Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

I took side streets this moening. It took about an hour to get in to work, but I'm here now.

I'm awake. And thinking about the dozen CDs I think were stolen from my car. I still have the jewel cases for them.

I'm still kicking myself for leaving them in the car, in plain sight. I could have locked them away, or taken them with me.

I suppose that's what I get for trusting the Universe.

And a part of me is saying, "Let it go. They're replaceable. After all, it's only stuff. Other people have lost more than you, and are making a go of it."

Am I the only one around here who saves old email and correspondence with people?

Why do I do it? Because I like the ability to be able to refer back to it if necessary.

How long should email be kept around? Six months? A year? Forever?

Yesterday morning, the car wouldn't start. I think I had enough battery power, but it wouldn't turn over. So I ended up calling for a tow truck to tow it to my garage. They found problems that they were able to fix. Now I have to scrape up the money to pay for the repairs so I can get the car back. In the meantime, I'm having to rely on co-workers and friends to drive me to work.

As much as I like the auto repair shop I go to (it's the dealership), I don't think I can afford to keep going to them for my service. I like that they're open until midnight on weekdays, and they have a shuttle service available. I've also trusted their work. But are they trying to sell me things I don't need or want? And can I get the same service cheaper someplace else?

Last night, since I was stuck at home, I watched Dr. Wayne Dyer's "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life" on PBS. It's his spin on the Tao Te Ching. I was fascinated enough to stay tuned for all three hours of the program. That's something I rarely do.

Yahoo! sports columnist Dan Wetzel came up with a 16-team bracket to replace the current way college football teams battle for the national championship.

Check it out.

Pros? Cons?

The past couple of days, I've been working on a single web page. Most of the page framework was already developed. I just had to add in the business logic. After asking Ralph, our tech lead, several times for help, I managed to complete the form. It's a simple two-radio-button selection form. If one button is selected, open page A; if the other button is selected, open page B.

Not only is it J2EE, but it has components of Struts, Hibernate, and Spring -- stuff I'm not terribly familiar with. At least I know what they are now.

On to the next page. I'll probably end up copying and pasting what I did in the first page.

I have a car with a lot of miles on it. I want to improve my fuel economy and protect my investment by prolonging my engine's life. There are plenty of engine oil additives out there on the market. Some work, some don't. Which ones should I consider and which ones should I avoid?

Right now, my current front-runners are Prolong and Restore.

While doing some research online, I came across this page on carbibles.com regarding additives. They didn't have a lot of good things to say about additives, and many of them have been investigated by the FTC for false claims.

So....if you've used an engine oil additive, what are your experiences?

This question was prompted by something I saw on my LJ-friends list today.

If I bought a DVD set, and one of the discs became lost or damaged, is it possible to obtain a replacement copy of that DVD without having to buy an entire set?

I'm guessing it would depend on the manufacturer or studio.

I'm missing Disc 1 of Looney Tunes Golden Collection vol. 1. M took it out of the DVD player months, if not a few years, ago, and I haven't seen it since.

Knowing my luck, if I did buy an entire set as a replacement, the missing disc would show up.

Okay, it was Friday night's moment. It happened while I was watching the Blue Jackets game. They were playing the Red Wings in Detroit. Then the organist started playing "Havah Nagilah".

In a MAJOR key.

Uh....I know the song, and it's supposed to be in a minor key. Why change it?

*sigh* Goyem!

Last night, I was looking for Merlin. A couple of days ago, he was growling at the other cats and wanted to be left alone. He let to hide himself somewhere. I didn't see him until last night, when I looked through the various hiding spots in the house. I found him in the corner of one of the closets, curled up, resting, and barely breathing.

I need to take him to the vet tomorrow for euthanasia.