Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

Continuing where I left off......

Tue 2/22 (cont'd): Skipped my mens' group and went to visit Dan and Jody (aka ethansmom) and their son Ethan at Great Wolf Lodge, where they were staying this week. Had dinner with them and played a few rounds of Uno.

Wed 2/23: Don't remember what I did during the day. Had choir practice. Affterward, went back down for another visit to Dan, Jody, and Ethan.

Thu 2/24: Drove to Columbus for an interview with Chemical Abstracts Service. I didn't know how the weather was going to be, so I packed an overnight bag. Was hoping to meet with athenawindsong afterward, but she was sick with bronchitis. I had dinner with maedbh7, her mom, and her cousin. Great pot roast (I want the recipe!) and conversation ensued. Then retreated to the Red Roof Inn (I-71 and rt 161) where I was staying overnight.

Fri 2/25: It was a good thing I stayed over. There was an inch of snow on my car, and on the roads. Drove to my next interview, with Progressive Medical, in Westerville. Afterward, stopped for lunch and a trip to Half Price Books. The drive home was good; the roads were dry and clear. Picked up M from day care and dropper her off with her mom a few hours later.

Sat 2/26: Had M over for the day. Spent the day watching videos, and resting. Went to the USS Bismarck meeting afterward and cast my vote for captain.

Sun 2/27: Had M again, since I was out of town last week. We went to Entertrainment Junction and had lots of fun.

Last week, I accidentally broke the power cable that came with my Gear Head laptop cooling pad. Not surprising, as it has a very thin cable. It has a USB connector plug on one end and a power adapter plug on the other.

This afternoon, I stopped at my local Radio Shack to purchase either a replacement adapter plug or replacement cable. My plan was to solder the replacement adapter plug onto the cable. I was told by the clerk (who was also the manager) that they no longer carried parts. He explained that there was no money in selling electronics parts anymore, and referred me to another store -- Parts Express in Springboro. I thanked him and left.

Apparently, do-it-yourself electronics hobbyists like myself are a dying breed. Anyone out there remember Heathkit? They used to sell kits of electronics components that people would put together themselves. (I have an alarm clock from them. I was able to wire it up to display 24-hour time.) I think they got out of the DIY electronics business years ago. Now they specialize in kits for education.

It's a sad comment on the industry that it costs more to repair electronics components than it does to replace them. But it's been that way for years. Meanwhile, old and broken electronics pile up in landfills.

I used to love Radio Shack. I remember riding my bike to a local store as far back in 1979. I think I still have a breadboard, circuit components, and an SN76477 sound chip for a project I never completed. What do they sell now? Mobile phones, complete stereo systems and components, computer accessories, and the like. I might as well go to Best Buy instead.

I only saw half of the Big Game yesterday. I had M with me until about 7:30pm, and she doesn't like football. Instead, we watched Looney Tunes cartoons on DVD. So I missed Christina Aguilera flubbing the words on the national anthem, and most of the commercials that aired during the first half.

The first commercial I remember seeing was the one for Safe Auto, where the same guy kept getting kicked in the groin. Ouch! OK, it's somewhat funny if it happens to someone else, but painful if it happens to you. The rest of the commercials didn't peg my fun meter.

I did like the one for NFL Network which showed various clips of classic TV shows.

Did the one for Volkswagen (with a kid dressed up as Darth Vader) air?

I was at the local Buffalo Wings & Rings getting dinner when the halftime how aired. I didn't see any wardrobe malfunctions. And I had a hard time hearing the band.

Today we had about 1cm (0.4 in) of freezing rain and sleet fall here in Dayton. I think more fell in places north of where I am.

I knew last night I was going to stay at home today. I had to make two trips outside, though. One was to get my oil changed at Jiffy Lube, since my oil light came on last night. The other was to get cat food at Kroger. So I went through a few more boxes, watched TV, and napped.

I'm glad I had my in-person interview in Fort Knox yesterday. I wouldn't want to drive any distance in this weather. It was a one-on-one with the functional manager at a coffee shop. And I think it went very well.

I'm guessing I will be spending tomorrow at home as well, based on the latest weather forecast.

Sure is lonely at home alone, even with the cats. :-(

I went through another two storage boxes today. These two boxes contained empty boxes of old computer software. I was able to pull out the corrugated cardboard, plastic, and collapse the boxes for recycling at the local dump.

In the past few weeks, I have gotten rid of several storage boxes' worth of old software boxes.

I also note that software packaging in the 1990s was very wasteful. Instead of just the CD-ROM(s), they were packaged in larger boxes, presumably to combat shoplifting and to fit better on store shelves.

So why did I hold on to these boxes? I held on to them in the event I sold the software in the future. I thought the software would be more valuable (and desirable) if the software package was complete with a box.

As for most of this software, I don't think it runs very well, if at all, on my computers anymore. So now I'm also looking for places to donate the old software. Some of it is on floppy disk, and some of it is on CD-ROM.

I haven't made a "That Was The Weekend That Was" post in a while. When I have, I rarely, if ever, get any feedback on them.

Fri 1/14: Went to Bob Evans for lunch. Forgot what else I did during the day. Had a carry-in dinner at my friend Rick's.

Sat 1/15: Called Mom to wish her a happy birthday. Went through 2 boxes of binders. Hung out at Rick's place and watched Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. Played Star Trek Scene It?.

Sun 1/16: Went to UU services. Took M to the Newport Aquarium. She got upset when she wanted to see the penguin exhibit, and I told her I couldn't afford the extra cost of the tickets. I managed to take her home, where she watched computer games and videos. Prepared some boxes of books and magazines for donation.

Mon 1/17: Slept in. Got a haircut. Moved a few boxes back to storage.

I know. Boring, huh?

As many of you many know, my last job ended last week. I am now in the hunt again. And like it or not, I may have to leave Dayton, Ohio.

Now is a perfect time to go through what I've been saving and hoarding over the years.

Saturday, I went through 5 boxes. Today, I went through 3 boxes. I've made a couple of recycle runs to the local dump, dropping off unneeded cardboard and paper. Some items went to Goodwill. Plastic bags went to Kroger.

I'm making progress. But there's still a lot to be done. I've been saving this stuff for years.

I thought I would dread this. But it's fairly easy. Some of the stuff I haven't touched since 2004. And if I haven't accessed something within 5 years, I don't need it.

Woke up early this morning (7:15am) and bounded out of bed, so I could be at R's place to videotape my daughter M open up her presents. Once again, she made out like a bandit. She got two DVDs -- Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me -- and lots of soft toys.

I left R's place around 1:30pm so I could meet my friends Chris and Melissa for Christmas dinner. That went well, and the meal was good, except for Chris's dad trying to invite me to Christianity when I was telling him my struggles. I told him I was happy with my Unitarian faith.

I made another stop at R's place around 7:00pm. M was still playing with her toys, and didn't want to spend time with me. So I left around 7:30pm. Now I'm home, catching up on FB and LJ.

My mood at the moment is good. Christmas is not a holiday to spend alone at home.

As for my presents, I didn't want or ask for anything, and I'm OK with that. In the past month I bought myself a new cell phone, a Polaroid 4 GB MP3 player for $50, and some heavy socks at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Maybe I should start cleaning up the house, getting rid of extraneous cardboard, plastic, and recyclable things that have managed to find their way throughout my house.

Slept in until about 11 today. Completely forgot about choir practice at 10:30. Oops. Oh well.

Went grocery shopping. Also stopped at MotoPhoto to order the holiday cards. Then went in to work for a couple of hours. Braved the crowds at Borders, and the surrounding traffic, to get a gift card. Came home and prepared glazed carrots to the music of Supertramp's "Breakfast In America". It felt good to be cooking again. And the ground ginger I used perked me up a little more.

Brought the carrots to the USS Bismarck holiday party. Had an OK time. Wasn't really in a socializing mood. One of the guests tried to go R. Lee Ermey on one of the member's children, which didn't sit well with a lot of people. I should have called out "At ease, soldier!"

Then I left to see filkertom in a house concert. That really improved my mood. For a little while, I was able to forget my troubles -- my health issues, the state of my job, and the debt load I'm carrying.

Life sure is boring down here on earth
It's all full of work and no thanks
The rich folks get richer and the poor still are poor
And the middle class work for the banks

-Terry McGovern, "Beam Me Up Scotty"


OK. So President Obama made a deal with the devil Congressional Republicans. Caving in to those political bullies and their demands for continued tax cuts for the wealthy -- the 1% who make 23% of the GDP, according to independent Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.

( I really hope Obama knows what he's doing. )