It’s A Small World

My brother is quite the grill master so when I visited a somewhat world-famous spice house in Vancouver, Washington, I bought some stuff for him.   Today, I went to his house and he asked where his shot glass was (his normal souvenir when I travel).  I presented the grilling spice, Tsardust; he laughed.  He then walked over [...]

Pinewood Derby

The Pinewood Derby is a blessedly straight forward event.  This year, registration was done almost entirely online which was going to reduce the number of certificates I’d have to print on-site.

Corrections Required in 2009 When We Had to Read Handwritten Submissions: 12
Corrections Required in 2010 When Leaders Input the Names Directly: 16

I bring my printer with [...]

Cheesecake Mastery

The secret to a cheesecake is that it’s not a cake.  The leavening agent is strictly egg rather than baking soda, baking powder, or yeast, and to get a smooth top one must coast over the finish line rather than dashing over it.  I put the cake into a roasting dish partly filled with boiling water [...]

When Not Attending Means Attending

The Pinewood Derby is this Sunday and a leader contacted me about changing his participation line-up:

Him: I have two kids dropping, is that a problem?
Me: Nope, we’ll just change the pairings.
Him:  Ok, can I pick up their car, patch, and certificate on Sunday then?
Me: Sure, except the certificate.
Him: Why not the certificate?
Me: It’s for participating in [...]

Roomba Experiments

My Roomba appears to get beached on carpets thicker than 1/2 inch so I now move those before running it.  Also, it clears 3 out of 4 fixtures in the living room but not one chair.  After these disappointments I’ve tried to use it as a table cleaner and a way to do corridors.  My final [...]

Snow

As an hourly employee, I’m not a terrible fan of snow days.  Like most closings, it simply a way of saying “try and get 40 hours in now, bitch” while the full-time staff blows a holiday to make-up the difference.  Late openings are a different beast entirely as the calculus of presence changes.  If one shows [...]

Watchmen Reactions

Notes from seeing The Watchmen:

Ozymandias is an idiot.  He speech is slurred and he looks stoned, I’m also confident he wouldn’t hang out with David Bowie.  Anthony Hopkins + Time Machine = Correct Ozymandias.
Both the young and old Walter Kovaks/Rorschach look uncannily like…. Walter Kovaks/Rorshach.
I almost cried during the opening credits.  I normally hate the montage, [...]

The Courtesy of Obliviousness

On the drive into work, I sneezed so hard I had a nose bleed and while I was pretty quick with the paper towel cork some of sanguine nasal fire hose got on my shirt.  I fully zipped up my winter coat despite it being a balmy 42°F and wore a lab coat for no reason [...]

OSR Promo Video

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Chameleon Voter

The day after election day was a bit duller at work that I imagined but somehow I because a generic everyman.  When ever someone discussed election results with me I was part of the “we” regardless of their position.  I was told that “we did what we could” to get McCain elected and that “we helped [...]