every nine-year old begged their parents for a modem so they could hack into NORAD. The online world was never the same. Same thing for the AOLers flooding the online world the minute they were unleashed upon UseNET during Eternal September a decade later. The signal-to-noise ratio of the entire UseNet went to hell after that, I can't remember the last time I even tried to read anything in it. It was a sad loss of a valuable online resource to pollution by stupidity. Watch Internet Commenter Business Meeting on CollegeHumor And so now, here we are. While the video above is hilarious, it underscores the sad truth that the online world has become a much more vicious and ignorant place. If it's not enough to worry about porn spammers and phishers these days that might steal your identity, now we have to deal with the pollution spewed forth from nasty and ignorant miscreants that have somehow learned to type, although apparently not spell. (And this in an age of spell checkers) ( And you might ask yourself... HOW did I get here!?!? ) The change must come from all of us. While I'm not all that hopeful that anything will get better in the near term, eventually having a nation not torn apart by war and greed will go a long way. I also think education is a huge part of the battle. As a kid in grade school, you end up having to take years of classes on how to write essays and develop critical thinking, but the schools never really teach how to communicate or interact with people online. It has to start in the classroom, and it has to start with the kids. And it has to start with all of us. Current Mood: pessimistic (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
5:31 pm	LOL for today Got a LOL from another Rhymes with Orange strip in the funnies in today's newspaper: Aside from the open-face suit (necessary for the visual gag), I know people just like this! Current Mood: amused Current Music: Winged Migration Soundtrack (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 16th, 2009
1:56 am	Thoughts of Graduation and Life's Passages Here we are again, at Commencement time, as my thoughts hearken back to those that walk down The Hill in Lawrence this coming Sunday, as thousands of fellow Jayhawks make the painful transition from student to unemployed, as I did eighteen years ago. The Pomp and Circumstance, the feeling of getting to walk down that hill with everyone cheering for you as you climb up into Memorial Stadium with your cap and gown and get to walk up on the stage on the football field, was a life experience. I had already known for a long time I was a Jayhawk forever, but that part sealed the deal. But graduation didn't solve the problem. Just because you had a degree, even a tech degree, didn't mean there were any jobs, as we all struggled to find work in a terrible Bush recession and a recent war. Despite my CS degree, I had to file papers and do data entry in temp jobs just to get by-- and dear friends of mine eked out meager existences working at such wonderful places like Corporate Burger Death and Wal-Mart. But still we hung on, and did our best to stick together. We were the guys that went to all the Jayhawk basketball (and even football) games together, drank at the Free State brewery together, or stayed up all night building Linux servers together. I miss those guys. Back when I hung around Lawrence, I would go to the graduations of my friends after I graduated, and then the graduations of my friends' younger siblings. Then it got to the point where I didn't know anyone that was still a student any more, and now I try not to think about how the current graduates were in preschool when I graduated! We all graduated thinking that the courses we learned in college were going to prepare us for real life, but they were scant preparation for much of the real-world rough and tumble of careers, jobs, and life kicking you in the ass. So just for all the recent college graduates out there, here's my Top 12 list of classes that they SHOULD have taught us when we were in college, but didn't. 12. M&A 212 - So your company just got acquired -- what happens next and how to get out before then 11. Office politics 101 - How to talk the talk and play the game in the working world 10. This is not my beautiful life! How to cope with being a working stiff when your friends are still having fun being students 9 . Theater and Film 212 - Intro to the Interview Song and Dance! 8 . Finance 313 - Figuring out how the hell you're supposed to buy a house on your salary 7 . Stunt Driving 212 - How to deal with a nasty commute and jobs in dangerous neighborhoods 6 . Psych 540 - So Your Boss is a Psycho - Coping and psychological mitigation strategies to help you bail before you lose your fricken' mind 5 . Business 635 - How to tell when your workplace is going to hell in a bucket, and when to get out before it implodes 4 . Psych 804 - Introduction to Relationships II - How to not end up sleeping on the couch 3 . So you've been laid off-- How to pack up your crap, get your final paperwork, and reinvent yourself for the next gig so you can keep eating 2 . Directed readings 899 - Coping strategies on How to deal with your mid-life crisis! 1 . Health 405 - Preventing the "post-graduation 20", when you can finally afford food and put on 20+ lbs in your first year out of school! Congrats to everyone graduating this next month or so, whatever school it may be! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
5:39 pm	Awwww yeah.... There's something to be said for working at a big company-- after years of working at startups, for the first time in years I actually have a faster net connection at work than I do at home. I did a double-take yesterday when I pulled down the Ubuntu install CD at work in less than a minute. So I ran speedtest.net, and while I have grayed out the locations for privacy, the numbers are totally unaltered. Man, I gotta be sitting on an OC-3 or something. Some 19 years ago, when I still a CS major at KU, the campus went from one 56k line to a full T1. I thought we'd all died and gone to heaven. 1.5 MEGABITS! OMG! Telnet, FTP and Gopher were blazingly fast now! Years before, my dad went to a party the KU Computer Center was having because they had just gotten 300 baud modems. (So MUCH faster than the 110 baud they were using before!) And yes, kids, a modem was something you had to use back in the olden times to get it online. Look it up on Wikipedia. (14 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
10:08 am	Cinco de Mayo (or Cindo de Drinko?) Hey, anyone up for getting margaritas tonight at Cinco de Mayo? I have a reservation at a tequilaeria in the South Bay, and room for a few more seats on the reservation. ;) (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
1:29 pm	Superheroes of Cincinatti on CNN I just had to LOL seeing this on CNN this afternoon... Superheroes' take to streets Embedded video from CNN Video I love the idea, but guys, please spend more time working on the costumes! And no, Under Armour tops and neon-panelled diveskins are not going to strike fear and awe into the hearts of criminals. Here, I'll give you my spandex tailor's contact info, he could do wonders for you guys! Also work on a better superhero voice-- it's not just the same speaking voice when you're ordering a coffee at Starbucks! Batman makes his all gravelly and rough, and a lot of superheroes develop their their deepest bassoprofundo or even make a golden-throat Mighty Mouse-style voice. Bonus points if you have a really cool-looking hero-mobile to drive around in, even if it isn't powered by a jet engine. Too bad we don't have a "Sky High" school of superheroes in RL so that aspiring young heroes can learn these things. And lay off the mace, willya? Superheroes don't use pepper spray! Current Mood: amused (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
6:30 pm	Yay Furry Superheroes! While looking up someone's fursuit pic in preparation for the upcoming Mountain View Parade, I stumbled across a banner ad on FA for a comic book series called "Furry Guardians" by CyberKlaw that came out in 2007. What an awesome series! I've been looking for something like this for years, and quickly ordered a bunch of the comics. It's been aeons since I've bought any new comics, even superhero comics (furry or otherwise).. Just too cool! (and SuperFur is already my favorite of the bunch... but that's kinda obvious) In other news, the Mountain View Spring Parade is coming up this coming Saturday! I've been preparing for it for the last week or so, and hopefully we'll have an awesome turnout. The theme for this year's parade is "Save the Day...Mountain View's Superheroes"! We may very well have an appearance of a character that hasn't shown up at a Critters gig in literally years. ;) Will also be interesting to see how many other characters don cape, tights, and mask (or at least the cape) to join in the theme! Hopefully we'll get some awesome pictures... I hope to have almost as much fun as the superhero-themed Megaplex 2008 that I went to last year! (Still need to write about that too) Current Music: Stirring superhero theme (16 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
6:45 pm	Being a flaming home-owner is fricken' expensive ...especially when you buy at the peak (or near it) like I did in May 2008. Property Tax + House Payment + Insurance Claim Deductible + Home Insurance Policy = $9400 ! All due in the next month. And I can't find the Vaseline anywhere. Oy! And this weekend I get to figure out my income taxes on top of that... which are much more complicated these days, now that I've bought a house. Guess we're going to have to wait on blinging out the Hawk-Mobile. I'm in the mood for a stiff drink-- anyone up for unspecified drinking? Current Mood: frazzled (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 26th, 2009
3:13 pm	Old man rant -- Why nobody can remember anything any more Many aeons ago, a third of a century ago in fact, when I was young, I knew my home phone number. This was in a time where there was one phone in the entire house, and maybe one in the master bedroom. (and you could have any color phone you wanted, so long as it was black or white). I can still remember it now, 888-2369, even though we moved out of that particular house 30 years ago. This morning I was going to call a family member from my office phone, and realized that I had no idea what their number was any more-- I had to go to the HawkMobile and get my cell phone, where the number was stored. It was even worse when I switched phones last year, since there was no nice way to transfer the numbers. When I ask people for their own number, often times they don't even know what it is. Everybody moves around so much that the number I had for them last year isn't any good anyway, and if I actually take the trouble to remember it, it's out of date. And it was even worse before cellular phones carriers finally added number portability when you changed carriers. ( Why, back in MY day.... ) To be fair, the world is a much more complex place now than it was back when I was young. If you wanted to take out something from starting up every time you booted your computer back then, you took it out of your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS. Now you have to regedit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run in the Windows registry to do the same thing. I suspect most people have no idea on how to do that, much the less being scared of even running regedit. Everybody has several phone numbers now, and for better or worse, the barrier to entry to get online has been lowered dramatically (like it or not). But all someone like Dr. Evil has to do to really screw all of us up is mess up a few root DNS servers, the GPS constellation and take out a few search engines, and nobody will be able to go anywhere, do anything, or call anyone. I wonder what archaeologists in the future will make of our time in history, if there's much left to look at. Current Mood: Old (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
6:49 pm	Stop. Tourney Time! Here we are, the moment that we wait all year for. Watching the Kansas Jayhawks from afar since the beginning of the season back in November develop from a young team of mostly underclassmen and freshmen, to get through the nonconference and then conference schedules, and now the one thing that means everything... The Big Dance. The entire season comes together at the end, where you find out where your seeding will get you in the tournament and where you end up. The Jayhawks did reasonably well getting a 3rd seed in the Midwest bracket, especially considering that disappointing loss to Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament. Last year the Jayhawks won it all, something I waited twenty years for. As expected, every starter left for the NBA or elsewhere. This year, with such a young team, I'm just happy they made it to the Sweet 16. I was going to write about this last week before the tournament started, but I've been kept busy with all kinds of things going on at home, and I had to wait out the first-round curse (even though KU didn't end up playing a school starting with "B") Most people (especially out here on the West Coast) think I'm totally nuts for doggedly following my Jayhawks' journey through the tournament, but that's why I bought a satellite dish. ;) It's not easy, with the time difference and wrangling my schedule around the games, but I still see most of games in a season, even though it's been over a decade since I left. This is the time of year that I really miss being back in Lawrence, to plug in just for a moment to that electrified atmosphere where KU Basketball means everything. The games are simulcast over every grocery store, every hardware store, every restaurant, every bar and you can practically hear the cheers off in the distance when the game is on. Out here no one really watches basketball because most of the teams are one-and-dones or end up in the Nobody's Interested Tournament (NIT). And don't even get me started about the pro team(s) out here. There's nothing like that kind of atmosphere here, so I sit in the Hawk-Cave and cheer for my 'Hawks from thousands of miles away. Most people out here think I'm utterly nuts for that. (Among other reasons). The first two rounds of the Tourney have gone really well so far, although the North Dakota State game was pretty scary-- NDSU's Ben Woodside just could not miss with the three. Dayton was a hard-fought game on Sunday, but lots more fun to watch. And Sherron Collins and Aldrich have totally carried the entire team through the tournament, getting most of the points for the whole team on their own. 6'11" Aldrich was a monster in the paint on Sunday, getting a triple-double and pretty much preventing Dayton from getting any shots launched. </td> Sherron Collins Cole Aldrich Next up is the payback game against Michigan State, a rematch of the the disastrous Jan. 10 game where the Jayhawks got walloped in East Lansing, and I had a triple suck day at home, with bad news with the sewage backup and FC. I'm looking forward to the Jayhawks getting to show how far they've progressed since that game, and hopefully it will be a good game. So on Friday night at 6:30pm, I'll be firing up the neon sign and watching the game. Who knows, maybe I'll dig up a few of us old alumni and old college drinking buddies, we only get to see each other during Tourney Time. Oh yes, and in other news, the Kansas Jayhawk has made the Top Ten Mascots of the 2009 NCAA Tournament on petside.com. And one of only six left still in the tournament. Also, because I had all kinds of things going on getitng ready for FC, I didn't get the chance to congratulate Big Jay, Baby Jay, and the KU Spirit and Cheerleading Squads for finishing in the Top Ten in the big national Collegiate Mascot Competition in Orlando, FL back on January 29! Embedded video below (let's see if this works). Current Mood: ready (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 27th, 2009
4:14 pm	Rockin' in tights Got a LOL from the funnies in the newspaper today: I never thought of Batman as an acoustic guitar player though. Maybe a sax or a bassist. I wonder when he "went unplugged" (like when Bob Dylan "Went electric" in 1965). Current Music: Na na na na na na na na... Batman! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
4:54 pm	The Hawk-Cave Returns! It's been a long and grueling battle in the last eight weeks to get things back to normal, but finally the Hawk-Cave has recovered from the Jan. 9 disaster and the final work was completed today. It's been eight weeks of plumbing work, mitigation, demolition, construction, painting and repair, and replacement of the things that were ruined with the sewage backup and flooding. The final piece of the puzzle was which carpet to get. I could have gotten the exact same type of carpet that I had there before that came with the house, but where's the fun in that? I had been planning to get this carpet as an 8x10 throw rug for the room someday, but when the opportunity came up to have the whole room carpeted like this, I decided to go for it, even if it involved spending an extra $600 or so. (And after renting for 12 years where I didn't get to pick the carpet at all, I wasn't going to pass up that opportunity!) It looks awesome up close, and the carpet installers did a great job, especially folding it down the stairs. When they first arrived they opened up the roll of carpet to look at it and said, "Whoa! You must be a hardcore fan, dude!" They have no idea. ;) I had to figure out the proper Feng Shui for which way the Jayhawks would be facing, which took some real thinking. I wasn't entirely sure, but KU has now won three basketball games since the carpet was installed, so I think I got it right. ;) So far this year has been pretty crap-filled for me, and this is one of the first positive development for me in 2009 in a year that so far has been a runaway cliff-dive of setbacks, disappointments, and aggravations. Thanks to all my friends that stood by me through all of this (and the other shitstorm) and came by to celebrate the whole thing. And at least now the Hawk-Cave is (almost) back to normal. Just have to get the last of the furniture, books and accouterments moved back over and get the A/V Setup working again. Hopefully just in time for the Jayhawks' run into the tournament and March Madness! Current Mood: relieved Current Music: The Crimson and the Blue (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 19th, 2009
5:37 pm	Sad News and Reflections My condolences and heartfelt sympathies go out to Furp's family and friends at the news of his passing yesterday. I didn't ever get a chance to meet him or know him, and I wish I had the opportunity to meet such a great guy. He truly will be missed by his friends, the fandom, and by his country. I'm not going to comment over the circumstances of the accident other than to say that since the driver of the car was fellow soldier, he's in line for much more severe punishment than had a civilian hit him. I have no doubt that justice will be served here. The whole thing also serves as a poignant reminder that this mad dance we call life is a very short one. We only get so much time here to love, create, help each other, and make this world a better place. Every day we get is a wondrous gift, and there are no guarantees that we'll get another one. All of us have our own special gifts and talents that we bring to this world, and we should celebrate them while we still have time left. For even the greatest of artists and the mightiest of fighters can be gone before their time. This swiftly tilting planet offers no guarantees. Waste no time. And rest in peace, Furp. Although I had seen you at cons before, I never got a chance to meet you, and I wish I had now. Current Mood: melancholy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
1:29 am	But oh, that magic feeling, oh where'd it go One sweet dream Pick up the bags and get in the limousine Soon we'll be away from here Step on the gas and wipe that tear away One sweet dream came true... today Came true... today Came true... today...yes it did One two three four five six seven, All good children go to Heaven One two three four five six seven, All good children go to Heaven (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
11:58 pm	Walk On From Boston's Walk On (1994): Take a look around and tell me what you see I guess that all depend on exaclty what you want it to be Is your cup half-full? Is your cup half-empty? How can you get what you need in the land of plenty? Everybody gets carried away Everybody's trying everyday to remind you (Ooo) Leave it behind you What's it take to see? What's it take to believe right from wrong? Never knowing where you belong Walk On Walk On Sometimes I feel like I'm just doing time Everybody wonders where you're going when you step out of line Don't know all the answers, someone's got to stand up and say Hey! If you want to win the game then you know you're gonna have to play Everybody's got to find a way And everybody's trying everyday to remind you What's standing behind you? What's it take to see? What's it take to believe right from wrong? Never knowing where you belong Walk On Walk On Walk On There's no turning back Walk On Get your train on the track Current Mood: Walking Current Music: Walk On (Comment on this)
7:29 pm	Reconstruction, finally A month ago today I had a really not-fun experience when the downstairs part of the house flooded, that on top of getting some really bad news. I had to deal with plumbers, demolition people, insurance agents, painters, construction people, carpet people, and tons of contractors to the house to get things fixed back up. This whole last month I have had to double-cram the entire contents of the A/V Entertainment center into the living room with all the other stuff that used to be in this room, since the carpet had to be ripped out. The demolition people ripped out the sheet rock to about 2 to 3 feet off the floor, and humidifiers and blowers ran for days. Plastic sheeting was up for weeks, covering the heat intake vents, so we couldn't really run the heat (and man it was cold!). The place reeked of paint during the painting, and all this was before, during and after FC 2009. Just yay. My thanks to my awesome roommate for his patience with all of this. ;) So now the reconstruction is finally done, most likely adding up to five digits' worth of repair costs. But maybe someday I can get the family room back. It's been a pain not to be able to sit on the couch and comfortably watch TV, and having the house in a construction/war zone for the last month has been really eating at me. There's something about having stuff messed up at home that makes one really irritable. (Before/After Pictures taken somewhere in the same general vicinity): Now I just have to get the new carpet installed...whenever it gets here! Those of you that have visited the Hawk-Cave would be surprised to see all the destruction/construction going on since the flooding last month, but hopefully we'll get things back on track and can have people over again, after I get everything moved back where it belongs! I want to also send out a shout-out and thanks to everyone who's lent me a hand and supported me through all this, it's been a truly sucky month, but hopefully we'll get things back to our regularly scheduled rock n' roll soon. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
6:36 pm	The End of Eight Terrible Years Finally, it's over. The W finally left, Nixon-like, flying off in his helicopter and left the White House Lawn and ending the worst period in American history and in my own personal life. It is a day of vindication. A day of validity. A day of victory. For the last eight years we have had to sit by as our nation was gripped by a colossal mistake, an unprecedented screwup and a denial of our elected way of life. Our best hopes were soon dashed as a monumental tragedy was wantonly exploited for nationalistic and political gain by the rich, and powerful. We could only stand by in anger as massive fraud, corruption, corporate greed and cronyism pervaded every aspect of the government that was supposed to be by the people, and for the people. We tried to hold onto jobs in two of the worst recessions in recent living memory, scrambled to hold onto our possessions and had to make terrible choices on where to live and how we were going to eat. We had to watch as our own Constitution was ignored, if not shredded, as 'inalienable rights' were alienated, as we watched in horror as American gulags were opened overseas and our very principles that American soldiers fought and died for were compromised in the name of freedom. George Orwell must have been laughing the whole time as his worst nightmares were used as a blueprint for unending war, interrogation and torture, and subjugation of the populace by fear. We had to bear witness to the crumbling of our economy, our infrastructure, of our basic rights and pride as Americans as this mistake of a government took over all three Constitutional branches, perverting the very separation of powers carefully designed by the Founding Fathers. The power of the President was enlarged far beyond what the framers were willing to allow to grow into that of a king, the very danger they feared and tried to protect against. It must now be returned to its proper set of limits, checks and balances. Eternal vigilance is always the price of freedom, and for too long too many of our populace has not been vigilant as our nation was convulsed in fear in September 11. History will likely record that fearful Americans not only gave up their freedom at the time, they gave it up willingly out of fear. It is time to take it back. "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more." For my own story the last eight years have been very bad years, as I got laid off twice, got wiped out in a car accident, and was plagued by health problems I never had to worry about in my twenties. My thirties have been no picnic, and nearly the entire time I had to stand by and have seethed with anger as our nation and everything we hold dear as Americans was bastardized and twisted into nationalistic corporate greed, racism and hate. For the last eight years, every morning I have gotten up and picked up the paper in the driveway and read the news, as is my custom, and then gotten sick after reading the headlines. Sometimes I manage not to throw up. But I have had eight years of morning sickness. It is finally over, and it is time for the healing to begin. "..from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born, know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more." The expectations will of course be high. Just about everything in our economy and our government is broken. Bad times have ravaged us all, especially in the last year. But we can once again be proud to be Americans. And we can hope again. And even though my thirties will soon over, I can start feeling young again. "..the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met." Full text of Inaugural Address Current Music: Hail To the Chief (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 19th, 2009
12:49 pm	Happy Birthday, Dr. King... and thank you. For everything. One man come in the name of love One man come and go. One man come he to justify One man to overthrow. In the name of love What more in the name of love. In the name of love What more in the name of love. One man caught on a barbed wire fence One man he resist One man washed up on an empty beach One man betrayed with a kiss. In the name of love What more in the name of love. In the name of love What more in the name of love. Early morning, April four Shot rings out in the Memphis sky. Free at last, they took your life They could not take your pride. In the name of love What more in the name of love. In the name of love What more in the name of love. In the name of love What more in the name of love. In the name of love What more in the name of love. Current Music: Pride (In The Name Of Love) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
6:29 pm	A truly shitty weekend (literally) Some days, it doesn't pay to get out of bed. The entire last weekend was pretty much like that. I had been ramping up on big things for FC in the next year, starting off with FC '09, when I got some really bad news that basically derails my plans for the entire next year. Was really unhappy about that, especially since I had dropped a fair amount of time and money so far. Also I had just had a get-together the last weekend to talk plans and figure out the tech of what we were trying to do, and ended up getting a cold as a result, and I've been sick ever since, over a week now. Also the Jayhawks had a really bad game at Michigan State on Saturday, it was painful to watch our young team get their tails handed to them like that. And unlike my dad, no matter how painful the KU Game is, I make myself watch it to the bitter end. That means I'm either a die-hard or a masochist (or maybe both). So after going to bed all pissed off on Saturday night and trying to figure out what to do from here, I get up and take a shower in the morning on the way to go to our usual Sunday Pancakes get-together, and when I come downstairs, I find that the sewer backed up in the downstairs bathroom and flooded out the entire bathroom, carpet, and, as it turns out, the baseboard and walls with raw sewage, spilling into the garage where boxes of my stuff are. There was apparently a blockage in the main sewer line to the house and everything flushed or trickling down the drain was bubbling up in the shower, the toilet, and the drain in the sink. I'll spare you the graphic details other than to say it was a lot of crap to deal with. The plumber couldn't come till 5pm, so I ended up going to Pancakes anyway, and bought a wet-dry vac at Home Despot on the way home. It was an entire evening of vacuuming up sewage and hauling it to the sewer outside, and waiting on the plumber to come back since he went away on another service call in the meantime. As it turns out, there's no sewage cleanout for the house, so the plumber had to tear off the toilet off of its moorings and run the snake down the hole. After an hour of running the snake, the blockage got cleared out. Yay. Three hundred bucks for the plumber and two hundred for the shop vac, and that's just to get the shit out of there. So after getting all that done, I've been madly trying to clean things up, I've already gotten one of those rug shampoopers and brought in an estimator today to look it. I was trying to find out if the carpet was saveable, and the estimator said, "Forget the carpet, it's gone. It's the walls you have to worry about", and then takes out his hydrometer and finds water in the walls up to two feet from the floor. Oh, great. So now we have to rip out sheet rock, baseboard, trim, and the entire carpet for the whole room. Somewhere upwards of five to six thousand dollar in damage. And so now I get to file my first homeowner's policy claim, and deal with insurance agents, adjusters, contractors, move all my crap out of the garage and out of the family room so they can do the work, and somehow get my stuff together for FC '09. Just greeeeat. Oh yeah, and come up with $1000 for the deductible. What a load of crap this has been! Current Music: Sh.....aving Cream, by Benny Bell (15 Comments |Comment on this)