Ugly vacant lot
My work view of the moment (and I was testing the upload capability on my phone — it works!)
According to Rhapsody, I’ve apparently moved to another town…
Ahhhhh, Indian call centers. I do like to mess with them on occasion: “Hellooo? Hi ‘John’, my name is Garrett Bartholomew Alexander Michael Thomas Gertrude Xavier Wiedmeier…. did you get that…?”
After calling Rhapsody.com (online music subscriptions) to change my billing info I stumbled across this as I was checking my settings… sometimes you just can’t make this up! 🙂
The Return of Rabbit Ears
I like TV. Quite a bit. I’ve been a cable or satellite user since nearly birth. It’s always given the clearest picture and tons of channels
But damn, cable and sat service is getting pricey! As I get older I’m finding I view TV less and watch movies and Internet videos more. Actual “TV” is only for live events and local news. And with KOMO and Dish Network feuding over some asinine reason (So KOMO got dropped from my sat feed) there is even less of a reason for me to partake in the whole package. The only reason I pay for cable/sat is because I thought that was the only way to get a clear signal….until know.
…Enter the digital TV switch into the proverbial picture….
So with the recent brew-ha-ha of the digital TV switch/delay/etc. I decided to just see what I could get and see what the fuss was about. Being at the top of Capitol Hill, I practically stare at the Seattle TV station broadcast antennas from my deck only 2 miles away. My plasma TV has both the old analog and new digital tuners built-in, as mandated several years ago. So having not used an antenna in decades I attached a simple 6 foot length of coax cable to my TV antenna input and had the TV search for channels…
Holy smokes!
It found them. Not only the new digital channels for all the main stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, WB, CW and some others), but it also found some of the old analog channels still broadcasting. This enabled me to do a complete side-by-side comparison.
Rarely am I impressed, but what I’m seeing on my HDTV on the digital channels (with a complete ghetto “cable” antenna nonetheless) is nothing short of amazing. I’m floored. Full HDTV and stereo surround sound on all major networks. The analog channel equivalents still come-in, but are that lovely snow-storm of interference we’ve all come to know and love, but now are glad to get rid of. It really is that spectacular. I’ve never seen reception and picture quality like this from OVER-THE-AIR broadcast in my life. The comparison is really that striking.
So now I mull some thoughts….If a 6-foot length of coax dangling from the back of my TV can get excellent DTV (and, might I add, *FREE*) reception, what could a modern little antenna pick-up? My mind is full of thoughts.
Could this be the end of a $100/month bill and the beginning of a post-modern rabbit ears revolution for me? It makes me giggle with glee.
So for all the hype it’s been given, if you live close to town, or have a good antenna, The DTV switch is totally worth it. Proven by a small, 10-minute experiment I never thought I’d do.
True Friendship
I always tell new friends up front I can get manically busy and that sometimes I tend to being a hermit when things pile-up. This is who I am. It won’t change. You can’t change me. Take me for what I am worth.
I do try hard to communicate and act as friendly as people desire. I continuously try to improve in this area, but facts are sometimes just the facts. I’ve spent a lot of my years self-obsessing over this behavior to the point of it being unhealthy and having some therapy about it (yes, proud to say it…the brain is just like any other thing, it sometimes needs maintenance, too) I’ve generally stopped that obsessing now. I know myself more and also know that I’m not acting in malice.
My good long-lasting friends and family know this well. And I love them. That is true friendship.
So when a recent new-ish friend of mine razzed me about being silent for so long and not RSVP-ing to a party this month I dutifully apologized and asked for forgiveness. I was looking forward to it actually. So the friend says OK after a few grumbles and then gives me the details of the party and says “looking forward to seeing you at the party!” This friend and I actually had a “routine” about my split personality that we joked about. My other personality even had a name. It was fun.
Then the next email arrives the next day.
It basically gave me the riot act for being such a bad friend and saying that the friend could not consciously continue the friendship and that I was being rude and disrespectful. That I must find time for them. Bullshit was called on me. I was un-invited to the party. We were done. Do not even respond back was the closer.
A “Well fuck you, too, I told you!” would have been a nice little cathartic missive to send back, but I didn’t. Instead, this is my response.
I am true to myself and honest with those who try to know me. I am deeply loyal and believe that finding out everyone’s idiosyncratic ways, and having patience with them, is one of life’s finer pleasures, and that this takes lots and lots of time to do. If my core values or attitudes that have been the same for decades are not compatible with yours, don’t expect me to massively change them in order to force something that you want. Continuous improvement, yes. Massive changes, no. You will only be discouraged.
Who am I? I’m Garrett. If you don’t like this forum post, or the opinions in it, I understand. That’s OK.
Have a nice day!
Vote.
Do it — it’s the job every American has in common.
And yes it should come as no surprise I voted Obama and think you should, too.
Witty runways
I’m a sucker for witty writing that is of the dripping-with-sarcasm-yet-only-one-inch-from-the-truth category.
This is a prime example. Although Seattle is finally getting it’s 3rd runway this November after decades of constipation, London Heathrow (perhaps the most important international aviation gateway on Earth) is just now getting it’s druthers and really getting deep into the expansion mode.
So my fellow airliner geeks at airliners.net (a.net) have risen to the occasion and have commented on possible timelines as such!
to wit, in part (fair use):
“June 2009 – Submit public tenders for various designs for its replacement.
July 2009 – All designs rejected by local residents.
August 2009 – A rare and previously thought to be extinct breed of dust mite is discovered in T2.
Late-August 2009 – A charity single entitled “Save the mites = Save our future (and our Children’s future)” is released by two ex-Pop Idol nobodies. It goes straight in at number one.
September 2009 – Local residents set up an action group called T.W.A.T.S – (Team Worried and Against Terminal Success) which pickets Parliament to demand that the area is left for animals to graze on, as anything other than this course of action represents what basically amounts to Planetary Homicide. They lodge their formal complaints to the planning commission, which rules that in light of the new complaints against the massive expansion of Heathrow airport and the obvious and irrefutable damage replacing the terminal building will do to London’s green belt, that all previous planning permissions and tenders are null and void. A new planning process is started.
October 2009
Can’t talk about sluts, no no.
But of course if they are pretty and nicely dressed you can parade them on TV and that’s not using them for anything…
Gee, that abstinence-only education sure does work great, don’t it?
That is all I’m sayin’…
Olympics, CBC, HDTV and Gas
I’m a live TV junkie — for events like the Olympics Opening Ceremony it appalls me to the depths of my soul when US networks decide to delay the telecast for the money and label it as “live, pre-recorded”. Shame on them. I honestly, really, really wish the producers hideous gas the rest of their lives.
Luckily I live in Seattle, right by Vancouver, BC. So that means that we are in broadcast range of CBUT, the CBC affiliate in Canada. See, Canadians understand me on this: They broadcast the opening ceremonies live, as it should be. So I caught some of the best parts this morning as I got up at 6 AM. It was nice.
But then I decided to compare the Canadian telecast with the junk NBC throws-out. The only thing I have to say is this: The only reason I enjoyed it the second time was that it was in HDTV, whereas the CBC broadcast comes to me in standard def. HDTV really did bring a lot more to the ceremony — a lot more than I thought it would. Incredible detail and crispness. I felt I was watching a whole new show.
So there you have it — my rant of the day. Go Canada, and my Republican colleagues can now scream at me for being so un-American and not a patriot because I bashed the American-based television networks — whatever.
More pink than a Strawberry Shortcake costume competition at a tranny bar…
Safeway assaulted me today. I go in to get my weekly groceries and WHAM! Pink, pink, pink, pink. Pink roses. Pink balloons. Pink banners. I mean, it was 20-feet thick as you waded your way through it at the entrance to the store. It was PINK.
Oh, that’s right, it’s VD .
No, I’m not bitter, or especially so. But with my BS meter set so high these days I was bound to find this utter explosion of forced joy very disturbing and ridiculous. What a waste of time. So this is the only day you can celebrate with the love of your life?
Seems to me a better love is one that lasts all year long and stays steady and becomes your “rock.” VD in my opinion is just an excuse to waste money and feel better about yourself for actually remembering the day.
So I’m not actually bitter on love. Jaded on what people think it “should be”, perhaps.